melodiesoflife | Intro Log || The Return of the Heroes

Characters: All the "Heroes of Light" (only new characters can start threads).
Where: Aqures Ixen.
When: The 5th of September. 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. It marks the first time since January that Heroes of Light have appeared in Aqures Ixen.
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." Hand clutched on your Crystal, the call of the Moogle may finally wake 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 dock beneath 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 have arrived in the course of the past year and they will come soon! Like you, they have Jobs and a Crystal.

If asked, the Moogles will mention that the city was recently attacked by the Heran Empire and nearly destroyed by Ultima Weapon. What's the Heran Empire? What's Ultima Weapon? Better to ask to the heroes who saw it 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 within the past year. 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 when they told you about how they fiercely battled each other past month. 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 tragic 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 City of Aqures Ixen
— Anytime —
With the recent attack, Aqures Ixen is under reconstruction. The city was saved for the most part, but there are ruined buildings, the Sixth District is nothing but wasteland now and the Thirteenth District has become a graveyard. Even so, there are a lot of things left to do in the city for newcomers. A few groups of Triple Triad players are playing before Mognet Office in the ninth district, mostly Moogles as many of them are not working after what happened. And of course, 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-- Mognet Office just behind the Triple Triad games is filled with Moogles, most of them panicked, tired, busy or slacking now that their director has disappeared. They can also visit Airship Port in the twelfth district from where characters can board for free Airships from Shoopuf Airline-- Though they have to make a request 48 hours in before to do so.

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.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
— 19:00 —
Characters venturing by the city's outskirts at this specific time will be able to see a most peculiar sight: a flying saucer seemingly abducting a cow before flying away and disappearing into the sky without leaving any traces of its presence. If your character do see it, hopefully there will be someone with them. Otherwise, nobody will believe their story.

Was it an UFO or just a hallucination? Only the future will tell...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Everyone is troublesome to Sparks in one way or another, so it's no big deal really. He's used to it.]

Reckon I've been one for too long. Over a year now. I was brought in with the first batch last August. A whole dang year. A year.

A year?

[He doesn't bother to hide his surprise. That is quite a long time.]

Have you made much progress against...

[It takes a moment to remember the word Mogsey had used.]

..the Calamity since then?

[The question is honestly an innocent one. If there have been people fighting this force for a year, then it seems likely that some progress has been made for better or worse.]

[Sparks's expression will tell you how well that's going.]

Uh. Well. To be fair, the Calamity hasn't been goin' on that entire time. Just a few months now. Currently it's stopped growin'. We don't know why, but uh, better than the alternative.

I see...

[Only a few months? At least that doesn't sound as bad as a whole year.]

Do you know why it started growing in the first place?

Not exactly, but it was some experiment Kalki was up to. She's this, uh... It's complicated. A scientist who wanted to start this, and did. I was there with some other Heroes when it happened. Started at the Research Center and started from there.

[Sparks reaches into his inside jacket pocket and brings out his crystal, which is now completely clear.]

It had somethin' to do with us 'n our crystals, but dang if I know what. Suppose if we did, we woulda stopped it by now.

[He pulls out his own crystal and turns it over in his hand.]

So she needed our crystals to start the process? And yet the legend claims we can stop it too...

[Ion is beginning to get the feeling that things will get worse before they get better. He hates that feeling.]

The calamity must be closely tied with the heroes then.

Mine used to be red, like that, when I first got here. Started to turn purple after a few weeks, then to blue. But when I happened to be there at the start of the Calamity, it turned clear. Don't know what she did to it, but I know it ain't anythin' good.

It's stopped growin' at the moment, but if we get near it, it might start up again. But it's hard to research somethin' we can't approach. Catch-22.

[Ion keeps looking down at his crystal. It seems like such an innocuous thing.]

Do the colors mean anything? Will mine turn blue as well?

Reckon a lot of people's do, over time, but I couldn't tell ya why. I do know that - and bare with me for a second here - if someone dies, it turns black. Ya go into crystal stasis for awhile, but it seems like everyone it's happened to so far's come back. So, uh, yeah. It means somethin', but I ain't even gonna pretend to know what.

[Crystals were complicated stuff. It'd be nice if maybe any of the Heroes or someone on their side knew something about them.]

It sounds like there's still a lot of unanswered questions...

[He still has questions. About crystal stasis, the color changing, and a dozen other things. But he doesn't want to be a pest.]

But I'm sorry, you probably have better things to do than to answer all my questions.

Sure are. But newbies need to be up to speed too. I just might not be the one to ask everything.

[He shrugs. For better or worse, they're all on the same team. Got to have each other's backs.]

Do new people arrive often? Maybe someone should make a pamphlet.

[He's only half joking.]

No, that's... Actually that might not be a bad idea. We can just leave 'em at the Temples so when the newbies show up every few months, they're covered.

[And he wouldn't have to bother with them. Hurray!]

It probably would make things easier for everyone. Maybe you should ask around. Someone probably wouldn't mind writing one.

[He would have offered, but it'll take him a while to learn enough about this place. It'll be faster to get someone who has been here a while.]

Intro Log || The Return of the Heroes

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