Exposition Crusade

02:00:14: <zoofman> Last time, on Crystal Crusade. Stuff...happened. Sorta. You made your way to the abandoned capitol, where you've just arrived.
02:02:19: <zoofman> Standing by Syl's side now is a fiery apparation of sorts, it has humanoid form, however, unmistakingly that of the fox folk who once dwelled in this abandoned place.
02:05:20: <zoofman> 01[21:37] <@zoofman> "I could assist you with that. I...used to live here, I think," she says.
02:05:20: <zoofman> [21:38] <Gelato> "Ah, a ghost." Gelato says with a dismissive nod before realizing what the fuck did he just said. "...Wait a minute..."
02:05:20: <zoofman> [21:39] <Syl_> "What do you remember?" Syl asks her.
02:05:20: <zoofman> [21:40] <Gelato> "And what do you want with us, little undead girl?"
02:05:20: <zoofman> 01[21:41] <@zoofman> "Ghost isn't entirely correct," she says as she latches onto Syl. "I am part of her, and she is part of me. However...normally only she can see me."
02:05:20: <zoofman> 01[21:42] <@zoofman> The little fox girl looks around curiously. "There is a powerful spiritual presence here at the moment, that might explain why all of you can see me."
02:05:24: <zoofman> [21:43] <Gelato> "That... Is quite unsettling, i must say." He examines the fiery fox female further.
02:05:25: <zoofman> [21:44] <Syl_> "It's....something. I don't know what the presence is. There are all sorts of emotions from it."
02:05:28: <zoofman> [21:44] <Syl_> "Maybe from the dead here."
02:05:29: <zoofman> 01[21:45] <@zoofman> She looks up to Syl. "I remember a few things, and facts. I know I wasn't a child when I passed away. I also know I wasn't here the day this storm began. Other than that...I recall my childhood. And a few other things here and there."
02:05:33: <zoofman> [21:48] <Syl_> "You fled the storm?"
02:05:34: <zoofman> [21:48] <Syl_> "Or....did you leave for some other reason?"
02:05:35: <zoofman> 01[21:48] <@zoofman> "No, I didn't flee. I just wasn't here. Elsewhere on Rhazowa."
02:05:36: <zoofman> [21:50] <Gelato> "Hmm, well if you did not died on the storm, it might mean that your race... It might have escaped it?"
02:05:38: <zoofman> 01[21:51] <@zoofman> She clutches her head, shakes it. "I...don't know where I was. Or who I was with, or what I was doing. Just that I am Mei Lein, and my childhood..."
02:05:41: <zoofman> 01[21:52] <@zoofman> "What I do know is whatever caused this storm is still here. I can feel it," the little fiery spirit shivers, and looks to the crimson palace.
02:07:53: <Syl_> "Then that is where we must go."
02:09:01: <Gelato> "Hmmhmm, yes, it appears so."
02:09:45: <Rosette> "Oui," Rosette says with a frown, looking onward, "anything to give these spirits rest. Even I can feel their pain here."
02:09:45: <Syl_> "Ask quickly if you have anything you must know."
02:09:58: <Syl_> "You won't won't have another opportunity for a while, it seems."
02:10:40: <zoofman> Mei Lein shakes her head. "Quite the contrary, we've plenty of time."
02:12:07: <zoofman> "This storm has withheld for hundreds of years without a living being to stir here, changing that will...be a bit deliberate, I think," she looks down the barren streets.
02:12:51: <Gelato> "Going to this place without reinforcements... Is quite the rush, i must say, hohoho. And while the ecosystem change that stopping the snowstorm will bring might be worse, it IS our job to do it."
02:13:18: <zoofman> The city itself is impecibly preserved, cobblestone streets and stone buildings, bright vibrant paint colors just as fresh as the day this place froze.
02:13:28: <zoofman> The snowfall here is noticably lighter.
02:14:44: Alvis has been bouncing around in the snow to try to keep himself warm ever since passing through the storm, but otherwise hasn't really made much noise.
