middleofsomewhere | Let's Get Down to Business

Let's Get Down to Business

Let's Get Down to Business

On day twenty two of the month of Llama a message comes up on the ICP's.

Voidtreckers have many questions about what happened on system #93426194992 and the entity that was encountered. Analysis shows that the entity on system #93426194992 was also present on systems #86525656412355 and #2207385.

Though it is not known what that entity is, it is clear that it possesses some level of mind influence and complex illusionary magic.

There is a void nexus on system #62138 inhabited by a religious order that, due to their close proximity to the void, employ mental techniques to help with such illusions.

We will be visiting system #62138 for three Days. The Voidtrecker express will remain with the Voidtreckers during this time and due to the nature of the void nexus it is highly advisable to sleep on board.

System #62138 is a wet world. All Voidtreckers will be safe but are advised to keep their SCAs on at all times. This should be the standard on all systems.

THE VOID NEXUS
From the windows of the Voidtrecker Express, passengers see the Void Nexus as a vast island surrounded by darkness, punctuated with rivets of colours running through the sky that casts a glow of blues and violets as they descend closer to the surface. The world faintly blurs the way one’s sight does when sinking into the depths of an ocean, the train manoeuvring around tall rocks that rise like digitates, a sea-green hue deepening over the rocky land outside.

The train doors open from each carriage, and luckily it’s not a flood that welcomes them but clammy air cool to the skin. They come out to a section of land sparse of more than tunicate-like plants under their feet, pools of silvery water otherwise sunk between small pathways that lead like bridges forward.

Which is likely their destination, a vast coral-like structure with a high opening awaiting them - and as they get closer, a being far taller than any of the Voidtrecker themselves.

ARRIVAL

They are met by a tall robed figure. First glance will show them to be a deep purple in colour with a domed head and long tentacles sprouting from their chin that sway slightly when they move. Still they nod deeply and their mouth moves into a shape that could be interpreted as a smile.

"Welcome to those of the VoidTrecker Express. Your arrival was foretold and we have awaited you. Please accept our hospitality."

They lead them onwards, explaining that outsiders are always welcome here but ask them to remain within the public parts of the temple. They further explain that their order is for the most part a silent one. There is no restriction on the voices of guests but they should not be insulted if the members of the order do not answer.

Once a small tour has been conducted the Voidtreckers are left to their own devices to train or explore as they see fit.

IT'S A TRAINING MONTAGE
Going through to the back of the temple will lead them outside once more, the gentle sound of falling water greeting them at what seems to be a distance. But yet - faint as it is to see, glistening in translucent silvers and pinks - the water is quite near and wide, spilling from the high mountain cliff that borders in an otherwise enclosed space. The pool takes up a large portion of this garden, of coral reef and circled stone pathways where every step must be considered, unless you’d like a surprise trip and dip.

Fortunately, the silver water here is light. Submerging yourself in it or sitting under its flow, you won’t find the hard rush of its weight over your heads and shoulders, and the same weightlessness follows you going under. You find that you can breathe and when you come away from the lake, your body and clothes are lightly damp at most.

Still, there is plenty of ground to walk along without going over the pool. However, the first steps of learning mental fortitude against illusionary obstacles will take you into...

[ MEDITATION. ] To combat irrationalities is to iron your own reactions to them. You are instructed to sit where you find it comfortable: those unused to mental training should keep to the shoreline, while the more intermediate may find taking the stone steps out to large limpet-shaped shells - sizeable to fit 3-4 people each - a better challenge. Those more daring should sit under the waterfall or to go into the water’s depths, where you at least don’t need to worry about breathing, or even getting that wet.

To get wet isn’t the purpose, fortunately. The purpose comes the moment you close your eyes - for as soon as you do, you feel. You sense. Some other, some thing, a presence your mind decides must be there. This sensation is lighter by the shore, but sitting above the water or submerging yourself inside it brings it stronger against you. In truth there is nothing there, no one but the other Voidtreckers, but the spell of the water - or is it the void within the water? - makes your brain think otherwise, logic not welcome company.

