Intro Log || The Night of the Thirteen Moogles

[melodiesmods]

Characters: All the "Heroes of Light" (only new characters can start threads).
Where: Aqures Ixen.
When: The 5th of October. The new Heroes of Light will awaken early in the morning.
Summary: The new Heroes of Light awaken in Aqures Ixen and are informed by their assigned Moogles of what the situation and what their destinies are. This a log for them to react to the situation, meet each other and be welcomed by the former batches of Heroes of Light. New Heroes of Light will not have their Crystal.
Warning: N/A

Where you were or what you were doing— It does not really matter. Not any more. Within an instant, the world around you collapses. Reality twists and shatters... Or maybe you are the one who is collapsing and shattering away from reality as you knew it. No matter what the answer is, it will only take a few seconds for you to find yourself sinking into a void, your world vanishing into the distance. There is nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see. Even you feel different: all the powers you might once have had, are now gone. It is silent, cold and it feels as though life itself is slipping out of you.

At this moment, when it looks as though nothing but a never-ending void awaits you, a red Crystal forms before you. In this void, its warmth compels you to grab it. Upon doing so, you can hear a soft, soothing voice speaking:


"Wake up."

Soon, the void itself vanishes and is replaced by distant noises of engines. Had it all been nothing more than a dream? The soothing voice repeats its call one more time, but is soon replaced with a much less graceful "Wake up Kupo," the call of the Moogle finally waking you up. But you are no longer in your world, nor in the void. You are before the Crystal of Fire, in the third district of a city called Aqures Ixen. At this point, you may realize the engine noise actually originates from an Airship flying low over the city and headed to the castle. As if it wasn't strange enough, your clothes have changed as well. They are now a reflection of the Jobs you are wielding. Last but not least, you are surrounded by Moogles, small and fluffy creatures who are more than happy to tell you about everything you want to know, about your 'destiny' as a Hero of Light, about what awaits you.

Or at least, they will tell you everything they do know, which isn't much in the end.

The only people around you are like you-- There are quite a few of them, all clothed in their Job garbs and most likely wondering what is happening. If somehow you do not realize it, the Moogle who woke you up will be more than happy to inform you there are others like you around. In fact, there are other Heroes who arrived these past months too and they will come soon! Like you, they had Jobs and a Crystal-- Wait, you don't have a Crystal...? That's weird.

Your Moogle will be puzzled by this fact, as all Heroes of Light are supposed to have a crystal with them. Well, maybe you are not a Hero of Light after all?


The Other Heroes
— Shortly Thereafter —
Thanks to the efficiency of Mognet, it does not take long for the other Heroes to come around: those who arrived in this world one or two months ago. You may have imagined heroic and charismatic figures when your Moogle told you that there were other Heroes of Light in this city. You may have imagined persons with fearsome powers worthy of being revered as heroes. And more importantly, you may have imagined them as people who would have all the answers to your, doubtlessly, numerous questions.

If so, you may be up for a minor disappointment. Still, for the most part they know more than you on the situation and may be more than happy to fill you in, especially if your Moogle didn't tell you much.


The Night of the Thirteen Moogles
— Anytime —
Something that may be obvious, is that the city has a spooky feel to it. There are various decorations, it clearly looks like a work in progress but it seems the idea is to make the city looks as scary as possible. Characters familiar with Halloween may recognize the decoration as being strikingly similar. The Moogles will be more than pleased to explain these are all preparations for the upcoming Night of the Thirteen Moogles on the 31st, and they will explain the legends to characters if they ask.

Hopefully all this talk of curse and King Moggle Mog is nothing more than legend.


The City of Aqures Ixen
— Anytime —
There are a lot of things left to do in the city, especially with everyone excited for the upcoming celebration. Starting from 18:00, a series of BLitzball games will take place at the stadium located in the tenth district, opposing amateur teams in a friendly competition. At the same time, a small group of Triple Triad players are playing before Mognet Office in the ninth district, and they are more than happy to teach the rule to anyone passing by. Characters are free to enter and play games of Triple Triad, and if they do so they will be given very basic cards and explained the rules. This may be the start of a promising career!

