Player Plot: The Crystal Caves

[jadethenecromancer]

Who: Anyone who's signed up for the plot
Where: The Crystal Caves under the planet's surface
When: Oct 10-16
What: The Heroes are exploring the tunnels starting from beneath the Crystal Life Tree in hopes of finding something that might help them interact with the Soul Divider and the First Crystal.
Warnings: Potential battles. More to be added as needed.

The journey begins from the Crystal Life Tree. Those who can't make it there on their own are teleported by Jade, after which everyone is given their rations and equipment. After all, who knows how deep they'll have to go?

See the OOC post for information and sign-ups!

1) A Dangerous Journey - for mingling and battles
2) Signs of the Old Cycles - a modded group thread
3) ???

Comments

[jadethenecromancer]

Hmm... Given how many Heroes have died in the past, there could have been more of them coming and going throughout this entire cycle. [Jade pauses to mull over it.] You're right though. It's awfully coincidental that so many of the ones we personally know were born within decades of each other.

[The elevator is thankfully keeping quite still as they all get on, merely giving a very faint vibration each time someone steps on it.]

As I thought... It seems to respond to weight. Everyone on board?

[Once everyone's standing on the elevator, it stays still for a few more moments. Finally the mechanism seems to register that no one else is coming and the elevator starts going down, plunging into the misty abyss below. The speed is fairly high, but the platform stays perfectly stable.

All in all, it seems safe... for now.]

So far so good...

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

"Now there's a funny damn thought. How many times have we been brought here? How many of me or Gwen or Cloud," sorry, dude, you were just the next person in Jack's line of sight, "have come here and are mingling around as doppelgangers? It's conceivable that everybody here who isn't a genetic Heran is a doppelganger, since they've been doing this cycle, what?" Jack presses a button on the vortex manipulator. "What's 3943296 divided by 2000?"

He resets the manipulator, and checks again for Time Energy as they grow deeper.

"That was the point of it all, wasn't it? Replenish the population of Crystallis? I'd say mission accomplished, sort of."

[umslay]

[Ales does a quick calculation in his head.] A little less than 2000 times. How far back can your measurements go?

[It could have been for nearly an eternity for all Ales knows. Time science isn't his field of study.]

Though if the point was to replenish the population, they could do it easily with just kidnapping a whole group of people at once. None of this [He waves his hand] resetting business. It's damn inefficient.

[damn_juicebox]

[Rukia's been silent, content to simply listen to the theories being presented. It's frustrating, to feel like they're so close to discovering the truth, only to be uncertain. There are still many possibilities and questions to consider. Having little to offer in the cycle of souls herself...at least for now...she joins the others on the platform. She'd worry about how to get back up, but some of them can teleport and fly should the platform fail to rise again. She glances at Chappopo.]

Coming?

'I'll, um...I'll just fly above you guys, thanks! Heh heh...!'

[Rukia shrugs. Once she's standing on the platform, she looks around for some sort of trigger. There has to be some means of making it go down, right? Is there--]

[Oops, and there it goes, all by itself. She blinks in surprise, nearly stumbling at the sudden shift of gravity as she looks around wildly. How...?]

Was it waiting for all of us? It's almost as if we were expected here.

[shinrasfinest]

How about Aqures Tosf?

[Between the platform starting to move and Sephiroth getting comfortable with the fact it suddenly isn't going to fling them off, he's listening to the other theories being tossed around. He can think of only one thing that might have triggered the last cycle's worth of souls to be born as doppelgangers.]

I mean, isn't the going idea that the last cycle of Heroes nearly destroyed the way that the Ancient's engineered it to work? Perhaps the energy in the First Crystal was already too less to perpetuate the next cycle, as a result. Hence Palitutu gave it a helping...hand?

[A surge of life energy all returning to the Planet all in one go; a catastrophe on the surface. Sephiroth's voice remains monotone almost, refusing to let on how uncomfortable he sits with thoughts of Crystallis' Lifestream and how it might operate.]

