Player Plot: The Mysidian Tower!

[jadethenecromancer]

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.

Comments

[cantante]

... If you're willing to. [ Tear had released an almost audible sigh of relief when nothing negative came out of Sephiroth using his crystal, being one of the Heroes who had forgone stepping on the observation deck for the time being. ]

If it was found in this room, what other purpose could it have? [ Stepping closer to the machine, she couldn't help wondering if one would be enough given the number of slots. ]

[confidentia]

[ There were no protests from this side, at least. Having observed the commotion, Ace finally walked up closer to observe the result of Ramza's attempt more closely before resuming his own search. ]

Go ahead.

[ If people were ready to insert Crystals of their own, surely it would be acceptable to try out the seemingly safer options as well. ]

[wickedone]

[It was a good thing Sonic settled down, even if he did get a weird hedgehog pout. Albel was ready to threaten to stab him otherwise. No one was going to touch any important machinery that might make huge changes to the world, not without a plan.]

[Fiddling around with one's crystals in this big interactive map was suspicious, too, but it seemed slightly safer. That, and Albel wasn't going to fight Sephiroth right now.]

[He crossed his arms and watched Ramza, curious to see what the sapphire crystal would do and trying not to expect the worst.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[Jade holds up a hand, watching the machine intently.] Hold on just a moment.

[The machine has finished updating. A pale shape starts spreading from the Old Heran Island and then stops, perfectly matching where they know the Calamity to be right now. A prompt appears on the map: >Begin simulation]

Hmm...

[Jade reaches out to touch the words. On the map, the Calamity begins spreading, while a date starts ticking forward, showing them when the crystallization reaches each location. About one year from now, the entire planet is covered; then the simulation resets, once again displaying the Calamity's current position.]

I see. This must be how the Ancients kept a watch on the Calamity. [But in that case, what is the crystal for? There is something they're still missing.]

[soldierofloveandbeauty]

[Minako slowly edged her way, peeking over the others shoulder. That was pretty interesting to say the least.]

Must be. I mean they would of had to somehow, right? So it makes sense. But... does this help us in anyway?

[That was what she was trying to figure out.]

[ninjainviolet]

Her own crystal still in her hand, Sheena watches the display, her brows furrowing in confusion at the strange language and what looks like a countdown. But even she can tell it's only a prediction--and a frightening one at that.

At Jade's words, she stares from the machine to him, then back.

"Wait. You mean this machine is from the first time the Calamity came here? Has it been asleep all this time?"

You know, like in stasis?

[thegreatninja]

That's pretty neat.

[Yuffie stares at it curiously wondering if they can use it to track the Calamity. She looks over at Sheena and smiles.]

I find older stuff works better than newer stuff.

[It's just made when people don't want to cut corners.]

[shinrasfinest]

'Begin Simulation'

[He reads out the prompt for the others around watching who can't read Ancient. He's getting pretty quick at it now, having been all the way through the Tower.

As the simulation is reaching its end, Sephiroth is looking between the screen and the blue crystal that's been placed in the socket. While he's disturbed as anyone else about seeing how the Calamity will spread, he's very much 'on-job' and thinking objectively.]

No. This seems to have just re-calibrated itself, to show us a real-time simulation, based on the current status of the crystallization.

I wonder what is the difference between this crystal, and our own.

[His, after all, is also blue. That said, he knows that Ales has been experimenting with crystal energy...could just be one of those...]

I heard that monsters could be harvested for crystals. What is the connection?

[He's musing more to himself but it's open for others to comment. At the front of his mind is the applicable life-energy theories from his own world that could be applied here, but it's being chewed over still.]

[zodiac_brave]

[Ramza left the Sapphire Crystal in the slot on the machine.]

There are still more slots. Perhaps we should look around and see if there are any more crystals around.

[wickedone]

Yes, [Albel answered Sephiroth,] I've infused some of those crystals into weapons. In the Crystal Forest, too, there were even crystals growing on trees. They very well could be linked to life forces.

[He looked over his own thoughtfully, slowly turning purple. He hadn't even died, not once, but it still changed on its own. Little by little, steadily on.]

If it's updated the Calamity simulation, then it must have been used in a previous cycle. Perhaps it has been dormant since the last Heroes were here.

[And failed.]

[they_call_me_sonic]

[Processing... processing...]

Wait a sec, if that's true, then maybe it has stuff on the last cycle!

[He hopped off his perch and approached the machine]

Maybe we can get one step ahead of the storm here. For all we know, it's just playing the same path over and over again!

[not_most_days]

[Kidd's eyebrow goes up at the crystal that Ramza has found. She missed it when he located it, or else she wasn't present, but the fact that such a thing was laying around reminds her somewhat of the artifacts they saw in the Heran Research Facility. She fingers her own crystal as she thinks about that artifact she handed over to Palitutu and at the same time eyes the error message that popped up for Sephiroth's crystal. If the one Ramza has found doesn't work then she'll try her own. Perhaps it would react differently to one that has been drained of the Calamity.]

If it's going to tell us anything more I expect Ramza is on the right track. We should try to find more of those crystals.

[She moves to go search the room for any that may have wound up hidden, fallen under or behind other things in the chamber. She never turns her back on the machine though, keeping an eye on it just in case things take a turn.]

[shinrasfinest]

Hm.

[He's thinking alongside Albel now, apparently.]

And every cycle previous, by extension. Why else would it still be here considering Crystallis has been reset each time? It lends itself more and more towards Ancient origins.

[Unless...whomever put this here, during whichever past cycle, figured out a way to root it's presence into the very fabric of Crystallis when it -and arguably the rest of the Tower- was built.