Characters are also free to visit the city-- Be it Mognet Office just behind the Triple Triad games is filled with very busy Moogles, or the Airship Port in the twelfth district from where characters can board for free Airships from Shoopuf Airline, knowing the next airship departing from Aqures Ixen will do so on the 9th. Still, characters can board an exposition Airship should they like and visit it.

Or maybe you could visit your new house in the 11th District, and get to know your new neighbors and housemate. Hopefully your neighbors are people you will get along with.

Comments

Other Heroes and Elsewhere

[umslay]

It had taken an hour, but Mimi finally convinced Ales to leave his work and welcome the new heroes. After all, she told him, who knew if there would be complications with the arrival like last time? At least he would spare them several minutes of confusion and panic.

Once the Teensie and Moogle reached the Crystal of Fire, they could see that something was wrong. The Moogles were all there, thanksfully, but the heroes milled around, talking with one another just as worried as the group Ales came with. He spotted one of them keeping to herself and eyeing the others mistrustfully. Perfectly understandable, but not a good way to get by in this world. Obviously, he had to talk to her.

Dressed in his elaborate Scholar robes and a large hat, he walked up to Lightning with a smile, his Moogle closely following him. "Good afternoon! You've just arrived here today, I see. I'm Ales." He made a sweeping gesture as he spoke. "How have you been finding your arrival? Everything going smoothly?"

[iamspark]

What the hell was that? It looked like...no it didn't even look like something that lived on Cocoon. Not only was it blue but it was also wearing clothes. For all she knew this could have been a promotional thing for whatever it is the town is decorating for.

Except there's a moogle following him which meant he had to be a fellow Hero of Light. The world this creature came from must be a strange one. Stranger than hers and that was saying something considering there were things like Fal'Cie and l'Cie.

Both arms cross over her chest in a defensive manner. "I'm Lightning. No, it's not going smoothly. Apparently I don't have the crystal this creature keeps going on about." She nodded towards her Moogle.

[umslay]

"What?!" The Moogle behind Ales raised her little arms to her face in surprise. "B-but how is that possible? All heroes that come have crystals!"

"It'll be fine," he whispered to her. "I'm sure there's an explanation for this." Why else would people be transported into a new world without a reason?

He turned back to face Lightning. "Probably a clerical error. It's not so bad as when I came here, with no Moogles around to explain what's happening. For a while, I convinced myself that I was dead and this was some sort of afterlife!" This would have been a good time to add a chuckle, but the serious look on the human's face deterred him. Alright, this wasn't the time for silliness, he decided.

"But you're dressed like that, and only the Heroes and those native to this world can do so, and I'm sure you're not the latter," he said. "But I understand your skepticism. I also had a difficult time believing that this world actually existed."

[iamspark]

"Don't know but I don't have one." Her Moogle nodded vigorously, as if to say that it was true.

Lightning watched while he talked to his Moogle in an attempt to calm her down. Really she didn't care if she was a Hero but having this crystal seemed important to the small creatures of the world.

"Any idea of who I can talk to about the situation? I'd like to clear this matter up as soon as possible," she said. Clear it up and get back home but she doesn't say that. An eyebrow raised at his words. "Do a lot of people come here thinking they're dead?"

She shrugged. It wasn't that hard to believe it existed; it felt too real for it not to be. Light already accepted the fact that she was here and has moved on. "So the clothes change comes from the job." Something she figured out but would like confirmed.

[umslay]

Mimi looked down at her hands and played with them when Lightning answered. It was no use panicking over this again, she tried to tell herself, but the fact that the Heroes had no Crystals, which was one of the most important bits of the prophecy, worried her immensely. This was much more devastating than being late for their arrival!

Meanwhile, Ales continued to speak with Lightning in a more serious tone than he was before. "Usually for these matters, I'd speak with Jessie, but Biggs and Wedge might also know. Those three are the ones looking after us and helping us out. They're usually busy with their regular work, but you can always send them a letter."