[ninjainviolet]

[ Sheena turns from where she's looking over the side to look at Jack and Sephiroth, a thought forming from a conversation she had with Cloud, one with Zelda, and her own experiences. ] I think the better question would be: From how many different times were we brought here? If you think about it like that, there's an almost inexhaustible supply of us right there.

[ Now, how scary is that? And she hadn't even mentioned alternate timelines, either. ]

[im_pancake]

There really is. I mean, theoretically, you would have one of us for virtually every second of our lives.

[Twilight let out a sigh as she looks at the ever-changing scenery.]

Though, I wish I knew how all of this worked. It's really hard to tell exactly what's going on.

[jadethenecromancer]

I don't think it could have been Aqures Tosf. Palitutu specifically gathered doppelgangers in her research team before the city's destruction, remember? If something did trigger their reincarnation, it could only have been before--

[Chilling wails interrupt the discussion. As the elevator takes them down, the Heroes pass by numerous tunnels and crevices along the crystallized walls -- many of them inhabited by skeletons and zombies that turn to stare at the platform zooming past them.

These aren't the regular enemies they've been seeing earlier, though. Every undead face they glimpse is coated in crystal. These are without the doubt the stronger versions.

The elevator moves too fast for the crystallized abominations to just hop on, but that blessing is short-lived. As the air is filled with screeches, a wave of Crystal Skeletons drops down on the Heroes from above. The long fall down doesn't seem faze them at all; they merely crash onto the platform and immediately rise to launch their mindless assault on the Heroes.]

Heads up! We have company!

[OOC: This thread will continue, but we might start the final thread early so that the mods can have the results ready for the monthly info post! Be sure to track/check this thread, as the mod team may tag it in the coming days.]

[boomchucka]

[Selphie watched those eyes staring back at her warily and unsheathed her sword before looking up at the horde coming to greet them. Any sense of cheer in the girl was wiped away as she readied a dualcast of Fira. Something in the girl had her doubting herself. Would Fira be strong enough to take some of the monsters out? Was she strong enough for another dualcast?

Was she strong enough? She had to have something stronger in her arsenal. As quickly as she unsheathed her sword, it was sheathed as she readied the dualcast. She had to have something stronger she could use against the incoming crystal zombies. She gritted her teeth and thrust her hands up over her head.]

Firaga!

[Selphie watched as flames licked her fingers before shooting upwards. Her eyes widened as she knew that Red Mage wouldn't allow her to cast Firaga.]

What the...?

[She shook her head. One more time, with feeling!]

Firaga!

[scriptrix]

[Levy came equipped with the Tactician advanced job this time - she wanted to have Scholar at the ready to translate things if needed, but also something a little hardier than her custom job in case combat situations arose. And it's a good thing, too, because those crystal skeletons look pretty nasty.]

Arcfire!

[Channeling the advanced magic afforded to her, Levy summons a pillar of fire to engulf their enemies, adding its power to the conflagration Selphie had conjured just moments before. She doesn't have much experience fighting undead, but years of friendship with Natsu has taught her that fire works on just about everything - and if not, just add more.]

[ninjainviolet]

[ Damn wails cutting Jade off like that. Sheena had truly been interested in what he was going to say.

However, the moment the sound begins, the ninja brandishes her particle thrower and turns to face the enemy. And immediately sees the problem facing her. She may have practiced using the thing and had good aim, but there are too many people here. To high a risk of being hit by the stream.

Luckily, she had another job equipped that should help. Holstering the thrower, Sheena uses the Divine Materialization ability of Bearer of Wisdom to summon a sword that seems to shine slightly with light magic.

But she doesn't run to attack, instead, she casts a spell that should send the targeted enemies to the Rift. ]

Evil's Bane!