02:16:44: <zoofman> The little fire spirit begins to slowly pace down the empty streets. "I presume you have many questions reguarding this place, this storm. As I said, I don't remember everything yet, but I...sense there's a way we can find out exactly what happened the day this storm began."
02:16:48: <zoofman> "As well as find how to undo it."
02:16:50: <Syl_> "If this is true, informing the higher-ups and requesting reinforcements is viable."
02:17:23: <Syl_> "My senses fail me here, though. THere is simply too much to read through."
02:18:22: Gelato approaches Alvis, whispering to him. "Hmm, the thing is... I am not really much trusting of this strange spirit Miss Syl found, hmmhmm."
02:18:58: <zoofman> 2d6+4 half melted snowball at Gelato
02:19:11: <zoofman> 2d6+4 half melted snowball at Gelato
02:19:11: <DiceMaid-9001> zoofman, half melted snowball at Gelato: 6 [2d6=1,1]
02:19:19: <Gelato> (Ha!)
02:19:34: <Syl_> "Found."
02:19:40: <Syl_> "She has been with me for years."
02:19:42: <zoofman> "I heard that!" She tries to throw one, but gets aggrivated as she scoops up the snow. She flares up a bit and it all melts before she can throw it :<
02:20:15: <Syl_> "Perhaps not by choice....but she has been helpful and trustworthy."
02:21:31: <zoofman> She instead puffs her cheeks and stomps off down the street. "Well, I do sense something most curious, outside the palace, even..."
02:22:22: <Syl_> "And that would be?"
02:23:59: <zoofman> "A gate way to Dynamis, I think..."
02:24:41: Rosette frowns rather dreadfully, "By the goddess, how sure are you?"
02:26:07: <zoofman> The girl pauses, thinks. "Wait, no," she shakes her head. "Can't be exactly that...I got that word from your people, and Syl..."
02:26:26: <zoofman> I need two checks from each of you, lore general knowledge, and lore relics
02:26:40: <Gelato> 2d6+6 General
02:26:40: <DiceMaid-9001> Gelato, General: 14 [2d6=3,5]
02:26:47: <Rosette> 2d6 General
02:26:47: <Gelato> 2d6 Relics
02:26:48: <DiceMaid-9001> Rosette, General: 4 [2d6=1,3]
02:26:48: <DiceMaid-9001> Gelato, Relics: 12 [2d6=6,6]
02:26:57: <Rosette> 2d6+6 Relics
02:26:57: <DiceMaid-9001> Rosette, Relics: 13 [2d6=2,5]
02:27:10: <Rosette> (That was supposed to be +5)
02:27:12: <Rosette> (So 12)
02:27:43: <Alvis> 2d6 General; 2d6+1 Relics
02:27:43: <DiceMaid-9001> Alvis, General: 3 [2d6=2,1]; Relics: 7 [2d6=1,5]
02:27:51: <zoofman> OH MY GOD ALVIS, IT'S SNOWING.
02:27:53: <zoofman> IT'S SNOOOOWING
02:28:02: <Alvis> Yes it is FUCK THIS COLD D:<
02:28:43: Gelato pouts as the others scold him. "Hmph, it was just a common concern."
02:30:04: <zoofman> It's fairly common knowledge that the word Dynamis refers to a dream state of sorts. Gelato knows a bit more on that detail, that it's akin to visiting the dreams of a highly magical being, sometimes an Avatar.
02:30:40: <zoofman> Both Rosette and Gelato know its usually accessed by magical hourglasses or something silly.
02:31:13: <Rosette> "I don't suppose you've...seen any hourglasses around or anything like that?"
02:31:17: <Gelato> "Hmmm, a gateway to the dreamworld? Well that is interesting."
02:31:38: Alvis isn't entirely paying attention, he's bouncing around in this cold and exploring their immediate surroundings a little rather than listening to them chattering with a ghost.
02:31:48: <Gelato> "However, for a city to have one of those... Something big is afoot i must say."
02:31:50: <zoofman> Mei Lein scratches her head as she tries to puzzle the wording. "Okay, I use that word because we don't have one for it."
02:31:54: <Syl_> "....in any case."
02:32:11: <zoofman> "It's...like a collective dream, made from the souls here, I think."