In the meantime, Sephiroth stays by the machine but watches as others go looking for similar crystals to what Ramza found. There were other slots, after all.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[Unfortunately, there are no other crystals to be found in the room. Looks like the Sapphire Crystal was the only one left. Moreover, the Sapphire Crystal doesn't seem to be doing anything yet.

Well, time to experiment a bit. Jade reaches out again and picks a location at random, touching the spot where Esdham should be. The map reacts to his touch and a blue circle appears over the location. Tapping it again turns the circle green, then red, then makes it vanish again. Should any of the other Heroes touch the map, they'll find it reacts the same way to them.

Curiously enough, while circling a location in green or red gives no other prompts besides the initial "Begin simulation", circling one in blue presents an additional one -- "Activate barrier?"]

Activate barrier? I wonder if... [Jade trails off, glancing down at the Sapphire Crystal in its slot.]

[they_call_me_sonic]

[Yeah, Sonic sees the connection, too. He's not smart, but he knows when he sees two and two together...!]

Woah... time out there! I know I was acting hasty earlier, but that's just bad news right there! If I didn't know better, I'd say that this place was a major failed experiment. Who wants to bet this entire place was one big barrier system?

[zodiac_brave]

[Ramza studied the machine, frowning.]

Should we try it? It seems safer to activate a barrier than deactivate one.

[Who knew what the old barrier was keeping out, after all?]

[ninjainviolet]

[ Sheena shook her head and looked at Ramza. ]

And what if we can't deactivate it? Just because it gave us the option to do so doesn't mean we can. Besides, those barriers may be meant to keep things in, not out.

[ Then she turned to Sonic. ]

A failed experiment by the Ancients? Or something that became one when other Heroes came by and tried to use the information they had discovered.

But maybe someone can answer this question for me: If blue is a barrier on this thing, why are there two different colors that say "begin simulation"? Is one a good simulation and the other bad? Or is one what will happen and the other what might happen?

[ You know, green versus red? ]

[fearlessherosheart]

Do the colors mean anything to you? Certainly our Crystals have some manner of different color.

[Tazendra had her own one out. As one of those awoken on Old Hera Island by Kalki, hers was transparent and almost clear instead of blue.]

I do not believe this world holds the same associations my own does, or the Black Crystals would behave rather differently.

[not_most_days]

[Mulling things over, it is Sheena and Tazendra asking about different colors that reminds the Assassin of a note that she found on a lower floor. She'd shared it with Sephiroth when she found it but only now remembered to bring it up to the others as it began to make sense.

Unfolding the paper she gives it another look over before holding it out to the group.]

I found this tucked away in one of the smaller rooms lower in the tower. I cannot say for certain but it seems that their blue and green crystals were intended for defense. T'would seem that the gold and diamond crystals would be of use to us all, if we can find any.

[shinrasfinest]

[Kidd isn't the only one that the mentions of crystals with different colors snap his recollection back to that note as well and almost as if he were expecting Kidd to have kept a hold of it, he's fishing immediately into his inside pocket to draw out his own hardback notebook.

Flicking through page after page he finally holds the book out alongside Kidd's note, so that those who can't read the Ancient writing can read his translation.]

Sapphire is for 'total defense'. [The quotation marks in his tone of voice were as obvious as if they might be written]

I might suggest that ruby crystals are for the red circle - to attract the Calamity towards a certain location.

[Sephiroth isn't letting go of his notebook but everyone is welcome to come and look.]

Perhaps this location really is already 'protected' from the Calamity, already.

[ninjainviolet]

[ Sheena listens to both Kidd and Sephiroth, coming over to peer at the man's notebook. She points to the map but doesn't touch. ]

If what you're saying is true, then a deactivated barrier is blue and an active one what we saw back there? But what are they in different rooms? One for the tower and one for the rest of the world?

[ A question that brings up images of isolation for those trapped in the tower and anywhere else a barrier is activated. Then she looks at the view. ]

Maybe we should run the simulations of the other colors. See if Red equals danger by luring the bull.

[wickedone]

[Albel pursed his lips, looking between the simulation projection and the crystal.]

Just as long as it's just another simulation. Don't accidentally send the Calamity somewhere.

[silencesfate]

... I think that type of oversight would be pretty hastily corrected.

Or well, we should hope so.

[ It was always long lost civilizations, wasn't it? No people you could direct your questions to face-to-face. Minato sighed, but that they got information was better than having gone up all this way to arrive at nothing at all. He was still mulling over Kidd's words. ]

Assuming that info's correct, it might be a good idea to try "make" some too, instead of just hoping we find them. [ Though it still sounds like a steep challenge, he'd rather not leave it to luck. ]

[jadethenecromancer]

Let's give it a try, then.

[Jade leaves the blue circle around Esdham and picks two other locations to test the simulation on -- a green circle around Trano Golsaucia, a red circle around Downapolis. Then he restarts the simulation.

The first thing they'll notice is the Calamity going much faster in the direction of Downapolis. Next, the crystallization starts to slow down when it reaches the green circle around Trano Golsaucia, leaving the town inside a safe zone that slowly shrinks as the Calamity goes around it. Once again, the blue circle around Esdham stops the Calamity completely until the last three days of the simulation, after which the entire map is finally covered.

And again, the simulation resets.]

Looks like the simulation can be run as many times as we like, but making the effects reality requires specific crystals.

[zodiac_brave]

[Ramza looks to Kidd and Sephiroth.]

Do the notes you have found mention the location of any of these Crystals? If there are more Sapphire Crystals we can find to protect our cities, recovering them should be our top priority.