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Jack lets out a cry as Sheena casts her second spell, automatically throws out a hand, but it's not like he can stop her. He can only watch as a few of them vanish. Okay. Okay. It was only a couple. "Don't do that again, I'll explain later!"

Jack, himself, moves to the back of the group. Running melee when people are throwing this many spells might be bad, so instead he'll run support. That song he was practicing earlier starts up again: The Chorus of King Moogle Mog. It might sound familiar to people who have been in the city this holiday season. But more importantly, it'll immunize the party against any Light or Dark elemental attacks. If these things are like the regular Skeletons, that might help a lot.

[im_pancake]

And upon hearing Jack say that, Twilight can only groan and glare at Jack. "Alright, seriously, can we get through one adventure where we're not hiding secrets and things we should have known last year?!" she snapped before she fired a Magic Bolt at a crystal zombie.

[neverfirstclass]

[With the way that the conversation is twisting and turning Cloud finds himself growing more worried about their futures in this world. Somehow he gets the feeling that whether or not they stop Garland there may not be room for many more cycles. There's nothing to really support it; just the general sense that Crystallis itself is at a tipping point. And if all these people are being pulled from different worlds can they truly say that those worlds are safe? The Calamity is more than the crystalization they can see after all.

Maybe it's just his imagination running away from him. Maybe. But he's sure that leaving things as they are will cause more harm than good, even with the risks they're intending to take in the future.

He doesn't have long to linger on those thoughts however. He grimaces as their elevator takes on more passengers. The crystals make him wonder if these used to be other potential Heroes and something went wrong. That they're not simply monsters but....no. No time for that.]

If you're not front line then get behind me!

[Raising his shield and stepping forward, Cloud once more stands Sentinel for his party.]

[water_meebo]

Right!

[ With all the conversation and tension in the elevator, Mikleo was feeling a bit nervous. All the doppelgangers and all the theories that were displayed. They made him feel uncertain about what they would find and what sort of messed up answer they'd get once they find what they were looking for.

He steps behind Cloud, holding up his quarterstaff and preparing himself to play support where needed. Entering the elevator with so many people was already a bad sign to begin with. He was worried how many it could hold before it fell down.

Of course anything that gets close enough to them, Mikleo will start himself off with focus and leading him towards using other magic spells after he uses focus. ]

[unyieldingspirit]

We all have- only the one life, though.

[It doesn't make any sense to her that more than one of them from the same timeline could be drawn to this world- aren't their own worlds drained simply from the one of them?

She throws Jack a look, briefly- she probably owes him a conversation at some point. Not now, though, considering their extra guests, and she draws her blade- though with Red Mage equipped, and the fires the others have started- why not add to that? She focuses her energy towards Dualcast and setting two casts of Fira.]

[umslay]

Keep me covered!

[There is no hesitation in Ales' eyes. If he is to live here for the rest of his life as planned, it's not as a Doppelganger. The cycle has to be stopped, if only to make it livable.

He runs behind Cloud, tome in hand. The mages are doing a doing a good job, but the melee fighters can use a hand. He casts Enlightenment on the party, increasing the physical attack power of all on the elevator.]

[ninjainviolet]

What?!

[ Startled by Jack's cry, Sheena's hold on the spell weakens, which is why only a couple of enemies are affected. But, without an explanation or anything else forthcoming, the ninja is left to her own thoughts. If that spell shouldn't be used, then neither should her weapon, right?

But that leaves her with two options: putting the other Heroes in danger by using her particle thrower, or helping by healing and providing support.

Her sword still in hand, she goes with option two and turning to Sephiroth, casts Hylia's Prayer on him, strengthening his resistance to physical attacks. ]

[shinrasfinest]

[Sephiroth steps out alongside Cloud as the skeletons rush for the party, spreading his stance wide and drawing his sword up into a large arcing pincer shape at the top of his left shoulder. Waiting. Gauging. There is no time to feel proud about holding the front line with the young blonde fighter, it's their job and they have to do it.