02:32:25: <Syl_> "We should probably take a look around. Harphe should head back and report in....and ask for some help. This city is too large and potentially too dangerous to go through alone."
02:34:20: <zoofman> Harphe nods silently, turning back to the Hypello and dwarf who accompanied you. BLOOOOOM. They teleport out.
02:34:20: <Gelato> "...Interesting. Really interesting. However, why is this place affected by the storm too? Shouldn't a collective dream be rid of it?"
02:36:18: <zoofman> The foxgirl, however, frowns a bit. "So you don't want to look around yet?"
02:37:03: <Rosette> "It's for the best we get started, I think," she looks to the others, "the sooner we do, the sooner we get to the bottom of this."
02:37:12: <Syl_> "I will. We should meet back here within the hour."
02:37:28: <Syl_> "We need to be visible to our reinforcements when they return."
02:38:02: <Gelato> "Hmmhmm, very well then, it shall be done." He looks at the others while wandering inside the town. "Hoho, let us just mark a place then?"
02:38:32: <zoofman> She nods. "I remember the city well enough to know exactly where we are. I did grow up here, after all."
02:39:08: <Syl_> "Let's find a good place to start, and make our rounds."
02:39:47: <Syl_> 2d6+3 so the spirits say
02:39:48: <DiceMaid-9001> Syl_, so the spirits say: 9 [2d6=1,5]
02:40:07: <zoofman> "Do you have something I could trace in the snow with?" :C is what she says.
02:40:21: <zoofman> "Like a stick or something?"
02:42:26: Syl_ sighs, and pulls out a spare blade. Close enough.
02:44:41: <zoofman> She handles it awkwardly as she traces a map into the snow on the ground. "We're currently in the trade dictrict. Peasents and farmers would travel from the kingdom's heart through here to peddle their goods. Was a very, very, busy spot. Street merchants, countless cooks with foodstands, always a commotion. It's...errie to see it so quiet."
02:47:16: <zoofman> The map appears square in shape, with streetways laid out in a manner that is extremely meticulate. At the center she outlines a smaller square. "Basically, the south side of the city, where we are, is the trade dictrict. Above that, the residential. The...dream gate thing, is up there. The center's the palace, but I don't think we can really get in there at the moment..."
02:47:18: <Syl_> "It's likely we'll run into something in a formerly busy place...but I'm not sure if it will tell us much about this storm."
02:49:58: <Gelato> "Hmm, so how shall we divide ourselves then?"
02:50:49: <zoofman> Once she's done she leans the sheathed blade back over to Syl. "Well, I could simply lead you around for now, if you want."
02:51:28: <Rosette> "I see no reason to split up just yet."
02:51:53: Rosette looks around the market area with a rueful expression.
02:51:53: <Syl_> "Fine."
02:52:40: <zoofman> Give me some awareness checks.
02:53:05: <Rosette> 2d6+5
02:53:05: <DiceMaid-9001> Rosette, 2d6+5: 12 [2d6=4,3]
02:54:49: <Gelato> 2d6
02:54:49: <zoofman> "The streets of Xi'an are easy to go around in circles in if you aren't careful. Lot of buildings were made to mimic another in another place piece-by-piece."
02:54:49: <DiceMaid-9001> Gelato, 2d6: 5 [2d6=3,2]
02:55:20: <Syl_> 2d6+1 um
02:55:20: <DiceMaid-9001> Syl_, um: 8 [2d6=4,3]
02:55:53: <Syl_> (Should be +2)
02:56:34: <zoofman> The fact that you are in an abandoned, sprawling, silent city, and a little fiery-haired ghost is speaking with you made it easy to get distracted from looking around the street a bit.
02:58:13: <zoofman> The street you are on is not just an empty road with houses. As Mei Lein claimed was once here, you can see street carts, merchant stands, a stable for Chocobos, food stands.
02:59:47: <Rosette> ...
03:00:49: <Rosette> "There's no sign of a panic here at all," the Elvaan priestes snotes, walking over to a stall with food left out right on it, "it'slike they just vanished instantly."
