Adventure On!

[voidtreckermods]

"Good Morning passengers. Today is day six of the month of Horseshoe." The voice echoes through the train as passengers wake up in their beds. Not long afterwards their SCA’s glow with the colour of the void and a holographic image will appear.

Preparation

The dressing room is indeed open as promised. The dressers and wardrobes are full of many different clothes. Shirts, tunics, skirts, dresses, robes, cloaks, leggings and even an array of fancy hats.

The cloaks are notable in that they look like standard fantasy cloaks but are completely waterproof, much like a modern jacket and they will keep them warm and dry. There are also a good selection of furs for those travelling into the tundra as well as some leather armour, both for protection against monsters and fire.

There are an array of tents- in more neutral colours, a lot simpler than the tents they have used before as well as some basic pots and pans for cooking. There are a range of bags and pouches for carrying any essentials!
They are a few hours before arrival and so there is plenty of time to prepare before the announcement. "Shortly arriving on world 5382110341. All passengers get ready to disembark. Next stop world 5382110341. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

Arrival: Royal Lake Hill

The train jolts and shudders as it leaves the void. It descends quickly and lands with a small bump. The doors open, it is a bit of a jump from the train to the ground but they land on soft grass. Anyone looking back at the train will find it almost not there… Unless they focus very hard it will seem just like a shimmer in the air, passengers jumping from nowhere.

They are a short walk from what seems like a small town, surrounded by walls. The gates are manned but the large group of people only get a quick glance before they are nodded in.

They get a few curious glances as they enter the town proper. It is not exceptionally busy, indeed everyone out and about are older or small children, who dart around unafraid of the strangers, staring openly at times.

A market place spans the square, predominately selling food, stalls are actually small huts, the front part open to the street for custom and a back room that is presumably used for sleeping. Some, like the blacksmiths are more solid with multiple rooms.

Each voidtrecker will have a dot on the map on their SCA showing them to the inn that their team should head towards. If they ask around they will learn that there is indeed a call to for adventurers at three of the town’s inns and they are to report there in early evening. As it is still early morning they have almost the whole day to explore, enjoy being in a town full of people and, for those who are keen, earn some spending money.

Whatever they end up doing with their day it is obvious when evening is approaching by the stalls beginning to be packed up, the streets quieting as people went home for their dinners. The inns are easy enough to find, even for those that didn’t find them earlier in the day.

Orange

Recruitment

Ducks in a Bucket is at the western gate. It is quiet, usually a tavern used by adventurers, the custom has dried up with all the adventurers protecting the kingdom. It is filled with large wooden tables and sturdy stools, not a fine dining establishment in any way but it has a friendly air to it.

Not long after they arrive a woman in a long cloak arrives. "I am here to hire adventurers. You will be aware, I am sure, of the blight storm that hit the kingdom. Many people across the land have been effected. Many areas are out of the crystals needed to restore those who have been blighted and there are rumours the army is in short supply as well. We require you to travel to the Singing Woodlands to harvest the crystals from the calla lilies that grow there. I have an image if it is needed."

Here she takes out a small scroll and passes it around, it is a painting of a simple, dark purple calla lilie.

"The huma have agreed to transport the collected crystals to the areas that need it. Unfortunately the land itself has been blighted and has become unstable, floating into the air. We can provide you each with two flight potions to help you travel up into the woodlands."

She holds out a bag to pass around, there are exactly enough potions for each person to take two despite the face she couldn’t possibly have known who was going to turn up to head the call.

"Please be warned that transportation magics have not been working in blighted areas and so you will be taken to the ground below. If you accept this quest please get ready to gate."

A moment later there is a flash of light and any who want to will vanish from the tavern.

Arrival

They will arrive on a grassy verge, in front of them is a canyon of dirt. If they look up they will see the land that should be filling it. In chunks the forest is floating on a series of islands stretching high up into the clouds.

Many of the islands feel too high to reach in ten minutes but there are a couple of lower ones that might be good places to aim for.

The potion works swiftly, making those who drink it feel lighter, all they need to do is jump and they are floating, moving in the air is easy, they can walk up as if on a ramp or swim through the air currents if they are feeling a bit more adventurous.