On top of everyone else who has thrown a buff over him or those around him, ShinRa Guard is also thrown up on himself, pushing that physical defense about as far as it can go and also adding the effects of Shell.

Despite the bickerings and warnings going on behind him, as soon as the front line of that wave of skeletons is in range, Sephiroth lunges forward and pulls Masamune in a low, long horizontal sweep; the intention to catch as many of them as possible as the ones behind would then have to stumble over them.]

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Time to change strategies, then. Jack's song cuts off, as he draws his sword. He wasn't angry, just surprised, because he thought everyone had come to the same conclusion. And time for the Torchwood tradition of Trying To Explain While Under Direct Fire From The Enemy.

"Everything we send into the Rift is either a free snack for the Calamity? Or it's gonna be sitting there waiting for us when we go back in there." He casts Climhazard, swings his sword right in the center of them all, trying to catch as many of the Skeletons as possible.

"Either way, it's only making things worse for us later."

[damn_juicebox]

Rukia had a clean shot with a crystalline monster that landed a little too precariously close to the edge, so she raised her blaster. The moment she did, a creature dropped nearly on top of her, seizing hold of her weapon and trying to wrest it out of her hands. No match for the monster's strength, Rukia scowled up at it, then relinquished her grip with her left hand to slam her elbow at its throat.

It hissed at her, drawing back claws to rake them across her face. Then it jerked back as Kashikoiko sank her sharp dinosaur teeth into its arm and dragged it backward, kicking and struggling. Throwing it to the ground, the velociraptor pounced on it, talons first.

"Good girl," Rukia exhaled, ignoring the claw marks that had torn into her sleeve and flesh as she hoisted her weapon again to blast the one on the edge. It went over with a keening howl.

[ninjainviolet]

Oh.

[ Sheena had thought sending something crystallized into the Rift would be like a poison to the Calamity and slow it down.

She's really going to have to start asking people about these things before she does something.

Changing strategies, she "loses" her sword and since the group is spread out, pulls out her thrower and powers it on. Casting Hylia's Prayer on herself, she moves forward, aiming a blast towards a skeleton lumbering towards the velociraptor and nailing it in the chest. ]

[neverfirstclass]

[Cloud keeps quiet as the fight continues, keeping focused on the foes in front of him. There's so much uncertainty about their future and he doesn't imagine that these skeletons will give them the answers they want. He follows up Jack's attack with a Climhazzard of his own. With all the power being put out he doesn't expect them to stand up to it. What he's more concerned with is how many waves they'll have to go through.

He glances at the others and pushes that worry aside. He trusts everyone here.]

Sorry for the delay

[jadethenecromancer]

[Jade keeps to the middle of the group, casting Gift of Crystallis to give protection to those who haven't been buffed yet. He's keeping an eye on everyone's health from there.

The Crystal Skeletons hit like tanks, but thankfully they're not smart enough to avoid attacks and soon they start going down, crystallized bones falling off the elevator into the abyss below. The assault isn't over though, as they're quickly replaced by more Crystal Zombies dropping from above. These ones show more intelligence by moving around the Heroes, trying to flank and divide the group before rushing in.]

[damn_juicebox]

[Rukia was just starting to flag in her efforts when Jade's skill kicks in. The buffs are nice, but it's the Regen effects that she really needs. The sting of the cuts on her face and her arm lessens somewhat. She's not healed, but if she can conserve her energy and catch her breath for a moment, she should be combat ready soon enough. She retreats cautiously toward the center, avoiding the edges.]

[The velociraptor, in the meantime, is having the best day of its whole life. It uses Shield Bash with reckless abandon, slamming any monsters it finds right off the edge of the platform to send them spiraling toward a pancake-shaped doom. If there's nothing for it to shove off a cliff, then it starts leaping on those that land nearby other Heroes with a savage shriek, biting and shredding with its talons.]