03:01:36: <Gelato> "Well, this place is a... Dream, a memory."
03:01:51: <zoofman> Mei Lein shakes her head. "No, we're standing in the city itself still."
03:01:52: <Gelato> "Therefore, it was made to resemble how the city was before the catastrophe, mmhm!"
03:02:26: <zoofman> "The dream gate is further in. It's...weird, I don't know why things are like this. I don't remember this day," she frowns.
03:02:39: <zoofman> "Or what happened to the people here..."
03:06:16: <zoofman> "Perhaps it would be more clear if I showed you to the gate? Not that you want to enter it without the rest of your campatriots, I imagine."
03:07:20: <Syl_> "Please do."
03:14:15: <Gelato> "We really should leave this to do with the others, actually. So we don't need to take two routes, hmmhmm."
03:16:24: <zoofman> "It...won't be long, I can promise that," she grabby grabs at Syl's hands and drags her along
03:17:59: <Syl_> "Where to?" Syl is simply led along. It's rather silly watching a grizzled, veteran samurai being dragged along by a little girl.
03:21:14: <zoofman> She leads you passed frozen fountains, snow covered gardens, and down many a deserted but once busy street. "You outsiders aren't the only ones curious about this place. To me it's like finding a puzzle toy that I know how to sole, but I've never seen it before. I'm...slowly getting back bits and pieces."
03:21:19: Rosette follows along, seeming rather gloomy as she examines the city as thegroup heads along.
03:21:33: <zoofman> solve*
03:22:02: <Gelato> "Hmmhmm, such a beautiful place." Gelato mumbles while observing the ice-covered place.
03:23:19: <zoofman> After about fifteen minutes of navigating many streets that none of you except your little guide can really say look any different, she stops in front of a large, fenced in estate, and stares at it solemnly.
03:25:16: <zoofman> "I grew up here. I know I was a bastard, the daughter of my father, a nobleman and one of the advisors on the Queen's council, and a serving girl. I never met my mother. Dad she she died in childbirth. He didn't like to discuss it."
03:27:03: <zoofman> "I was just fortionate to not be born with a peasent's brown hair, but red. That of the warrior caste. That was probably the only reason I wasn't left to the gutters."
03:28:55: <Rosette> "I see, so your society had castes?" She asks, curious to know how their culture worked.
03:30:45: <Syl_> "How many? What were they?"
03:31:00: <Syl_> Determining societal structure can give some insight on the town itself.
03:31:22: <Gelato> "A caste based on hair color?" The nu mou's eyebrow rises at the mention of that. "I know about Viera with white hair being regarded highly, but this?"
03:31:36: <zoofman> She nods, giving a quick glance to the house again before continuing down the street. "We Xian Jing's entire life was determined by our hair color. After a couple hundred years of meditation on that, it seems silly and cruel, but...it made so much sense then."
03:32:56: <zoofman> "The lowest caste, peasents and farmers, are the brown haired. Above them, the merchants and craftsmen, the black haired. Many brown and black haired Xian Jing traveled elsewhere in this land to seek a better life, no surprise."
03:33:02: <Rosette> "Mm, perhaps," Rosette began to think about her own society's structure.
03:34:05: <zoofman> "Red heads were above them, the warriors and priestesses. Whether you're given a spear and blade to play with as a red headed child, or books and study, really just depends on your appitude for magic."
03:35:41: <zoofman> "The nobleclass and diplomats were blond. It was almost unheard of for children to be born with different hair colors than their parents, except for cross-caste affairs, like that of my parents, and two exceptions."
03:37:20: <zoofman> "One exception was the white haired Xian Jing. They are...similar to us of the warrior caste, but more coveted, the Royal Family's personal guards. The other..."
03:38:38: <Gelato> "...Blue?"
03:39:31: <zoofman> She looks to the palace. "Once every fifty years, a silver haired child is born, and crowned the new Empress or Emporer, no matter the caste of their parents."
03:41:07: <Syl_> "Unusual. How did the castes interact?"
03:41:19: <Syl_> "It's impled that siring a child between castes was....frowned upon."