He extended an arm out towards the other Moogle. "The Moogles of this world deliver written correspondence very quickly and are the main method of long-distance communication."

[iamspark]

Cosmog felt Mimi's worry, he had it himself. So he floated on over to her to give her a comforting pat on the shoulder. Lightning watched this out of the corner of her eye but did nothing to stop it. Better her moogle than her.

Most of her attention was on Ales' words, memorizing the names so she could contact them later. "I would think that something as important as these crystals would be something they'd want to fix as soon as possible."

Once they knew about it, that was. First, she wanted to find out more about it because honestly the last time she got a crystal was when she became a l'Cie. Light did not want to become another slave to the fal'Cie and it sort of felt like this was too similar to her situation back home.

"What is the purpose of this crystal?"

[umslay]

Mimi appreciated Cosmog's attempts to make her feel better, though she still was worried that the lack of crystals meant something terrible.

"If you get any answer, please tell the others. Word of this is going to get around quickly among the few of us." He had planned to also write to them, but he decided to wait if they refused to say anything. Surely they would listen to a Hero that was here longer.

[iamspark]

"I intended to," she said. Lightning wasn't the sort to try to keep information for herself. And she doesn't intend to just sit around if none of them reply to her. This is the kind of woman who will find them and talk to them in person.

Can't ignore someone who was standing right in front of them and who would refuse to move at all until she got an answer. First though she would try to send them letters.

[umslay]

He nodded again. "Still, feel free to explore this city and spend time with the others. We've all come to support one another in this land while our caretakers," he said with a hint of sarcasm on the last word, "don't give us the answers we need. Where are you to stay, by the way?"

[iamspark]

An eyebrow rose at the way he said 'caretakers'. Clearly this...creature didn't think much of the people supposed to be helping. It's why she doesn't expect much from them later. "Cosmog here said something about assigned housing somewhere in the fourteenth district."

Truthfully Lightning remembered the number but she wasn't about to start handing it out to people she just met.

[umslay]

"Good! That's were all of the heroes are living during their stay here. You should head over there to meet your potential roommates. You know, get to know each other, set up your room, get settled! You'll be here a while so...eh," he squeaked out the last bit with a shrug.

"I'm planning on heading back home as well. Mind if we walk together?" He would have liked to chat some more with this pink-haired human, but having some sort of similar goal would do much better than standing around waiting for something to happen.

[iamspark]

Somehow she got the feeling that it's where everyone would stay even if they weren't quite Heroes of Light. Keep all of the outsiders in the same location would be a strategic move. Lightning attempted to figure out if this creature just wanted to talk more or if there was some alternative motive.

"I'd rather live alone than have strangers for roommates." She said casually.

Her moogle took off towards the residential district and Light followed, a silent answer to his question. Hope he can keep up because she isn't the kind to slow down for someone.

[umslay]

Ales easily caught up with Lightning, running a little to keep up. Teensies were one of the smallest land-bound creatures in the Glade, and while they mostly interacted with others of the same species, they also had to learn how to keep up with their larger acquaintances.

"Yes, about that," he said as he slowed down a little, "We're not really given our own houses. You'll be roomed with other heroes. I was fortunate to get one of the smaller houses with only one other roommate who knows how to keep quiet." The woman was already displeased with coming here, but at least he warned her before she was disappointed again. "Where are you living, by the way?"

[iamspark]

She will slow down, just a bit. Lightning's normal pace has left full-grown people behind or exhausted. But only because he didn't ask her to.

"Great," she murmured to herself. Sharing with people she likely doesn't know and that she definitely wouldn't trust. Right now she's just hoping that she didn't get roomed with that massive man. "I forgot." No, she didn't forget but at the moment Light doesn't feel like giving out the number. If someone needs to find her in the future, they can contact her.

"My moogle will show me how to get there though."

[umslay]

Oh well. He'll we able to see the general area where she'll be staying once he reaches the district as well. He couldn't blame her for being so mistrustful of anyone in an unfamiliar land.

"Fair enough."

He continued heading towards the housing district in silence, checking Lightning's expression if she looked any more relaxed, but she was impossible to read.