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

[red_planet_blues]

Seems likely. Croach was with the folks last month, then they all disappeared. Then his antenna showed up in the mail. I can only think that they took 'em somehow.

[He hadn't thought that far ahead, as displayed by the slightly pained expression that crosses his face as he realizes he hadn't thought so far ahead. A bunch of brainwashed Heroes is the last thing they need.]

Ugh, that... that is a distinct possibility. And they already got a big army as it is.

[jadethenecromancer]

Not only that, but if our dream is to be believed, they now have a method for destroying our crystals.

[The woman's vague words keep bothering him. "For all intents and purposes, we are not going to kill him." If the test subject didn't die, then what happened to him?]

We may not know precisely what happens when a person's crystal breaks, but either way, we can't count on being revived through Crystal Stasis if anything goes wrong.

[line_piece]

That might be exactly what happens. Our personal crystals seem like they act like a reserve of extra lives, from what I've heard. Once they're broken, we're probably down to the last life. It's probably a good idea not to count on being revived anyway. The crystals changing color when we come back has to mean something, after all, and a color change from anything to black is usually pretty bad.

[red_planet_blues]

Wait, what?

[Sparks digs his own crystal out of his inside coat pocket and holds it up. It's completely blue in color.]

When I first got here, this thing was red. Over time it's turned blue. I don't think nothin's happened to me... I think? 'N they got not only to do with maybe our lives 'n cyrstal stasis, but our Jobs, too.

[jadethenecromancer]

Yes, they seem to gradually change color on their own. I have never died, yet my crystal has begun to show signs of changing as well.

[Jade takes out his own crystal. It's still red, but there's the faintest hint of violet in the center.]

The woman in the dream claimed our crystals contain time. When we are mortally wounded, we are restored to our anterior state -- in a way, our bodies go back in time. Perhaps the color change is directly related to the passage of time, then? It could explain why it progresses slowly in normal circumstances, but speeds up dramatically when the crystal is forced to alter our temporal state to such an extent.

[It's all speculation at this point, but it's a thought.]

[red_planet_blues]

I try not to make a habit of dyin', either. Been here for awhile now, and mine started changin' after like two months here. Maybe sooner. I didn't pay that much attention to the thing much when I first got here.

So whattaya mean then by "forced to alter our temporal state" then? Are we, like, gettin' older or somethin'? We're not, right?

[This topic was far too outside of Sparks's areas of expertise.]

[jadethenecromancer]

I suppose we would actually be getting younger every time we die. That is what I mean by alteration -- by reversing our deaths, the crystals would be causing our time to progress backwards, which would presumably use up more of their energy and speed up the color change.

...Well, it would be interesting if it were true, anyway. We need an expert's opinion before we can draw any conclusions.

[red_planet_blues]

Huh. So just like, resetting us. Winding the clock back to the last time we were fine 'n dandy. Meaning, if someone keeps dyin', they may suck up energy from their crystal faster?

[He taps his chin, thinking.] But I haven't died, 'n mine's changed. I only even changed one of my Jobs once.

[Sparks shrugged and shook his head.] I dunno. I guess it is all worth noting, at least. All this magic 'n crystals 'n stuff is all new to me since I got here. Ain't got nothin' like it back where I'm from. You sound like yer some kinda scientist or somethin', though.

[He'll try not to give Jade too much of a suspicious look. It's not Jade's fault, it's just that back on Mars, pretty much every scientist is of the mad variety.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[Jade merely gives a good-natured smile in response.] I used to dabble, once upon a time.

[Hopefully no one is expecting further elaboration, because he's not giving it.]

Still, I'm afraid I'm rather out of my depth as well. Expertise in one world doesn't mean much in another.

I understand rescuing our comrades takes priority, but I'm hoping we might find out more about the Empire's experiments while we're there. There is no telling how soon we'll have another opportunity, and we are in sore need of information.

[red_planet_blues]

Yeah, I get ya. We have a heck of a time gettin' a leg up on these guys, so this'll be just as much of a recon mission as it will be a rescue mission. Plus it's a good idea for us to break up in to different groups, just in case.