The islands themselves are teeming with life, plants of all kinds grow there and as they reach the lower islands they will see the huma birds and hopefully spot some of those calla lilies.

Purple

Recruitment

The Lion's Mane is the largest tavern in town. It has some customers, sitting in groups and drinking. There is a musician in the corner playing a lively tune and sat on a central table is an official looking man with a scroll case and a worried expression.

"Anyone." He cleared his throat, "Anyone who has come to be hired… As an adventurer please gather around. Now. Now. Can everybody hear me? Yes? Right. Well I am sure as you know the blight… Yes? Yes! Well there are some clusters of villages up near the dusty rivers, I can show you on this map..."

He unfurls a scroll, which shows a large expansive land mass. He points to an area in the far west. "They have a golem problem, their own golems that is. Turned on them." He shook his head, "Crystal magic, very susceptible to blight. They need some help, clear the area, purify the crystals. That sort of thing. You’ll probably be there a few days."

He rolled up the scroll. "I can’t gate you into the villages, earths all blighted. But I can get you close."

He did a quick head count. "If you don’t accept the mission please step back. Ready?"

He opens a gate, a few gates, and everyone who accepts vanishes from the tavern.

Arrival

They arrive in a small clearing in a wood. It is quiet, with not even the sound of birdsong. Trees are all around them though anyone checking their SCA will see that the village is indeed close.

A moment later there are footsteps, a young boy, no older than ten bursts into the clearing. He reels backwards at the figures, surprised to see them but then seems to realise that they are, for the most part, human.

"Quick! Come quick! The village!"

He turned on his heal and heading no call ran back the way he came. For those that follow the route leads them through thick overgrowth, there is clearly an easier way, to a small village.

A small village with a large golem and a large troll stomping through it. People are cowering in houses or behind walls as the troll swings its club back and forth, smashing things in its wake.

Red and Blue

Recruitment

The final tavern is The Thrice Struck Tree. It is small, dark and has a heavy air to it. There are a couple of customers, sat silently with mugs of ale in front of them. They give the voidtreckers suspicious glances.

They may wonder if they are in the wrong place but after a few moments a young woman in a smart looking uniform, dark blue tunic, shiny boots, enters. "Adventurers? I am captain Sienna of Irivar’s third guard. We have reports coming from the southern lands. The blight has depowered the crystals separating the frozen tundra from the fire lands. A disaster could occur if the are not recharged. They must be taken into the central fire mountains heart. It is a fair journey and the crystals must be carried. Please, for those that known the secrets of it do not attempt to place the crystals into the spaces between for easier transportation, it would be disastrous." She gave them a serious look before continuing.

"Furthermore the creatures of the area are reporting that the Glacial Sovereign has not been seen since the blight hit." She shook her head, looking worried. "You must find their guardians, the crystal wolves and attempt to regain contact with the sovereign." She paused again.

"Both the sprites of ice and fire have been corrupted by the blight and the area is very dangerous. I can gate you to the border and from there you must split, please decide amongst yourselves who is best to journey into fire and who is suited to the cold. I will give you a moment to be ready."

It is indeed only a moment before she opens the gate. Any who choose to travel will vanish from the tavern.

Arrival

They arrive in a strange place indeed. To the east there is black rock, lava streams and mountains billowing with smoke. To the west is white, icy bridges connecting land and glaciers. Far in the distance there is what seems to be a swirling mass of snow.

And right where they are is… a mess. Melted ice and frozen ash mixed together into a slippery sludge that sticks to their shoes and makes movement interesting.

But movement may be necessary as it seems their gate has taken them to a place surrounded by two packs of fire dogs and a few regular wolves. All look surprised at the sudden influx of people but it doesn’t take them long before the blighted creatures move in to attack.

Splitting

Once they are safe from wolves and dogs the teams can split. The crystals red need to collect are obvious, set out at even distances from each other. Red team are to head east, into the volcano range, Blue are to head west into the tundra.

Good luck void warriors!

