Player Plot: Bizarre Bird Behavior!

[moechocobos]

Should you happen to have missed it, the plotting and information post for this event can be found here.

A. Choco-Chaos!

Perhaps the first thing anyone notices is the noise, the incessant squawking and warking of so many startled and disgruntled chocobos. Then comes the smell. Ew! In the early morning hours dozens, maybe even hundreds of chocobos invaded many of the cities of Vaikuntha, and while for the first few minutes some may have been elated to see them, attitudes quickly change. The chocobos are panicked, running around without much rhyme or reason, trampling on flower beds, knocking over merchant stands, and making such a ruckus even the dead couldn’t sleep through it. Any food they find is destroyed within minutes, and anything they’re curious about meets the sharp end of their strong beaks. While they’re generally harmless birds, they have the capacity for devastation.

And none of that mentions the, uh, other mess live animals tend to make.

Despite being within the city limits, they are far from tame. Any attempts to approach the birds will be met with either an angry warning wark, a display of puffed feathers, or the chocobo just straight up bolting away. This seems great, as maybe they can be corralled, but… Nope. While this works to an extent, as soon as the birds get too close to the city borders they turn tail and jump straight over the heads of the people attempting to be rid of them, running back into the city to make even more of a mess in their renewed panic. What is there to be done about them?


B. Lurking Lunchers

Should anyone be so inclined as to find out why the chocobos feathers are so ruffled, they need only walk to the edge of the city. Stalking around just beyond civilization are fearsome beasts known only as chocobo eaters. Based on the feathers stuck between their huge teeth this is probably an apt name. The monsters have little interest in humans, but become very interested when a chocobo wanders too close to the outskirts of town. The chocobo eaters are quite aggressive and will gladly take on anyone bold enough to make a challenge. Adventurers may attempt to fight them, but it seems like just when you send one packing, another bigger monster shows up. Was that a baby chocobo eater you were just fighting? You could have sworn it was an adult, with how big it is!


C. Fight or Flight

At last the time has come. A gold chocobo trotted in from off the horizon and rounded up what she believes to be able fighters, herded them into groups, and partnered them with a chocobo that will fight by their side. Ironically it seems to be the feathered member of the party that actually knows what to do, and the teams are led by their respective birds out into the battlefield to take on one of the ferocious beasts waiting out there for lunch. Fight as hard as you can and don’t let the birds down. Defeat might not mean death for you, but it certainly would for the chocobos!


Once the battles are won and the flocks free to return to their natural habitat, some of the brave battlers will find themselves with new feathered friends. Others will not, but everyone will have a handful of greens. If you missed this opportunity to get a chocobo, or you have a taste and want even more, head on over and check out the chocobo capture/breeding system that will be available from now until Eternity.

Comments

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk looks despondent at the idea of non-infinite magitek bullets. He dodged Gunslinger so he wouldn't have to reload or run out of bullets, so this is just the opposite of what he needed to hear right now!

And then with the glaring and the threatened soul-stealing and leaving him out of the praise, Dylas is really getting under Hunk's skin! The Golden Chocobo got included, and they don't even have a name for their friend. ]

You know what!?

[ He's over this desert, the Golden Chocobo's trap, this stupid monster and its ice magic and his knife getting stuck in the thing's arm and soul-stealing and non-infinite ammo and... He pulled a trigger on the gunblade, sheathing it in a bright blue light. Whatever Dylas hit that thing with did something, and since its freak-out isn't aimed at Hunk, he's going all-in with a Magitek Sword combo! ]

Hey Dylas! [ He's shouting over the hum of his gunblade as it makes one cut down the Chocobo Eater's shoulder. ] Go ahead and take its soul! [ Assuming this doesn't kill it first, as another downward strike is made. ]

You seem like you really need one! [ And then the third strike goes, making it all too clear that he's still trying to chop that arm clean off. Better to focus on that than aim for the face and risk killing the thing altogether. ] So don't miss again!

[ And then he counters Dylas's dirty look with one of his own. At least he didn't throw a bell! ]

[sullenstallion]

[Dylas pauses when he's yelled at and looks around. His face is frozen for a moment, and he looks cautious, wary. The tip of his tail is perk and alert, almost rattling, as he turns to Sparks with a grave expression.]

