melodiesoflife | Player Plot: The Mysidian Tower!

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Player Plot: The Mysidian Tower!

Who: Everyone who signed up for the plot!
What: Jade is taking a team to explore the Mysidian Tower before it'd swallowed by the Calamity.
When: February 8th-12th
Where: The Mysidian Tower on the Continent of Ruin.
Warning: Everything that can be expected of surprise monster encounters. Beyond that, whatever people bring with them.

The Enterprise brings everyone involved to the tower on the afternoon of February 8th. Thankfully the early floors have already been cleared by previous explorers, making the initial entry easy and relatively safe. Once the Heroes start reaching the upper floors, however... Who knows?

All threads will be linked here for easy access:
OOC info post
Ground Floor - Campsite
Friendly Monster
Floors 30-39
Floors 40-49
Floors 50-59
Floors 60-69
Floors 70-79
Floors 80-89
Floors 90-99
Floors 100-101 will be open at a later date.

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[It's not like he's exploring alone, after all. Given not only the infantry he's brought with him to help them, but the fact there are for sure other Heroes exploring at the same time.

He'd picked out the odd word or so, of those Ancient characters, on the way passed other doors up until this point but once he starts to see them more often the penny drops. It's been a long time since he's used Scholar after all, that forgives him for not identifying it as Ancient the first time around...right?]

...wait.

[So the next handle-less door that comes along, finds Sephiroth taking a more facing-stance towards it and focuses on the words; just shy of reaching out to trace them with a gloved finger.]

[While her jobs are only at middling power at the moment and she has yet to unlock the true potential of the Seer class, Kidd did not feel comfortable letting any of the other Heroes wander off on their own. She trusted them all, even in the face of the vision they recently shared. Rather she didn't want someone vanishing as some trap or creature of the tower dragged them off to their doom.

She stands by as she watches Sephiroth inspect the door. She doesn't recognize the characters, but she can venture some guesses just out of process of elimination. But even if her guess is right they're still just so much squiggles to her.]

What is it? Did you find something?

Edited 2016-02-10 03:41 (UTC)

[The Ancient writing on the edges of the door is worn-off and barely visible. However, there is more in the middle that seems to have been added later. The characters are a little more rough, as though whoever wrote them wasn't as familiar with how they were supposed to look. While still very old, these lines are much more readable.]

If you are reading this,
that means we failed and a new cycle has begun.
We are closing off as many doors as possible
so that the Tower will remain safe until
our successors find their way here.
You who would call yourselves Heroes of Light
Raise your Crystals and step through.
May the knowledge of the Ancients
serve you better than it did us.

[At Kidd's comment, Sephiroth raises a finger to indicate for her to give him a minute. It's been a while since he's been reading Ancient and it's one of those things that takes a while to get started. It doesn't help that there is multiple sets of writing on the door - most of which is worn away.

Once he's found where the more-legible characters are, Sephiroth extends that finger out towards the first line and slowly starts to read aloud, using his fingertip as a guide but not touching the door itself. Word after word, he reads, pausing to consider context when there is a character a little off but eventually going back and re-reading the entire verse again.]

Someone write this down.

[He says to Kidd, or anyone in the vicinity really as eyebrows join each other in the middle of his forehead while Sephiroth silently considers the implications. He's staring at the lettering as if it might fade away if he didn't look at it, drawing his own notebook out of a pocket.]

...the knowledge of the Ancients....

[Kidd has nothing on hand to write with so she does her best to commit it to memory. Something to consider on their next trip up from the basecamp. Idly she wonders what secrets the Assassin's Eagle vision could uncover in a place like this as that awareness has helped the Grand Masters investigating Precursor sites in the past.]

So it's written in Ancient...but it definitely sounds like this was all set by group of Heroes rather than the Ancients themselves. And if they're calling it a cycle then they're not the first either.

[Even if it's not new information to him it's something she wants to chew over.]

Raise your Crystals. It seems pretty clear what it wants us to do.

[She looks at Sephiroth, eyeing him for a moment. He seems intent on solving this but the impression she's gotten from him over recent encounters is that he's the sort to wait and see what others do first. It's not a bad path to follow but it can leave one mired if they're not flexible.]

I can try it. [She makes the offer while reaching into her robes to pull out her cube shaped crystal. Still, she only does this slow enough that Sephiroth can choose to use his own if he wishes too.]

[The Ancient writing glows for a few seconds in reaction to Kidd's crystal. Then the door slides open with barely a sound.