Being in groups can help ease the effects through the SCAs, but otherwise, true control comes down to yourself. Breaks are recommended, as there’s no point wearing down an already exhausted mind. Your mind is your defence. Strengthen it. Wield it as a weapon.

[ Combat. ]

Though not exactly what they are here for Voidtreckers will notice that this order of void worshipers train in a form of martial arts. They train outside, using the watery air as part of their movement. Training is done in large group sessions and without weapons. It has a strong focus of listening to the world around them and fighting in a way that makes them one with the world, using the environment to their advantage.

Even though that might not seem the most useful to people who won't be fighting in an environment such as this world, it is at least a good form of exercise.

Any voidtrecker who is curious is welcome to join in the training and those that show especial interest can take more specific lessons aimed at beginners.

TRAVELLING THE NEXUS
[ OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE. ] While the lake and surrounding temple will help to strengthen one’s mental defences with perseverance and training, there is more that can be done away from the temple, and the island is free to be explored. The Voidtrecker Express is stationed where it dropped everyone off, and returning to it will offer everyone a mental relief regardless of the levels of their ongoing training.

The marshland continues beyond the train, one route mostly made by the natural stone pillars that rise up from the ground like stalagmites. Higher cliffs can be climbed by those who wish to, if just for a higher view, curiosity, or privacy. From wherever you look, this island gives off the same impression as most of it already has: sea-like.

[ PLANTS. ] Underfoot, there is not earth-like grass or flowers, but seagrass, kelp, algae and more. They grow along the stone, idly waving as if submerged in water and pushed by unseen waves. Strange blue plants with purple-tipped tendrils will wiggle if touched, while at the higher levels, small bulbs of some kind cluster around the size of a fist. Types of plankton make the gnats of this nexus, too tiny most of the time to be noticed as more than dots to the eyes.

[ CREATURES. ] Also, don’t forget the fish. As tiny as a pinky finger, as big as a hand, the size of a human; they swim through the air, not particularly caring for the Voidtreckers, but also not looking to engage with them. The larger of the fish travel higher than the smaller, and those as big as whales farther up than even the taller cliffs can reach. For those that have any ideas of hunting, they will know - mysteriously, as if recalling the thought - that they should go for the larger fish, and not harm the younger, smaller ones. Those are tastier, after all.

[ STONE FOREST. ] Travel low or high, the way will take them to what appears to be a forest that spans across a large portion of the central island. But as the rest of the nexus is, this is no ordinary, woody land. Its trees are stone, coral, rising high and jagged, the water in the atmosphere denser in this jungle of rock. It turns the world a sea-green to move through, with plants and coral everywhere to be seen. The air denser, thicker, leaving small droplets of water on skin and clothes.

There are no real paths than the spaces between the ‘trees’, but there are guides to find your way to somewhere: pink jellyfish, or something of the sort floating around. They are the shiri as the monks call them, and looking upon them will tell you they will help you find where you need to go, that they will aid you if you get lost and think of them. And for those whose thoughts lean such a way, they will know that harming them will bring a greater injury to the individual who does so tenfold, and they will find no guidance at all on this nexus until they have repented.

Read: Enjoy being stuck on the train for the rest of the stay.

[ CONCH LAKE. ] For those less destructive, a short travel through the stone forest will lead them to a lake, with what can only be described as a conch shell gazebo accessible in its centre. Bubbles float up and around, balls of water made to linger by whatever strange force controls this place. They can be made to bounce away and around with a touch, and respond to being thrown as a ball might. Just, watch out: They like to burst at random, no matter the force used, scattering as tiny beads all over the air.

The water here is different from that around the temple, its colour more blue, but closer to aqua than what many are used to. Yet diving into it will have the similar properties that allows one to hold their breath for much longer than usual, and to move with an ease, like floating weightlessly. There’s no worry if they close their eyes here, a peace radiating from the pool; like a refuge from the trickery that lurks no matter where you are in this nexus.

