The Heroes of Light

[eternitynpc]

Who: All player characters
When: August 25th
Where: The Imperial Castle
What: The dinner with the empress to which all outworlders and native OCs were invited.
Warnings/Notes: N/A

Comments

Addendum

[eternitynpc]

[ Should you wish to reply to a NPC reply in The Dinner with a question that is only tangentially related or not pertinent to the general interest of the conversation, please post your question here to avoid lengthening the main thread.

Please post a link to the NPC reply to you are replying to, should you make use of this to ask your question. Not all question may be answered, due to the nature of the dinner and the NPC-heavy nature of the event. ]

Meghamaal, Prime Minister of Sen Devadatta

[keymemory]

[ Sora sat at the dinner table, amongst what was probably like five hundred and three people, honestly, with a perturbed look to his face. On his plate was some sort of food that he couldn't help but think belonged to some sort of animal, or "person" of species that had a heart, had dreams, had a family.. It becomes to much for him in this moment and he looks to the Prime Minister and decides on a question in which he is going to ask!

Once the opportunity arises he puts on a brave face and lets out his concern. ]

What... we're eating... did they.. were they... I mean.. did they talk, sing? Dance? Did they have dreams...? Hopes? Goals? Are.. we eating something like us?

[eternitynpc]

[ The prime minister looks quite perplexed for a moment. He blinks and then addresses Sora the way a teacher would. Tries to, anyway. ]

Hm... I can assure you we do not practice cannibalism in Sen Devadatta. Nothing that we eat was once a sentient being.

*o* Jeremy Irons is so ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

[keymemory]

[ The relief on the boy's face was absolutely evident and he gave the other a big smile and a warm look with an easy gesture of gratitude for understanding his sensitivity! ] Thank you... I feel so much better!

I hope to be able to taste everything here then! What's your favorite!?

[ Leave it to Sora to ask the pertinent questions.. ]

Re: *o* Jeremy Irons is so ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

[eternitynpc]

[ He smiled and nodded as a reply. ]

Ah, my favorite is something called coq au vin. A delicacy not from the Empire I am afraid, it has been ten long years since I could last taste it.

For Lady Ramaa

[chefbayardee]

(( In reference to here. ))

[ As much as Hunk wanted to see the Empress's sharing of information as well-natured, it rubbed him the wrong way. There were so many unknowns that she can't just let hang like this. ]

Uh, excuse me, Empress? Your Excellency? [ He is not sure. At all. She'll probably understand. ] I get that Bahamut is bad news, but there are four other Great Eidolons, right?

[ He looks up to the ceiling, calculating his words. No point beating around the bush, he figures, locking eyes with her. ] Who are they? The Empire has to know something. We might not be able to summon them, but Summoners could still find them and talk to them. [ Leviathan spoke to him and he wasn't a Summoner. ]

They might know ways to slow or stop Bahamut's summoning, or even how to track down the summoner!

[eternitynpc]

[ The four others. ]

Phoenix, the Undying Flame. Asura, the Queen of Feymarch. Zodiark, the Keeper of Precepts. And Alexander, the Light Bringer.

[ She looked at Hunk and the others who had mentioned the other four Legendary Eidolons. ]

Unfortunately, there is very little we know about them. It is doubtful their power stands on the scale of Bahamut's. Perhaps the four of them together could do something? I am afraid we are as in the dark as you are. The ruins of their temples are not in imperial territories.

[chefbayardee]

Uh-huh, right. [ He nods, trying to commit the names to memory, if not the titles. But then she gives him an opportunity, and Hunk smiles nice and warm. ]

Do you know where their temples might be, or know people who would? Even just some records? [ He tilts his head, hoping she's catching on. ] We're uh, kinda free agents, so we could check em out.

Cor

[acapriciousreaper]

In response to: link

Kuja... has to speak up, at Cor's assertion. "I have direct experience with individual mages with the power necessary. It's entirely possible it's being done alone, by a singular spellcaster."

Apologies for the late reply

[immortalmarshal]

Cor raises an eyebrow at that response, turning to face this...mage.

"That might be true back on your homeworld, but at what cost would they have to pay to do so?"

Re: Apologies for the late reply

[acapriciousreaper]

Kuja pauses. "That much power is... difficult to control. It's akin to diving into whitewater rapids. You can make minute changes in your path if you expend great effort to restrain yourself, but for the most part all you can do is hang on, or so I've read. That this is taking such a long time suggests, to me, that a ritual is involved, one that has very exacting requirements, which are doubtless being followed very carefully, so as not to cause a loss of control."

to the offworlders;

[mythmaker]

[Whenever there's a lull in the conversation and it seems safe to address everyone, Azusa speaks up in response to something that woman said.]

Um...if I could ask all of you...

[She sets her fork down, looking more concentrated than she usually does. Everything is so tense as is, but...she really has to know.]

Is it true that you're all experienced in combat back home? Not all of us are, right...?

[She feels out of place all of a sudden, and lets her voice trail off. It's clear she's not counting herself in with that number.]

[whirluendo_of_puns]

[Uendo is kind of glad he's not the only one bothered by that.