Comments

< closed > wildcard! at the adventurer's guild

[adregem]

The edge around Roland's nerves refuses to abate even after speaking to the people around town, and it was already a little past mid-afternoon. The frown on his face almost looks permanent in its slight scowl and the worried dip of his brows as he enters the next establishment with a confidence that repelled any strange look thrown his way. It didn't matter. He had been busy running errands left and right, while playing the part of gathering information where he could. But there was still too little to know about Irivar, and he's done this whole song and dance before, back when Evermore was still new and he was the fish out of water in their small little group of would-be king defenders. Without the whole story, they were going to get caught unaware.

It doesn't help that the skies continue to shine clear; and that he can't ask about it explicitly, lest he openly mention business about the void. So he walks with renewed purpose, seeing where each building will take him in his effort to consolidate mission relevant facts that he could share with the rest of the train. At the Adventurer's Guild, his eyes dart around until he finds the weary page attending to another group of recruits. He tries to signal for him, but his efforts are in vain as the page only throws him halfhearted looks, apologizing from a distance before attending to the next group of travelers asking for more jobs, more coin. Not even throwing his voice out a little bit louder gets the guild boy's attention...

[blitzcheer]

In the half hour since Tidus showed up at the guild, a few people have been in and out. Which of them were Voidtreckers and which were native travellers, he never really bothered to discern; though, it was sometimes easy to tell if one's sleeve were short. There's a space for a table and seats, all wooden and simple, a large map of the kingdom handcrafted hanging from the wall that might get any newcomer's interest.

It had Tidus's, as well as the book he'd been offered after a few questions. He'd promised to do some investigating into what Orange Team were to get up to, a book on his lap and his notebook out from the netherspace of his Arms Band--a surprise he even kept it in there. He's scribbling a small note, sat in a chair by the map, using the side he isn't reading from (sprites, with inside it a illustration of how they appear) to balance his notebook on, and looks up (or straightens his head) when he hears a familiar voice. Dares after a few seconds to look over his shoulder and to confirm at least the sight of black hair, knowing little else would be as easy to recognise.

He turns back his head. Who knows if he'll notice him, who knows if he won't pretend not to notice him. It'd be better for the both of them, in the end, and so Tidus keeps his head low, the words scrawled on either of the pages below unintelligible, the grooves of the paper more visible as he waits to hear Roland leave.

[adregem]

The futility of his actions is made quite clear after the third attempt of trying to get the page boy to talk to him. The guild master, who Roland assumes would have been the perfect person to speak with on what little information he had gathered from two other sources, was nowhere to be found. Or, hiding somewhere in the back, which was out of bounds for Roland despite his plea for an audience. He crosses his arms and take stock of the room, though he misses out on friendly faces. The Voidtreckers that were still around had already begun to file out, perhaps to make the most out of the daylight left. He sighs inwardly until a particular figure cuts through the noise of the guild, and with wide eyes, and no other agenda than to get connected with more than what he has, Roland makes his way swiftly to Tidus's table where he seems to be working diligently. Papers, notebooks, books, all good signs that there was another effort to try and do a better landscape of Irivar and its many little nooks and crannies.

'If anyone should know, it's gotta be Tidus, right?'

After a few long strides, he makes his way to the empty spot at Tidus's table and casually takes a seat at the next available stool. There's no pretense to it either; Roland simply plops down, eyes gleaming with determination, and his elbow already taking a spot against the edge of the table as he faces Tidus with an eagerness that bordered on tight.

Needless to say, though Roland's outward actions speaks volumes of his intentions, there was no denying that the Chief Consul wasn't really thinking anything of the past anymore - not about what had happened, or the heaviness he's felt. He's allowed the moments to simmer inside of him for a week now, routinely checking on Tidus through the ICP until he realizes the heart he feared for never came; only did it appear in a few of his nightmares that have since been tucked away where he usually keeps them. And now that he knows Tidus is safe, that he made the conscious decision to get up and get out to do the mission, Roland won't bring anymore of it up to spare the boy. Not of his own accord.

But this, this couldn't wait.

"Did you find anything useful about this place? The places we're being sent to? The kingdom? Anything?" He isn't speaking fast, but there's an urgency to him that wasn't there when they last spoke on the train.

[blitzcheer]

A figure cuts into his upper view, and Tidus knows who it is through dread alone. Not a reliable source, but it's confirmed when Roland speaks--the usual, the same, hushed and expecting, and while he doesn't rush, it all becomes curdle between Tidus's ears. The questions. Why is he asking him? Why not someone else? Someone more made for this? Tidus wishes there was anybody else here to distract Roland, some place else for him to go-- did he dare to just get up and leave?