Climbing out of the pool will have you damp, more appropriately soaked than the temple’s lake. There’s nothing like towels or a great way to dry off, but you can sit and hang around under the conch gazebo if you like.

Or perhaps messing around isn’t what brought you here, but the four iridescent slabs of stone that stand at intercardinal points at the edges of the lake, that speak of the Trials to the mind when you look upon them.

THE FOUR CAVERN TRIALS

There are four caverns, four trials, with each slab suggesting their test. Upon deciding where you will go, a shiri will come to guide your character through the forest to where the stone trees part, and a half an hour walk will lead Voidtreckers to a vesicular cavern.

You know as you approach the cave’s mouth that the shiri will guide you out if you need it, but they stay outside, leaving those searching for advanced training to journey on in themselves. Passengers descend, dots of light coming through the multiple holes above to illuminate the way as you go deeper into the cave.

And you won’t have to go far to find the crystals in any of the caverns, though there’s many pathways to go deeper in. Attacking the stones to break them won’t do much, but when you put your hand on one…

The illusions start, pulling in anyone nearby.

[ CAVE OF PERCEIVING. ]    Bend deceiving labyrinths into your own path.

What is real? What is not? This cave holds a large underground river flowing through it. The water is not too fast flowing or deep but it is cold enough to be a shock if anyone falls in.

Fall in they might for their task is to cross the river. The river is filled with stones large enough to hold a person as they cross. However not all of those stones are real, some are just illusions and if they step on the illusionary rocks they will fall through to the river below.

It is possible to get by on trial and error but the task will not be considered complete until they force their minds to see through the illusions are perceive the one true path.

[ CAVE OF ENDURANCE. ]    Wounds bleed and skin burns only to bodies that believe it.

This cave may differ between Voidtreckers. Sometimes it is a monster they must face or an environmental challenge to battle through.Perhaps the searing heat of a fire or the low altitude and freezing temperature of a mountain top. Perhaps a lizard with claws and teeth. The important part is not defeating the threat but to neutralise the damage. It's not real and the mind can overcome it.

All the caves are probably best faced in groups but this was especially so. They are unlikely to be able to make the damage unreal to start with and so there is likely to be a fight or struggle before they succeed.

[ CAVE OF HEART. ]    To accept crafted desires is to invite everlasting grief.

Here they are in a beautiful place. A meadow, a forest, a rocky beach. The weather is beautiful, not too hot not too cold. A little further in is something they want, something their heart yearns for.

They can't see it yet but they are sure they will, if only they go deeper into the grass, the trees, the water. It is there, just out of reach.

To pass this test they must walk away. Turn around and leave despite their heart calling to them to go deeper.

[ CAVE OF MIND. ]    Craft a weapon from your own vulnerabilities.

Fear does not have to be a weakness. The cave is filled with a lake and in the centre there is a bubble of water, it contains something they fear. They can't see it but they know it is there. Perhaps a person, a place, an object.

Facing a fear is one thing but this task asks for more than that. To accept the fear as part of them, to turn it into a strength to protect others.

This trial is the most personal and perhaps the most difficult. They must step into that space, knowing that they will face what they fear whilst also knowing that it won't be real and use that knowledge and acceptance to bring down the entire illusion, bubble, lake and all.

art sources: alien / landscapes / waterfall / caverns

OOC Information

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A treadmill..

Wait, is that the running thing Tidus mentioned before? Inigo sure has ideas on that, and they're a whole less positive than his feelings about Tidus buying bracers for people to use.. But on the other hand, Tidus seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the whole running thing.

And Inigo is so much weaker than he pretends to be. So..

"I'll buy one with you. But." THAT'S A BUT. There's a but! Notice the but, Tidus! "You can just use it."

You can't make him!!