Past the door is what looks like an office. There are some dusty bookshelves along the wall and an inactive computer in the corner, but the desk in the middle takes up most of the space.

The yellowed papers lying on the desk are illegible, but there is a notebook in a thick leather casing that seems to have survived the passage of time somewhat better.]

Hm.

[That they used Ancient to etch the message onto the door only verifies that there were Master Scholars in the last cycle -or that particular previous cycle- too. Sephiroth is reading the words over and over, copying it into his small notebook as Kidd steps up close. He blinks and meets her gaze side-on for a moment; almost questioning her silent implication about him, before looking back to the door as Kidds crystal is extended passed him towards the door.

The reaction freezes his notebook and pen, as the writing lights up and then the door slides open. The old, settled smell of dusty papers reaches Sephiroth's nose next and crinkles it up as he slips the notebook away and cautiously steps into the room.]

Well, that worked.

[It doesn't take long before he's before that large desk, studying every item on top of the desk with his undeniably stern scrutiny. The leather bound notebook is the obvious find, but Sephiroth wants to make sure he's not missing anything else which might be of note.

Failing that, he takes the notebook from the table, setting his torch atop the desk so that it provides some light while he carefully goes about opening it.]

[No insult was meant by her opening the door for him or even the way she watched him. They were both faced with the unknown and the potential of sticking their heads into a beehive, magically speaking. If something had gone wrong it would have been just as well it was her and not him. At least that's what she was thinking in part.

Like him she jumps as well as the door reacts, the silence almost making it worse as she was partially expecting some trap to go off or some other peril to rear its head.]

Aye...

[Following him inside Kidd eyes the computer in the office with the sort of suspicion that can only come from someone who predated their invention. She's acclimating well enough to all the future tech she is exposed to but she still treats some of them as she would a person she knows is keeping secrets from her. There's still a wall there she's trying to surmount in understanding.

While he busies himself with the desk she walks around the room, reading the spines of the books for any clues from common subjects or titles. After walking the wall a moment she glances over her shoulder.]

Were you in the military before you wound up in this world? The way you carry yourself; you don't seem like someone who just joined up when you arrived here.

[The notebook Sephiroth picks up turns out to be a journal. The Ancient writing looks smoother than what they saw scribbled on the door, so perhaps the writer was an Ancient this time?

Reading an early entry gives him this:]

Despite all the setbacks, the Tower is finally approaching completion. I would have preferred to secure some of the unstable floors, but the science staff insist what we have is sufficient. I cannot truly blame them for not wanting to spend further resources on nonessential construction. We all know that nothing is more important now than stopping Narayana.

This Tower is our pledge to all of existence -- we shall not surrender. This world has suffered enough for our failures. It is our duty to set things right once more.

[The books are, of course, titled in Ancient as well. Translating the text on the spines will reveal them to be studies in crystal research. Should Kidd look close enough, she might also notice a folded piece of paper sticking out from between a book and the end of a shelf. The careful placement suggests it didn't get there by accident.]

[Even though the ancient writing is smoother than what was on the door, it takes a little while for Sephiroth to really get the flow of the writing. The only hand-written Ancient he's really read before was Genesis' or that copy of the pages of Kalki's diary. To see it come in such an original form is a little jarring. Still the first entry is read a couple of times before he thumbs a page somewhere in the middle and opens it to read-

Then Kidd's words catch up and Sephiroth pauses, making sure his thumb is still on the page he wants to skim next before looking over to where she's inspecting one of the shelves.]

Something like that. [He answers, ever careful exactly what details he's willing to share about SOLDIER. The reaction of some others hasn't exactly been positive.]

It's not quite the same, but the routine is familiar to me at least.

[And then it's back down to skimming the page he's kept open, frowning just a little as he keeps his ears open at least for the continuing conversation. It's clear he's going to have to take this journal for further study.]

Sounds like they built this tower to reach something, doesn't it?

[SUDDENLY A JAEHA! How long has he been tagging along? Does it really matter? He did say he'd come along, so he means to keep his word.]

Think it's got anything to do with that moon base certain people tried to use to blow up the planet in that old man's vision?

[The script on the spines is as much gibberish and heiroglyphs to Kidd, but at the same time she expected as much. With Sephiroth here to translate the Ancient text she leaves him to his work where he is but would call him over if she found a particularly interesting looking tome.]

