Player Plot: Let's Explore Mad'ni Shrine!

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Who: Everyone who signed up!
When: Around November 3-6ish
Where: The Mad'ni Shrine
What: Searching for the lost ruins beneath the Shrine!
Warnings/Notes: It's another dreaded water level.

Although the flight provided by Curti Center takes them as close as they possibly can, the Heroes still have to take a brief walk through the woods to reach their destination. It remains to be seen whether the trip will be worth it. After all, their hope of finding a Legendary Eidolon, or even just clues pointing to one, is based on little more than guesswork.

But, with the time ticking down towards the end of the world, they don't have the luxury of ignoring a lead, no matter how vague. A shot in the dark might be what saves them all in the long run.

OOC info and sign-ups are here!

Comments

[songbird_slayer]

"You heard 'em. Stay frosty, everyone!"

Don't mind her if she opts to have herself a little slide around, pushing along from boot to boot to glide over the ice. It's not the most elegant, but with the help of her tail and her arms, she can keep her balance at least fairly well.

[topgun_textiles]

Wait. Wait, he has one, too.

"...Okay- For the record, it's ice to see everybody again. How's that?"

Nope, he doesn't trust it. He's gonna give the ice a tap. He's not as light as everyone else and he'd like not to fall in and die.

[littlemhigan]

"Ye keep up the puns and I'll shove ye into the water," Castor grouses as she works her way across the ice. "Any rate, what's all this about? I thought you summoner types already made yer peace with Shiva?"

[immortalmarshal]

"Pretty sure this isn't Shiva."

Don't mind Cor being grumpy. And limping a little. For all that he had side-eyed Azusa for her tendency to get lost...he's the one who actually got seperated from the group and got himself lost in the maze. So much for his usual luck.

"Or if it is, she's helping us. Some legends do describe her as favoring mortals - at least, the one back home did."

[pishirogane]

"Yes, it couldn't be her..."

Naoto doesn't really make any motions when dismissing her Egi Summon of Leviathan and recalling Shiva to her shoulder. "For all of the Phoenix depictions, everything being iced over is peculiar... however, we shouldn't be surprised if someone or something has moved in..."

Like certain purple octopus things that need to stay gone from her sight. "Unless she's contributed some sort of puzzle despite her being based in Lavode. And if she is assisting us right now, she likely wouldn't say."

[chatwithdeath]

Naomi rolled her eyes at the few puns, but said nothing. Almost like Cor, she too was a bit surly at the moment. She had been expected Azusa to get lost, but then he had been separated instead. Next time there was a maze, she swore she was going to tether everyone...

For now, she did as she had before. Opening her pack, Little Mog shot out already holding several Hi-Potions. With a 'kupo!' the moogle was all too eager to start handing each person one of the bottles while Naomi handed out more to the others Little Mog missed.

[modelcivilian]

Accepting the Hi-Potion, Adrien wondered why Blanc couldn't be like that. Then again, the woman unnerved him slightly - maybe because she reminded him of Nathalie.

Shaking his head, he looked towards the bridge himself, tilting his head. "Is this bridge going to support all of us, or should we cross in groups and distribute the weight? Also, this wouldn't start... melting or anything while we're trying to cross, right?"

With the Phoenix and everything, if this did lead to the Legendary Eidolon, what if it awakened?

[einspine]

Papyrus eagerly accepted the potion with a muttered thanks, even if his own item stores were fairly robust. Why turn down such kindness? Especially after such a grueling fight earlier.

Adrien's comment was fair, though. Fortunately, Papyrus had opted not to wear his heavier Magitek Knight job. With just his lab coat and battle body, his weight remained rather light, as skeletons lacked the muscle that weighed down other beings.

Still, he carefully tapped his foot on the ice, nearly slipping in the process.

"WELL, IF IT STARTS TO CRACK, PERHAPS WE CAN FORTIFY IT WITH MAGIC. A FEW BLIZZARD SPELLS? I DO HAVE MY MAGITEK BULLETS, BUT SOMETHING TELLS ME IT'S NOT THE IDEAL JOB FOR THIS ENVIRONMENT."

[eternitymods]

Stepping past the now opened door, the Heroes of Light found themselves in a large circular room. Unlike the rest of the Temple, this room wasn't in ruin. It was perfectly preserved, as if time itself had stopped. However, the room was too dark for them to see anything beyond the vague shape of a bird in the distance.