"... ... ...what's the point of that?"

Inigo. Inigo. He's not saying it, but that has to be the stupidest idea. Tidus won't fight the meaning behind it - that Inigo isn't interested - but he'll still put on the show of a groan and sigh.

"You don't have to get one with me! But okay, when I get one, you have a go on it. Okay? You can even walk on it! It has settings!"

And every good run should start with a light jog.

"Don't you ever just wanna run in the train?"

Don't you just wanna lose it, bro??

"The point is helping you be able to run so you can be happy, of course!" Please, bro. Do you think he minds helping pay for your happiness? Because he sure doesn't!! Let him shove a treadmill into your face, a thing he has never even seen in real life and can barely even imagine in his mind!!

Why does that happiness just have to involve him running on one too? It makes absolutely no sense to him. Even the cotton candy is momentarily forgotten in the middle of all this.

"If I wanted to walk, I'd just walk up and down the train." Please. "I don't want to walk, or to run-- I just want to dance!"

"Dance then! Then dance!" Did he complain too much?! Tidus presses his lips together, waffling on how to phrase what he wants to say. But, reassuringly: "I'll buy that dance workout set, then you don't have to worry! I'll describe so the train can't get it wrong! Okay? It's fine, you don't need to buy anything!"

Sure, maybe Tidus was just thinking it'd be cool for them to run together and that's why he was thinking about it - but he doesn't want to be pushy about it.

"Did you still wanna get more flowers for the room? Don't forget you were thinking about those."

There are many of his dance worries that aren't so easily cured by just having a dance workout set, but.. before he can bring up that he spoke to the train about dance stuff and privacy in the first place, there's that other question from Tidus.

At least that makes him simmer down a bit, instead looking around them.

"I thought there might be some flowers here to bring back."

Hence why he didn't go through that flower book he got to try and pick some yet. They were dropped off here before he even had a chance to do so.

"But most things here just seem like plants that don't grow any flowers."

Distraction success!! Which is more of a good thing for Inigo hopefully than him, though there's still the obvious disappointment in what this stop hasn't been for Inigo. He doesn't need to be looking, but he does eye the green and colours they're walking by as he agrees:

"Yeah, it's all...that coral, really. Or stuff that looks like it."

Not really what you'd call flowers. Nevertheless, always the optimistic, Tidus nudges Inigo's arm.

"That's why you should treat yourself! If you need to... you could get them after the next mission! Look through the flower books you've got, pick some out ready? They've got nice pictures."

Pick by pretty. That's what Tidus did with the seeds he bought for ~~Inigo~~ Inigo and Taiki.

".. yeah. Maybe after the next mission, so I'll actually have time to tend to them first." Rather than getting them, spending a few days potting them, and then abandoning them for.. what, a week or something? Inigo would hate to come back to the train after a tiring mission, only to see his wilted flowers. It would be a serious downer.

He releases a breath though, trying to get a bit more positivity back into himself.

"Maybe now the train decided to have two person rooms, it can make the rooms a bit bigger too. It'd be nice to have some actual space for the flowers. I could decorate our room super nicely with them." Rather than struggling to find a good spot for them, even when their room is already bigger than the regular four-bunk ones.

"Now you're asking for the impossible. How long have we been asking for bigger rooms? Since forever?"

It's not meant to bring Inigo back down, but's the initial thought he has to that scenario happening. And how long did it take for the train to stack the cabin cars! Tidus is sure he asked for that forever ago.

But he's not all pessimism, even having an idea.

"What if we took some space from the rock garden? Find a nice spot, start filling it with flowers? Be more interesting than the stones everywhere." And not only that- "I think someone's been adding more plants around everywhere anyway. Or they look like...something. You seen them? Those random boxes?"

Bro they're everywhere, he doesn't know where they came from.

"This is about decorating our room though..!"