Did you hear something just now?

[It's clear from his tone and usual exclusion of Hunk that he's pretending he's not there. But he can't resist the sweet allure of checking out a new skill. With the Chocobo, Sparks, and Hunk all dealing big damage on the Chocobo Eater and without a cliff to push it back down, it all comes down to this.

Dylas rushes forward, slithering quickly...well, as quickly as a necromancer can, before scooping up his bell and slamming it into the Chocobo Eater again. This time, the weapon is imbued with a strange glow that blurs its movements. The hit makes the Chocobo Eater stagger...

...and then it falls. Soul Thievery, though a weak attack, is enough to finish it off. Something rises out of the monster and flows into Dylas, something that leaves him looking a little disturbed while the giant monster lays on the sand, more than dead.]

I told you I could do...Wait, what the hell? How do I get this thing out?

[He taps his chest. What the fuck.]

[red_planet_blues]

[Sparks lets out a sigh of relief at the defeat of the creature. He gives Hunk a job-well-done pat on the shoulder. Cuz not only did he unleash some hurt, he got a good counter-burn on Dylas.] Magitek Knight might be the better fit for ya.

[As far as Dylas, Sparks tries not to look too amused. This? This is one of the many reasons he didn't go for magic. He sure as hell didn't know what just happened.]

So uh. You don't actually know what that did? Are you possessed or somethin' now? You feelin' like yourself?

[chefbayardee]

[ The recognition from the Marshall did Hunk a world of good. Not only was the frustration dissipating almost immediately, but Hunk was smiling again. A veteran of Crystallis, with its similar jobs, was proud of how he handled his first fight! Maybe he could do this close-quarters thing, after all... ]

Maybe you just have to wait for it to digest? [ Are souls like food? Maybe! Is Hunk trying not to make a poop joke? Definitely. ] Do you have some kind of manual?

[ But there's a snap as the repeated assaults and loss of soul are too much, and the Chocobo Eater's arm falls to the ground. Hunk, shocked and a bit disgusted, stares for a few moments before pulling his knife out of its arm. Then, he starts sizing up how to get the arm back to town...

The Golden Chocobo, on the other hand, runs around throwing Choco Cures on the party before stopping and staring at Dylas. Then it uses its beak, boops his chest which still contains the soul of its enemy, and begins trotting off into the bushes to its nest. Go git yer eggo, snekko. ]

[sullenstallion]

[Thanks, Sparks. Dylas rolls his eyes. He likes Hunk more when he's a not-so-hot mess. Dylas scratches his chest over his robe like there's a small speck of dust on him and not a soul inside of him. Well, whatever, it's dead.]

I'll figure out later. I can always ask someone at the guild. [The creepy underwater guild that no one likes.] If anything weird happens, you'll be the first I show.

[That's yet another not-quite-a-threat, but Dylas is pretty sure he'll be fine. He'll put it in a jar or something. He's about to get ready to slither back to the city before he accidentally feels a sense of camaraderie after their group effort (the worst case scenario), but then there's the Chocobo, and...

...what was that?]

What? What was that for? It doesn't like me or something does it?

[He sounds judgmental? Shit taste, Chocobo.]

[red_planet_blues]

I... guess it likes you? [Out of all the people in the group, it's Dylas the chocobo takes a shine too?

This is what Sparks gets for immediately thinking about capturing and selling that bird. Which he is still thinking about, by the way.]

Don't lose sight of it. Gold ones might be really rare on this planet too, remember?

[chefbayardee]

[ And Dylas is brought over to a small roost where the egg rests. This is what they get for Sparks talking about selling the bird and Hunk thinking it's a trap in cahoots with the Chocobo Eater.

Hunk, on the other hand, just waves towards Sparks with a sheepish little smile. ]

I think I can cook this up with the Gourmand job. Wanna help me carry it back to town? [ He's trying so, so hard. ]

((ooc- happy to end it here if we want, there's not much else for them to do encounter-wise ))