Should they walk further inside, blue light would emerge from candelabras spread across the room, twelve of them to be specific, each activating as they stepped closer to the center. There, the first thing to notice was the bird they might have spotted earlier: actually the statue of a Phoenix.

If they looked toward the back, they could see a painting depicting a woman. Looking at the name below, it read Mystearica Aura Fende.

At the feet of the statue, there was another text. However, this one is written in the language of Eidolon's. What's written is unclear but can be translated roughly as the following:

On Calamity's Eve
The Heroes of Light Rise

For Destiny to Weave
The Four Rise

From Her Lost World
A Lord Was Formed

On Calamity's Eve
Summon the Four to Rise

[sassafrisk]

"Woah," Frisk says, instinctively keeping their voice low. Somehow, this place demanded... reverence. This chamber was sacred, somehow, even moreso than the rest of the shrine. They gawk at the candelabras as they approach the statue of Phoenix, brow furrowing as they try to read the inscription and fail. "Um, Uendo, can you take a look-- wait, hold on."

Frisk digs out their iMog slate, scrolling through the archives all the way back to August, when the Baha-Bomb had first dropped. They show their screen to Madhuri, open to the first page of Kupoto's storybook. "Hey, um. This is just a hunch, but... do you think you could play this melody on your guitar? No harm in trying."

[desertbloomed]

Ashelia trails behind everyone else as they enter the Phoenix door, both hands on the pommel of her sword. What could be waiting for them inside? Will they have to do battle with the Eidolon itself? She looks around at the others - with their numbers, they should be okay, but it still isn't something to relish. She done battle with more than enough godlike beings in her lifetime.

Tacitly ignoring almost-addictive rush of adrenaline she always gets before a fight, she turns her attention to the room around them. Specifically, to the portrait. She freezes, though not due to the temperature. She hadn't known the woman very well, or at all, but the young queen could remember the face. "That's her. That's one of the four. Mystearica...?"

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Uendo can't bring himself to joke around to lighten the mood anymore. This shrine is so serene...

He follows Frisk to the Phoenix statue and studies the writing for a moment.

"This isn't going to be the cleanest translation, but I'll do my best. Let's see..." He reads the inscription again, searching for the right words. "On Calamity's Eve, the Heroes of Light rise. For destiny to weave, the Four rise. From her lost world, a lord was formed. On Calamity's Eve, summon the Four to rise."

He pauses before looking up at the statue. Then at the painting.

"The Four... Do you think it refers to the four Legendary Eidolons? Or the four Heroes?"

[immortalmarshal]

Cor eyes the Phoenix, and the statue of the woman. The wheels in his head are already turning, trying to figure all this out. Upon hearing Uendo speaks, he also voices his thoughts. "Could there be some kind of connection between the two? Like, an Eidolen that favored or was connected to a Hero of Light?"

He then turned to Ashe. "...do you recognize her?"

[poisonwish]

Snow White approached the picture with Ashe, looking at the princess curiously. "How do you know?"

It almost sounded like Ashelia knew her... personally.

[littlemhigan]

Castor is half-listening to the others, but pays attention to Uendo's translation. She looks between the woman and the statue of the Phoenix, chewing her lip as her thoughts turned over and over.

"What if it's both?" she offers after a moment's deliberation. "Back in Eorzea... The closest thing we've got te Eidolons back 'ome are called Primals. They're called te being with prayer and aether, and all've 'em are, or were, figures of importance or worship te whoever was doin' the summoning.

"What if that's what happened te the heroes? What if they're eidolons now? Even that ain't unheard've back home. I know...knew...two lasses, personally, who turned into primals before my eyes."

Three really, but she'd take Louisoix's secret with her to her grave, if she could. She owed the old man that much.

[desertbloomed]

Ashelia nods, turning to Cor and Snow White. "She's one of the four Heroes of Light that sacrificed themselves after the final battle. I wasn't there, I'd already been taken back to crystal stasis, but I'd met her before. Briefly. I rarely forget a face."

She looks over at Castor. "You may have the right of it. The number four wouldn't seem to be a coincidence. Four crystals, four fiends, four sacrifices, four legendary eidolons." There's something else eating at her, though...