He gives Azusa a reassuring smile.]

Unless battle by chopsticks over the last slice of sushi counts as combat experience, nope. I had never so much as held a weapon in my hands before coming to Vaikuntha.

[spaceforged]

I believe we all come from a wide variety of experiences and species. [He says as he sets his drink down lightly and folds his hands together in front of him.]

It gives us a pool of knowledge and perspectives that will help us deal with the problems we’ll face here. Not every battle is won with a fight. [He offers a small reassuring smile.].

And not every fight we’re invited to has to be accepted. Whether we’re all here on purpose or not, none of us are alone. We have each other to rely on.

Empress Ramaa

[mythmaker]

[Azusa has been quiet almost the entire time. It feels like her voice has been robbed from her; how many times has she stood upon a stage, facing challenge after challenge with her voice alone? But here, in this room, the things she hears are impossible. Chosen heroes, mass devastation, death, destruction of worlds...her hands are shaking a little, and she hides them under the table to hide that fact.

She used to take pride in being 'destined' to be here like there was something special behind everything. Instead, it's something terrifying. When she finally finds her voice, it's to ask a question that might not make sense to anyone else in the room.]

Ramaa-sama.

[She shakes her head, corrects herself with Ramaa's preferred title.]

In your own opinion...why did the Goddess smile?

[Was it the playwright's decision? Or...?]

[eternitynpc]

She knew.

[ A sad smile. ]

She knew the future would never be free of her curse. That is the conclusion I reached, seeing what is now happening.

[mythmaker]

At the very end, she smiled because she wasn't defeated yet.

[Azusa can't help but look chilled by that statement, that realization.]

How cruel.

[Even in her short time of knowing Azusa, the Empress should notice how awfully that word fits her tongue. It's not a word she says often.]

To be that filled with contempt, I can't even imagine it.

[It's enough to make her feel a little dizzy.]

Empress Ramaa

[acceptedlife]

...Imperial Majesty, if I may? You mentioned an interesting phrase earlier, and while I've seen it in your legends and the opera, I must ask: who are the "Heroes of Light" to this world, and where did the origins of the legend begin?

[He has to know.]

[eternitynpc]

The Heroes of Light are what the otherworlders who defeated the Goddess of Death are known as in Sen Devadatta.

[ A pause. ]

As for the origin, it eludes me.

Empress Ramaa

[alborada]

[ Sylvarie’s voice is soft when she speaks—perhaps too soft, and it would be understandable if the empress had not heard nor noticed her. The girl’s gaze is directed toward the hands folded delicately over her stomach as the others speak, but one detail in particularly begs her to ask as she looked to her fellow coworkers.

Gi, Dante, Owen, Lean... They were the only ones here. ]

Your Majesty, forgive me if I am being ignorant or rude, but... We could have come along with the rest of the Center staff later. Please, why were we invited to this dinner instead? Was it the request of the Director?

[ Closing her eyes, she continued. ] We were born here, in this world, raised... Maybe these outworlders will be the new Heroes of Light, but is? What would separate us from the others and also pulled into the group?

[ This was all moving too quickly, drastically... it was frightening. ]

[eternitynpc]

It was my request.

[ A pause. ]

Coincidences have no place here. I do not believe it to be a coincidence that you were handpicked by Chandius at the same time they arrived and Bahamut's summoning started.

[orangekun]

You're saying the Director knows more about this as well?

[He shared a look with the others, furrowed and frown deepening. He crossed his arms as he mulled over that piece of information.]

Then, what are your thoughts on this, Your Majesty, if it's no coincidence then what would be our purpose aside from helping the outworlders get acclimated to this world.

Empress Ramaa

[whirluendo_of_puns]

...Forgive me for derailing a bit, Your Imperial Majesty, but there is something that has been bothering me.

[This is all a lot to process... but intimidated or not, Uendo can't miss the chance to ask about the mystery that's been on his mind almost constantly these past few days.]

It's about that statue of a woman in the third district. Prime Minister Meghamaal told me it's based on one of the statues in the Pyramid of Ardynia -- the ones depicting four heroes who died to help the following generation fight the Goddess of Death. I got the impression they were different from the Heroes of the commonly accepted origin legend.

[He's also almost certain he already knows who that one statue is based on.]

I was wondering... Why pick that specific statue as a model? Does this woman have some special significance to the city?

[eternitynpc]

She has no significance at all. It was ultimately due to personal preference.

[ The empress closed her eyes. ]

When I was but a child, I visited the pyramid with my parents. I was quite taken by how different the legend was, as you noticed. And something I didn't quite understand happened... I cried. The legend depicted was sad and sorrowful, enough for a child to be uncomfortable. But it was the sight of this statue that caused me to cry. [A pause.] I never quite forgot how I felt on that day, and thus I decided to use this statue as a model for the third district's one.

[whirluendo_of_puns]

[He hadn't been sure what to expect, but this wasn't it. She had just... seen a depiction of Kalki and spontaneously broken into tears?

...Not the only instance someone had done that, come to think of it...]

I-I see... I suppose art can affect us in strange ways. No one knows who she is, then?