He isn't that desperate. His hand sits flat on the space between the two books on his lap, his head kept hung, slow to answer; slow to think of one, before something neutral comes out.

"What you wanna know?"

It only just curves into a question at the end, otherwise delivered flat.

[adregem]

It should concern Roland more outwardly that Tidus was still too far in his head, too shackled by what had happened - or at least, this is his reading of the situation - but he doesn't know how else to cope with it without trampling on his privacy, his need for space. Perhaps it was the Jema'grethy mission too, lingering at the forefront of Roland's mind more often than he would like to admit. Would the timing even be right for him to ask Tidus the questions he was beating himself over about? With Inigo, with Taiki? No, no not here. And besides, the more Roland watches Tidus deflate, the more he realizes it's not because he was trying to actively avoid his eye out of malice.

It might be that Tidus didn't know how to approach Roland too.

So he decides then and there that he will try and cajole him back to a bit of his old life. Despite what happened, Roland believes Tidus remains true to helping others, even if his enthusiasm for it may have left along with Yuna that fateful day. It didn't matter. Roland was a determined man, himself. And if his efforts were weight against risk and rewards, the same thing he preached to Tidus in the standard car, he'd rather risk losing face than losing a friend; one who deserved to know he wasn't alone.

Roland crosses his arms against his chest and looks around the guild again, just to look nonchalant about their conversation. If he was tense himself, well. That was on him.

"Anything. Everything. I've asked two other people some basic information myself, but...Matters concerning kingdoms are rarely simple." He answers with an edge of concern. The page boy is still nowhere to be found. A hopeless cause. Roland turns his head to glance at Tidus again, no longer caring if he refused to look back. He would go on, as he did.

"What have you gathered on your end? I'll swap information with you, if it's relevant or can confirm what you've heard. I admit, it's not a lot, but it's a start."

[blitzcheer]

There's a pause, a hold. Roland's asking for simple questions, but there's a blockade in him, just for coming from Roland. What does he have to share? Little. Maybe what he's found out is useless, no good, and his mind tries to think at the same time it can't.

You should ask someone else, reaches the back of his tongue, but Tidus swallows it. At least for now.

"The blight means sprites got corrupted--round where Orange Team's going, the Red and Blue too. They think the blight came from the kingdom they're fighting." And he shrugs there, his voice never picking up with confidence, or life. "I don't know what Purple's doing."

If Roland had mentioned it before, he's forgotten since, and he didn't look before either, for long. Going with Purple rarely crosses his mind on his better days, and on this mission, he wanted to even less. Especially after Inigo. Especially after Roland himself. You have to be reliable.

[adregem]

He nods as soon as he receives that information, jumping in quickly when Tidus's energy fails to do so. It helped that he was already quite invested in it anyway, so there's no lack of enthusiasm or authenticity on his front. It wasn't just for show.

"Right. The blight affected the protective golems around the villages where Purple's assigned too. Six villages, in total. We'll need to do massive rotations. As soon as the blighted are defeated, we have to purify their crystals." His mind is running fast, always trying to connect dots where he can.

"That's correct, too. According to the information I've received, they're all pretty darn sure that its the rival faction from Jura that's responsible for the blight. A pickpocket I managed to bribe said it's the nobles in particular. And that's not all - " His brows furrow, frown deepening. "Border skirmishes seem to be commonplace, but this is the first time the war's escalated to the point where an army of thousands have gathered against Irivar. King Varfrin's got the people's vote of confidence though, so that seems to placate the citizens somewhat. They're certain he's got things under control..." Roland leans his elbows against the table, looking forward. If he sounds doubtful, he can't help it either. There's a lot of distrust to go around when it comes to the kinds of situations the train puts them in.

[blitzcheer]

Roland is following a thread, either of his own making or one that he's found and engrossed by. Talks of the war and the kingdom skirmish; Tidus tries to follow him, find himself on the same thread, but knows he isn't anywhere close. A silence drifting in once Roland follows and he fails to know what it is he should say, so he pretends to fiddle with the book on his lap some, taking away his notebook and closing both.