Not that he doesn't like the plants around the train, or doesn't like the idea of decorating it more.. But with Inigo being the way he is, that's harder than just putting them up in his room. There's a part of him deep down that's going to be way too self conscious about what people might think about the flowers if they're in some more or less public space - if even one person thinks they're a nuisance, he'll get entirely disheartened.

But decorating their room is another story. Then the only opinion he has to contend with is Tidus's, and he likes to think the other would be less critical than most others around the train - especially people who don't know Inigo and his delicate baby heart.

"There's plenty of people dealing with plants around the train. I just want to make our room look nice, but it's hard to do that without making the whole space so full of flowers that it's just overwhelming." Since Tidus did say he doesn't want too much around - and understandably so.

But it leaves a person with so few options.

You can't easily make a flower guy happy, can you!

Tidus sighs, though more in a conceding way than anything, with nothing really to offer. They weren't going to get more space, that was for sure. Unless-

"Well, the only way we're gonna get more space is if we try adding some...? We might be able to add a tiny shelf above the door... Or breaking the cubby holes in so they're bigger?"

That's all Tidus can think of. There wasn't exactly room on the floor, in any case.

Is it that much to hope for that the train may one day decide to give their rooms a bit more space?

.. okay, considering its track record, maybe it is too much to hope for. But Inigo also knows it's practically the only way he'd be able to properly fit more flowers into their room, even if it might never happen.

Not that it isn't sweet that Tidus is trying to think of other solutions, even though there's so very little in the first place.

"Maybe we could try the shelf idea." After all-- "I don't want to take up all that cubby space."

Not when there's stuff of Tidus to put on display too!

"Let's plan it out when we get back." Which, for once, isn't going to be a whole week or something like that when said off the train. Or filled with endless fighting between. ...hopefully.

"You know, those flowers I got for you are meant to stay tiny. Why not look for more of those? Maybe you need to get more flower books. For research!"

Any excuse to get Inigo to treat himself too!

Inigo looks like he's almost holding his breath for a moment, but when he releases it, exhaling, it at least almost sounds a little like a laugh. A bit better than his mood from a moment ago.

"Okay, how about I first go through the one I already have?" Please, Tidus, that one hasn't gotten the appropriate attention yet! "Don't think I can't tell what you're trying to do."

Mister Tidus "Treat Yourself" Finalfantasy.

"Trying to help my pal make the best choices by getting the material he needs to make that choice?"

What a pal, what a friend, up to nothing but good things over here, we have no idea what else you might be suggesting there, golly ol' chap?

Look at this attitude. Look at that face.

This time he definitely laughs - the sound is unmistakable - and he moves to hook one of his arms with one of Tidus's own.

"Sure, and the ten thousand times you have told me to buy stuff for myself surely has nothing to do with this."

Tidus lets the arm hook into his easily, his walk light and careless, easy going through the forest of stone. The sight of the pool of water and conch shell shelter starts to become more visible between the rock, but Tidus is only half paying attention to it, smile etched into his face.

"What's wrong with spending your hard earned points? People like flowers. Isn't it for the good of the whole train if you bought flowers? So we're doing a public service."

By putting flowers into a room meant for two.

"You think everyone likes flowers?"

Granted, most people probably do. Maybe. Hopefully? Inigo isn't so sure about how much his tastes reflect the general masses.

But if even Tidus can appreciate them, maybe there's some hope.

"Some people will probably get annoyed by having more flowers around." At least his smile isn't dropping as he says it. Especially because: "There's always some people complaining, no matter what happens on the train."

"Then why worry?" Tidus shoots back - though, Inigo sounds less worried and more stating a very true fact. "I don't really think it matters what you do, so long as you're not trying to be annoying about it. Stick whatever wherever you want, you know? But you said you wanted them in the room."

And he hasn't forgotten that. His earlier remark had been a joke than anything serious. But if Inigo did want to take up some space with flowers, who was going to say anything?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Let's Get Down to Business

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(madoka actually put those up bc i own all the plants in the game apparently)

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