03:43:07: <zoofman> "Extremely," she nods. "My father was no exception, he became the target of countless japes from his peers, and his wife...well, needless to say she did not take well to my existence at all."
03:43:31: <Gelato> "It usually is." He says with a shrug.
03:44:54: <zoofman> "Nobles gloated their status over the brown and black haired. Less so to the warriors who protected them, outside of an unspoken understanding they were our superiors. The brown and blacked haired were a bit more lax. The white...were beyond things. They were the true oddity, sworn to protect the royal family at the time at all cost, not seen much by common folk and warriors alike."
03:46:16: <Gelato> "Hmmm and there were no... Peasant revolts? Revolutions?"
03:46:47: <zoofman> "I...recall that all revered Empress Cixi, who was the crown during my time. Which was normally the case anyway, it was believed the silver haired were blessed by the Gods to rule over us. And she was known as being most benevolent to the low folk, because her parents were peasents. Nothing angered a noble like peasents in the royal family, but they'd accept it begrudglingly."
03:47:51: <zoofman> She nods to Gelato, "There were, but the poor were heavily under armed, and didn't have mages backing them."
03:48:45: <zoofman> "Many peasents also defected during the great war my father spoke of, it was before my time, but was...a conflict that enveloped all of Rhazowa."
03:49:02: <Rosette> "A Great War? Who did you fight against?"
03:50:11: <zoofman> She pauses for a second, bites her lip. "Uh...right. The other peoples of this land...uh..."
03:53:55: <Gelato> "...The beastmen?"
03:54:11: <zoofman> "Well, there were the northerners...mountain dwellers, I don't know much about them other than I was told their ethics of war were cruel and hateful, even for war, and after the conflict restricted."
03:55:46: <zoofman> ""The Burmecian Republic was settled in the center of the continent. The conflict started between us and them, over trade routes."
03:59:23: <zoofman> "There were also the Moombas, who allied with the Burmecians. The Selkies allied with us, which caused the Orcs to ally with the Burmecians just to spite them. The Rhonso stayed neutral, by which I mean thier tribes raised hell for both sides of the conflict."
04:00:10: <Rosette> "The Orcs...that's the only people you mentioned I recognize."
04:00:16: <zoofman> She looks to Syl. "And...Humes. Yes, this land had Humes. They had no central home of their own, though. Preferred to settle in with other races."
04:03:05: <zoofman> She then turns to Rosette. "Yes...the Orcs you know of are of the same heritage." And then Gelato. "Well, yes. There were also the Tonberries, who much like the Rhonso took no sides but their own. But the Gigas, as your people call them..? I don't recall those."
04:04:25: <Gelato> "That... That is strange. Although the Gigas could have migrated here... I actually know not much of this continent's history." Gelato holds his chin in thought.
04:09:20: <zoofman> She randomly stops outside a park entrance. "Ah, it's...in here," She heads into the park, to a small shrine.
04:13:54: <zoofman> It's an outdoor one, a small wooden cabinet structure with a pedestal behind two ivy-patterned doors. On top of the pedestal sits a bowl filled with a strange colored...liquid?
04:14:27: <Gelato> "Is this the gate? I expected something more... Impressive."
04:16:14: <zoofman> It's dificult to describe whats inside the bowl. It's a swirling blend of white, black and purple, and appears both to be composed of nothing but air, and liquid.
04:16:52: <zoofman> "If...you were to drink from this, I believe it would allow you to break down the barrier between the dream state and reality, and enter it."
04:17:11: <zoofman> She shakes her head. "I don't know why I know this, I'm sorry."
04:17:28: <Syl_> "Hm."
04:17:44: <Syl_> "It's not something we want to try without some research....and supervision."
04:17:52: <Syl_> "We'd need to consult a good alchemist."
04:18:24: <Gelato> "Well, there is one right in front of you!" Gelato harrumphs!
04:18:50: <Syl_> "Then you tell me."
04:20:09: <Gelato> 2d6+6 alchemy what the hell is that gunk
04:20:09: <DiceMaid-9001> Gelato, alchemy what the hell is that gunk: 12 [2d6=5,1]
04:22:42: <zoofman> Gelato does a few little experiments on the substance.