"What do you want?" he asks eventually, uncertainty clear in his tone. Like a kid that doesn't know what to do, but knows there's a expectation placed on them.

[adregem]

"Huh?" Roland's thoughts break momentarily, a lapse in his efforts to connect what paltry dots he could gather when he hears Tidus speak up, but not expecting to hear just that. "What do I want?" He repeats, blinks as he watches Tidus close his books and fiddle with himself.

Roland already had something to say, a reply waiting at the tip of his tongue. 'I want more', he is inclined to mention. Of what? Perhaps everything. But this isn't what comes out of the older man, his paternal instinct suddenly spiking when Tidus has done nothing but attempt to shrink smaller and smaller since he spoke to him on the the train. And it's different than the way Inigo would deflect his own issues with a sweet little smile and a bravado to hide his pain. Tidus almost seems like he's both wanting to be here, but also, not. Roland's never seen him so uncertain of everything - his words, his movements. A worry that blooms exponentially overtakes him for a breath of a moment before he decides enough was enough.

His voice remains steady, hoping to be the anchor against the waves of Tidus's seeming indecision and uncertainty. He faces him a bit better now, sitting so that his crossed legs are swiveled to the side, arms folded against his chest. Roland's pinned him on the spot with that gaze, a look he's thrown the other in the past, but never to this extent of concerned.

"You know what I want." Roland answers, no rush, no pressure. He just speaks. "I'm trying to get information so we're better prepared to deal with surprises. You know there's more to the stories apart from what the train tells us." And it's an asserting sort of lilt, as if Roland is trying to remind Tidus of the things he knows, the feeling in his heart that led him to seek Roland out once, telling him to care about more than just team colors and councils and doing a headcount.

"That's why I'm here. Looking for clues. Figuring things out as best I can." His gaze softens noticeably. "But alone, I'm pretty much destined to always meet a dead-end. Now, I'd like to ask you the same thing. What do you want, Tidus? Do you want to tell me that you'd rather work alone on gathering intel? Or, do you want to take me up on my offer to find out more about this kingdom and its blight business? Together?"

And he means that, despite being ready to walk away if Tidus told him to go. It may not be the most nurturing way to address whatever this was, but Roland has his methods too. And he'd rather help Tidus regain his footing now, versus abandoning him to the directionless wind as he thought might be the solution. Clearly, it isn't. So Roland will guide, as best he could.

[blitzcheer]

Roland speaks impassioned, even when he keeps his voice cool. A man with a task, and Tidus can sense it, become more certain that he fits nowhere in this job. He wants to know more, to unravel what's going on, and every part of the determined effort that Roland attempts to drag him in - despite setting out the question of what he wants- makes Tidus all the more agitated in his own skin.

It's a want to escape, there on his lips; his mouth moving wordlessly as that agitation builds, yet unsure if to express it. But he can do this, he can't-

"I'm not-- I'm not this guy you think I am," he starts, the words dumb in his ears, but he continues anyway, fingers gripping into the leather of the book. "I don't know anything 'bout getting intel or what's going on. You shouldn't waste your time asking me. Ask someone else. Ask over the SCAs. I don't know how to help."

But he hates it anyway, everything he says--a guilt, a shame, whichever one, it sinks in deep regardless. It's like he's giving up without trying, useless, unable to help. Not reliable. Because everything Roland speaks of is beyond him, utterly beyond anything he knows to do with. Tidus sets the book on the table and stands, Roland's figure entering more in his frame, but he refuses even now to look higher than his chest. Folded arms. Roland will tire of him now. He's just a kid, in the end. It won't matter.

"I'm just...here to do the mission. That's it."

1/2

[adregem]

Roland is stunned. Gone - or lost, somewhere - was the collection of Tidus's smiles and laughs, jabs and jests; the fire snuffed out of him so unnaturally that Roland is left to figure out where the remnants of smoke leads. He can't see it, he can't find it in the confusion that colors Tidus's eyes, or what he can see of him, as he purposely evades Roland's own. He doesn't know what happened in Tidus's isolation. What exactly changed since he held him down by the ankles, silently begging him to stay whole, to stay with them so they could figure out what to do next. Not to let the train win; don't let them suffer the same fate as the Voidtreckers who lost everything.