I can understand that. Part of why I became a pirate. Had been in the royal navy for a time, and then I settled down. But the quiet life on land just didn't work out for me.

Naranya. That's one of the names for the Calamity, right?

[She leans in, peering as she spots that bit of paper out of place. Just the sort of thing she was hoping to find. Grinning, she carefully plucks it out of the book.]

Ah! Here we go!

[At Jaeha's entrance she turns just so to keep her hand with the note blocked by her body. It's not any distrust towards the other Hero but more something out of old habit. Never know when a Templar could have tracked your position and all.]

Ah, it's you...Perhaps, but they were using that gate to get there. Not this place. I expect they're related, but not that directly.

[The middle entries in the journal are progress reports. There are a lot of technical terms thrown around that may make it difficult to read.

The piece of paper Kidd found appears to be a memo, written in the same handwriting as the journal, though with less care:]

the main project staff has requested more crystals for testing. remind crystal research staff to work on following:

sapphire (total defense. high priority)
emerald (partial defense, backup?)
ruby (attract. could serve as distraction?)
diamond (recover. high priority!)
silver (triple speed. low priority, only for testing)
gold (half speed. top priority!!)

[Moon base? Having kept his ears open he's not terrible jarred by Jaeha's entrance, but the question that follows makes him frown. He's heard hardly anything about specific events that were foretold in the Sage's vision -indeed he's almost completely convinced himself there is little point to know- and for that reason he's skimming text while listening to the other two Heroes nearby.

When Kidd gestures him over to read the memo, he takes a moment to carefully close the journal and slip it into and inside pocket before coming over. Reading the passage aloud and -provided Kidd isn't too adverse to others leaning in- leading with a finger so he doesn't fall into skimming where he's been doing that a moment ago.]

Wait- do you suppose...[Sephiroth's eyes flick from the page, to Kidd and then briefly to Jaeha.]

These are different types of crystal. Has to be.

Aye, and far more than we've seen as yet. I suspect this is referring to the native crystals of this world. Not to the ones that we have on our own persons.

[She frowns. At least she hopes that's what it means. She'd much rather not be leading the Heroes into a path paved with human experimentation.]

It would make sense, yes.

[Or would it? Sephiroth is hardly the expert when it comes to crystal metaphysics even if he does have a few good ideas who he might ask. What of their apparent 'link' to the Calamity?]

Have you ever come across any of these before?

I can't say I have. My apologies. It seems there's yet another mystery for us to dig into. And I'm sure Palitutu and our enemies are already well ahead of us on this matter.

[Kidd makes no effort to hide the disappointment on her face.]

Still, it's promising that our predecessors were able to find some way to manipulate the Calamity, and that answers a few questions I had about that vision the Sage showed us. A shame that whichever previous cycle this came from was unable to pass on the information better than this.

Undoubtedly.

[As she doesn't hide her disappointment, there is no need for him to hide the sarcasm either. Wasn't it always the way, here? They were never in front, always lagging behind, always being played in one way or another where they couldn't see the strings.]

I wonder what else would be required in the process. [Sephiroth takes a long look down the line of books on just that shelf.]

Looks like I've the work cut out for me.

[Kidd smirks and offers Sephiroth a sidelong glance.]

Sorry I can't offer more help. Still, at least we know now that you can leave a future cycle your notes on all this. All we have to do is find a good bookshelf to hide it in.

[ Sheena, who's been hanging back and watching--not to mention writing down what she can--approaches the desk.

Her Ninja and Time Mage skills might not be too handy for this job, but that doesn't mean she's not going to try to help any way she can. But first, she has a question to ask. ]

Ummm... Just how old is this tower, anyway?

[Despite all of it, and the fact he that might have to spend a great deal more time -somehow- here in the future picking apart all of the Ancient writing, Kidd's comment draws a dry chuckle from Sephiroth. Looking on the bright side isn't one of his strengths but sarcasm he's not so unfamiliar with.

There is even a ghost of a grin on one side of his face shot across at Kidd before Sheena's question rings out down the hallway from the desk he'd found the journal a few moments ago. As if in acknowledgment of her presence, Sephiroth straightens up and steps around Kidd to look in Sheena's direction.]

I get the impression that's a question we might spend the exact same amount of time trying to decipher.

And perhaps not a question we should worry overmuch about for the sake of our own sanity and survival. More important is deciphering the clues that were left for us. No sense in letting the faith they've put in us go to waste.

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Player Plot: The Mysidian Tower!

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