04:24:26: <zoofman> It's neither air nor liquid, but a viscious material made from mana itself.
04:25:41: <zoofman> Lore(relic) checks?
04:25:52: <Gelato> 2d6 :V
04:25:52: <DiceMaid-9001> Gelato, :V: 7 [2d6=6,1]
04:26:05: <Gelato> "Well that is Mana alright!"
04:26:34: Rosette approaches, taking a closer look at the liquid.
04:26:39: <Rosette> 2d6+5 Relics
04:26:39: <DiceMaid-9001> Rosette, Relics: 16 [2d6=5,6]
04:26:51: <zoofman> (christ almighty Rosette)
04:27:47: <Rosette> "Hm," the Elvaan woman taps her chin as she looks the substance over, comparing it to things she might have studied before, "made from mana itself? Incredible."
04:28:01: <zoofman> Rosette knows at once because apparantly she's seen HUNDREDS OF THESE FUCKING THINGS BEFORE that it's the contents of what would normally be in a Timeless Hourglass, which adventurers use to enter Dynamis.
04:28:59: <zoofman> None of you can really boast to hearing an adventurer claim to break one of them and drink the contents, they are usually appriased at being worht several ten's of thousands of gil in value, and this...took many of them to make.
04:29:42: <Rosette> "Hm, this seems to be fluid contained in the Hourglasses that serve as portals to this other world," she seems amazed, "but...how did it get out of its container?"
04:30:08: <Rosette> "And...is drinking it really the right way of going about this?"
04:30:14: Gelato shrugs. "Magic well?"
04:30:24: <Rosette> "Normally there's a device that enables the travel, in which this fluid is kept."
04:30:44: <Rosette> "I suppose this method may also work.
04:31:19: <Rosette> "Although," she looks to the spirit with a bit of concern, "are you sure it has to be ingested?"
04:31:31: <zoofman> "Well worst comes to worst, you could possibly goad the Dwarf who traveled here with you into trying it. Dwarves like drinking, right?"
04:31:50: <zoofman> "Or...I could as well, but I don't think that'd prove entirely much." :<
04:32:14: <Rosette> "Assuming it acts as a catalyst for the gate," Rosette figures, "shouldn't it work to just cover ourselves with it?"
04:32:33: <Rosette> "That is, if this is as similar to what I'm used to seeing."
04:32:36: <Gelato> "If we only had a summoner... We could throw a cat or something inside the puddle."
04:32:51: <Gelato> That being said, Gelato dips his hand on the stuff.
04:33:40: <zoofman> It feels like...
04:33:41: <zoofman> 1d100
04:33:41: <DiceMaid-9001> zoofman, 1d100: 46 [1d100=46]
04:33:53: <zoofman> 1d100 more decisive, dicemaid
04:33:54: <DiceMaid-9001> zoofman, more decisive, dicemaid: 16 [1d100=16]
04:34:04: <zoofman> Jello Pudding.
04:34:08: <Syl_> "Shouldn't we just find a few more vessels to store this in. If we're going to use them, that is."
04:34:25: <Gelato> "Gelatinous. However, i feel that i am not inside a dream."
04:34:58: <Gelato> And with that he scoops some and licks it out of his hand. "Well, never hurts to experiment!"
04:35:50: <zoofman> Gelato wavers a bit
04:35:51: <zoofman> annnnd
04:36:25: <zoofman> he faceplants into the snow as he begins to snore.
04:36:45: <Syl_> "Wonderful. I knew we should have waited for the help."
04:37:22: <zoofman> Mei Lein pokes at him. "I don't think he injested enough to cross over, luckily."
04:37:28: Rosette frowns, looking down to the Nu Mou worrieldy, "Is he goign to be...alright? He's not in Dynamis is he, non?"
04:37:31: <Rosette> "Ah, good."
04:43:17: Syl_ makes a mental note to include this in the debriefing.
04:43:46: <zoofman> "I suppose we should head back to the trade district, and that device soon?"
04:47:25: Gelato snores