The Fete at the Observatory

[desertbloomed]

Characters: All (hopefully) uncaptured Heroes of Light
Where/When: At the Heroes' Observatory, the evening of February 10th
Summary: Ashelia has called a meeting - under the guise of a party - to discuss the next steps forward for the Heroes following the revelations revealed in the shared dream.
Warnings: N/A
Note: Each part of Ashelia's speech is centred around a different topic. Feel free to indicate what in particular your character is responding to in the headline for your top level! Alternately, if your character is bringing up something on their own, or not in direct reply to something Ashelia has mentioned, feel free to out the subject in the Subject line! There's a lot going on and a lot of ground to cover, so let's keep it organized so things are easy to find later!

"I would like your attention, please." With her experience as an accomplished politician, Ashelia's voice cut through the din of the gathered Heroes. The high ceiling of the meeting room lent itself well to the sorts of echoes that could easily cause headaches, unfortunately. The Queen planned to bring in some fabrics to soften the effects, but there had been little time for decorating, and it seemed there wouldn't be anytime soon.

The Lady Ashelia stood at the head of the incredibly large wooden table that dominated a good chunk of the room. Wooden chairs lined the edges of the tables, straight-backed and unfortunately not cushioned. It was clear that the Queen of Dalmasca didn't want anyone getting too comfortable in this particular room. There were papers in front of her, books and file folders and ledgers, all organized into neat piles. She picked up one of the papers, clearing her throat quietly before continuing. "If as many of you as possible could take a seat, I can call this meeting to order - and yes, I would like to apologize.

"As you may have guessed, this is not a fete. It is important for everyone to know..." Ashelia paused, waiting for the last straggling voices to quiet down before continuing, "that Mognet has been compromised. There is no longer such a thing as private correspondence, if ever there was. Keep this in mind in the coming months. The war has begun."

Ashelia paused for questions and comments before continuing.

"As many of us have realized, and Markus observed earlier over Mognet, the usual appearance of new Heroes of Light at the Crystal of Fire around the fifth of each month did not occur. This disturbance of the established cycle may seem abrupt, but upon further examination, 'tis not so." The Queen took a sip of water. "The cycle has been disturbed previously, though not in such a drastic manner. Last month, crystal statues appeared and disappeared within the hour. Heroes awakened from the crystal stasis were unceremoniously dropped from the sky. So you see, this disturbance has simply progressed. I welcome your thoughts on this."

Ashelia paused for questions and comments before continuing.

"Next on my agenda is the true motivation behind my calling this gathering. The night of February 5th, I had a dream." She stopped, shaking her head. "No, a vision. It did not take me long to realize I was not the only one to experience this. I've written the contents here." Ashelia held up a file folder. "However, if I am correct, many of you need only read it to refresh your memory." She stopped for a moment, putting the folder back on the table. "The ramifications of this new information are clear. The Empire holds four of our number captive, as well as countless other displaced Heroes in crystal stasis. It is my belief we must act on this information. We must save them."

Ashelia paused for questions and comments before continuing.

"The last subject I would like to cover is this." She held up a small, worn notebook. "This is the diary of the Lady Kalki, one of the Empire's Triumvirate. This woman, more than any other, has made clear her intentions are in opposition to us as a group. I encourage everyone to read through this document." Ashelia put the notebook down on the table and held up another file folder. "I have written a transcription myself, as the original is quite delicate." She put the file folder down. "This document provides invaluable insight into whom we can only assume is our enemy. It , unfortunately, poses more questions than it answers, but it does make clear that it is she who holds the answers that we need."

Ashelia took another sip of water, looking around at the gathered Heroes. "I once again open the floor to questions and comments. I believe it will take all of us to rescue our comrades; however, I also believe that if we do work together as one, we shall not fail."

Comments

[line_piece]

So, 'there are always eighty' probably refers to the monthly appearance of the Heroes of Light in this world. Apparently they've been split between the Crystals of Fire and Earth up until now, but something has been done to stop the Crystal of Fire from receiving any new Heroes, probably by Kalki.

But why are these the only two crystals where new Heroes appear? Is that due to the research Kalki described in her diary? The Wind and Water Crystals aren't mentioned anywhere in there, right? Maybe they would be worth taking a look at, too.

[desertbloomed]

Ashelia shook her head. "Impossible to say. Despite all my reading and research, there is little and less that I can understand. There are several expeditions I have wanted to embark upon, to the Temples of Water and Wind, to the Ancient Cave in search of the missing Queen...circumstances have a habit of obstructing those plans."

[line_piece]

We should definitely try to find the Queen as soon as possible. Things like that are always really plot-important. She probably knows something crucial that we're missing.

[desertbloomed]

"Ah...yes." Plot-important? Alrighty then. "I would wager everything that she does indeed know exactly what is happening. As the last descendent of the Ancients, there surely must be some information passed down through her household that could help us. According to the diary, she knew Heroes of Light as a child." Of course, it was only Kalki's recounting of the claims of a child, but still.

[line_piece]

[Hey, Chiaki's played more than one game with mysterious missing royalty.]

That's true. She might even have some kind of vaguely defined special powers that no one else does that can help.

[elevatoravatar]

"Then it is settled! We shall have to steal the crystal of Earth, lest its powers be used to hasten oblivion! Perhaps then we also would have point of reference why two crystals are active and two are not."

She nods, pointing dramatically then looks around lost.

"I do not suppose anyone knows how to do that?"

[line_piece]

The crystals are pretty big, aren't they? How would we steal it out from under the Empire's noses like that?

[elevatoravatar]

"Hrm, such a plan may take a master of strategy."

She ponders, looking back for a moment before pointing up dramatically, "Of course! We must go on a CAPER!"

"From my understanding, capers are a special kind of plan that one in a position of less power uses something called a montage to prepare a complicated plan that will not only confuse one's opponent, but also leaves them to be in a position of great embarrassment."

"I do believe we will need to find a group of adolescent young males that are eager to please an attractive female and are unable to do so with brute force alone. Were only my brother here, that describes him almost perfectly...."

[line_piece]

We'll need plenty of people with the Thief and Ninja jobs. They'd have the best chance at pulling something like that off.

[elevatoravatar]

"Yes, that makes sense. We also would need a master of wilderness survival to ski the K13 as the lynchpin to this. Is this a thing that we have?"

[line_piece]

What's a K13?

[elevatoravatar]

"I have NO idea!"

[line_piece]

It kind of sounds like a class of personal armored tank. But why would you ski on one?

[elevatoravatar]

"I believe it may be a mountain actually. Sadly I was hoping someone here would know more as I only have passing information on the fact that it was part of a caper, not how it interacted with it."

[line_piece]

We might have to find a different mountain, then.

[elevatoravatar]

"As long as it is an impressive one I believe the situation will still be in our favor."

[line_piece]

...Wait, why are we stealing the crystals again?

[elevatoravatar]

"Because the other side is using them for some form of dastardly deeds?"

[line_piece]

Only one of them that we know about.

[elevatoravatar]

"Still, it is something that can be done. One can never speculate on the unknown too much, or it leads to madness."

[line_piece]

That's true. I guess we'll see how things go during the celebration.