But that didn't really matter to right now, did it? The answers weren't going to come this easily. Not until Tidus could find it in himself to return.

When the young man stands, papers and notebooks set aside, ready to be abandoned, Roland resonates to the sound of his pain. He watches him tense up while remaining limp at the same time, ready to dart out of there when he could, but fighting not to turn back around too. A boy stuck at the precipice. Roland swallows thickly, turning back to lean against the table though he won't abandon to the task so soon. There's a reason between the two heads of Evermore, it was Evan who could rally a bickering army to unite against a common foe. What would he do? What would he say?

[adregem]

I'm not-- I'm not this guy you think I am.

Roland closes his eyes. He finds the right way to speak, the right tone to answer with, not for the first time channeling the king of Evermore, and certainly this wouldn't be the last.

"It wasn't too long ago that someone came up to me to tell me that I had the power to make this - " Roland gestures to himself, his hand making a wave in the air. "- into more than just a head count job. I was told that if I just did my best and got help when I needed it, if I worked with my team - my friends - then we would find the way to victory." He doesn't glance back up at Tidus. He knows he's still there, even if it's uncertain, a lingering more than anything else.

"To this day, I still remember what you told me. Everything you've told me. You weren't wrong. I needed to hear that." Roland looks around the table. Touches the books he's left on the table. Skims through what he could read on the cover. "Tidus. I don't know what's really happened. I don't know why you're now convinced of something that isn't true, why you think I'm wasting my time."

He lowers his head, stares at the wood of the table. Imagining that if it was him on the other end of the line, he would have someone try to pull him back to the light.

"I'm sorry if I've made you feel like living up to a standard I've made for myself." The pro-athlete. The college star. The budding leader, nurtured in another life. Roland exhales heavily. "But maybe it's time I set the record straight. If I come up to you, sometimes it's not always to ask for help. It's because...I want to help you too, the way you've done for me. And the guy that I think you are?"

There is a pause as Roland stares into the nearby hearth, unused and dusty.

"I just think you're a guy who cares." And if he's wrong about that too? Then Roland will accept what Tidus is, whatever he decides.

[blitzcheer]

It guilts him, from the second that Roland speaks. A slow thing dawning on him, when in the realisation of his words, he still doesn't know who that is. Everything about the train, their purpose. People are stuck here, but all he can think is, what can he do? Tidus doesn't shift from his place where he's stopped, allowing Roland to be heard. Though it does right through him, and he wonders--will this be how it is now?

This is just who he is, was, really.

"I wish I was," is all he can think to say, resigned. I just think you're a guy who cares. And he wishes he could tell Roland the truth, but now isn't the time, and there never may be a time. Even here, standing in this room with the murmuring voices at the back, the low crackle of a fire meant to keep warm the open space, Tidus has no answers even for himself.

He has nothing else to say, and starts to turn for the door, preparing to leave.

"Good luck with the mission."

[adregem]

If you didn't care, you wouldn't be here, would you? You would have stayed. You're looking for it. You're trying to find it. He doesn't dare voice this out. He knows how he sounds, and he recognizes it for what it was. So be it, then. The fight continues, and Roland was nothing if not determined to see things through the end.

If it was him on the other side - if he was the one falling...They'd reach for him. Even in his denial, they'd reach for him. How could he not do the same?

Before Tidus can leave, that pivot giving him a space to throw his voice out one last time, Roland perks his head up, still seated, still choosing to stay. Even after Tidus leaves, he'll keep pushing on at the guild, looking for as much clues as he can. Doing the work he promised the other, even if they've forgotten.

"I've got something for you, when we're back on the train." He says, casually, swallowing his own turbulent thoughts, his desire to shake Tidus, wake him up, convince him he was someone who cared and nothing could take that away from him. Not Yuna leaving; not disappearing.

"Come find me. Or I'll go to you." It wasn't a big train, anyway. He smiles, though it has no trace of mirth. "Consider it my way of thanks for...for the football book."

Roland turns his head just enough to catch him by the periphery. "Stay sharp." And doesn't stop him anymore from leaving, after that.

His hand grips tightly under the table, knuckles white under the stress.