"That line. 'From Her lost world, a Lord was formed.'" She crosses her arms, looking at her companions. "What do you make of it? It would seem to me that...well, to put it bluntly, that the Lord - the eidolon - could be made up of the remnants of her world, consumed as it may have been by the Calamity. All that had already been consumed by the Calamity could not have been restored, but her sacrifice may have been a catalyst for something else. To be, perhaps, reborn in a different way."

[whirluendo_of_puns]

"You mean... Those four Heroes might have been reincarnated as the Legendary Eidolons? Or their homeworlds did?" Uendo leaves the statue for now and strolls over to have a closer look at the painting. "Well, Bahamut is supposedly still infused with Kalki's powers, so I guess it's possible the others are... something similar..."

He trails off. The woman in the painting is giving him an intense feeling of deja vu.

[pishirogane]

"At this point, would it be surprising? The sacrifice they made to stop the Calamity and yet it persists..."

It's a little troubling to think about, but getting caught in a cycle? And what would it cost to summon the other four Legendary Eidolons now? Naoto stares at Uendo, wondering why he trailed.

[princeandscholar]

Once he rejoined the group after the battle, the Tactician remained quiet for a time, listening to the others' conjecture; it was his first time in an Eidolon's temple, and while the puzzles were within the range of his Asterisk knowledge, this was entirely new.

"Then is it wise for us to be seeking to awaken it? Bahamut was said to part of the Calamity itself, as well." His tone remains cautionary, but neutral. They've worked hard to reach this point, and he won't discourage them if they wish to continue. His hand rests on his grimoire, even so.

[eternitymods]

Suddenly, all the lights in the room shift from blue to red. Most noticeably, the Phoenix statue itself gets on fire. Crimson wings twice the size of that of the statue emerge, its eyes shining of a bright red as Phoenix Downs appear and flutter across the room before slowly falling onto the ground.

Then, a voice raises from the statue. The voice is deep and resounds as if there was an echo in the room, even though there is none. Translation skills are not effective for this speech.

None of the present characters can understand what the voice says.

".̴͢͢͜.͘҉̢.̸̸̡̡.̧.̷̸͟҉.́͟͜͢͟.̶͜͜͟͡.̀.͏̧.̷̸̕͟͢.͏̵͢.̸̷͘͟.͘.̵̷̷.̶̨̛̛͝.̛͏.͢͢.̶͟.̵̢͘͢͢.̴̡̢.̵̀͡.҉̶.̕͢͞͠.̴̨҉.̴͢͢͜.͘҉̢.̸̸̡̡.̧.̷̸͟҉.́͟͜͢͟.̶͜͜͟͡.̀.͏̧.̷̸̕͟͢.͏̵͢.̸̷͘͟.͘.̵̷̷.̶̨̛̛͝.̛͏.͢͢.̶͟.̵̢͘͢͢.̴̡̢.̵̀͡.҉̶.̕͢͞͠.̴̨҉.̧̕.̸̕͝͡.̴̛͟.̕͡.҉̨͞҉͢.̸̷̸͟ "
".̴͢͢͜.͘҉̢.̸̸̡̡.̧.̷̸͟҉.́͟͜͢͟.̶͜͜͟͡.̀.҉̨͞҉͢.̸̷̸͟ "
".̴͢͢͜.͘҉̢.̸̸̡̡.̧.̷̸͟҉.́͟͜͢͟.̶͜͜͟͡.̀.͏̧.̷̸̕͟͢.͏̵͢.̸̷͘͟.͘.̵̷̷.̶̨̛̛͝.̛͏.͢͢.̶͟.̵̢͘͢͢.̴̡̢.̵̀͡.҉̶.̕͢͞͠.̴̨҉.̧̕.̸̕͝͡.̴̛͟.̕͡.҉̨͞҉͢.̸̷̸͟ "
The fire stabilizes at a reasonable level and the statue goes silent. Only the wings and eyes of the statue remain on fire. Should someone have died within the past hour, the Phoenix Downs on the ground would be able to revive them. However, they'll lose their effect once taken out of the room and will have vanished within 24 hours. It would appear there is nothing else to be found in the room.

Phoenix can now be summoned by Summoners who have mastered the Supreme Skill. Its effects and skills are unknown.