melodiesofeternity | Player Plot: The Golsaucian Gauntlet

Player Plot: The Golsaucian Gauntlet

The OOC post for this event can be found here.

Sparks Golsaucia

A. Doom Coaster: Into the Void (and other rides...)

PuPuLand and Sparks Golsaucia as a whole are rife with exotic and exciting means of entertainment. The amusement park rides are second to none, probably because there aren't many in other towns! And since it's time for the Gauntlet, there's no end of tourists from around the world looking to celebrate and let loose. The lines sure are long... but you don't have to care about that since you've got a VIP pass! Show it to the employees and presto, you move to the front of the line!

...Assuming anyone told you that you could use it to cut in lines, that is. You could be waiting in a line that's not moving, because some other VIPs (outworlders or not) leave the ride and go right back in. Maybe you're one of those people riding a ride until the end of your days! Maybe you're people watching, or far from the line, gripped with fear over a ride that's crushed your resolve. Whether it's the teacups, the rickety old roller coasters, the drop towers, or whatever else your heart desires, you better believe it's popular.

The biggest, newest, shiniest ride, however, is the Doom Coaster. Modeled after an old, skeleton-like train that oozes rust and black fog, the Virtual Reality experience is so real that some passengers seem to have the souls ripped right out of them! (The g-forces got to them, but whatever works for marketing!) The senses are assailed by a played-up, spooky adventure into the afterlife, and anyone who stays conscious through to the end gets a free t-shirt reading "I CONQUERED THE DOOM COASTER" in a bleeding font, underlined by the train cars themselves.

Think you can take it?

B. How Do We Measure Vaikunthan Cholesterol?

High-velocity amusement park rides bring to mind nausea, and you can't lose your lunch if you don't eat! All through PuPuLand are vendors of... less-than-healthy foods. Deep-fried Geezard Gizzards, deep-fried calamari, deep-fried ice cream, funnel cakes (deep-fried dough), deep-fried pizza, and- is that- is that a deep-fried salad!? PuPuLand claims zero responsibility for any cardiovascular damage incurred as a result of eating their foods. But they're the only option in the park...

So maybe you decide to leave and get food in Sparks Golsaucia proper. There are food trucks, and they're on more street corners than worldwide coffee chain Cactuarbucks! The variety is immense and a dream for any Gourmand worth their salt or any self-preserving being who's not into artery-clogging. They're a little pricier, but when the trip itself is free, why not treat yourself?

C. Moogle Marketeers

Sparks Golsaucia is dangerous for many reasons beyond the park rides and the fried foods- it houses the Tactician Guild, which works intimately with local businesses. All businesses. See, there's profit to be had in pyramid schemes as long as you're at the top, and any Tactician worthy of their asterisk would make sure that's where they are.

It may seem innocuous enough, a Moogle fluttering up to you asking if you're interested in a little work on the side. They talk about selling cosmetics, poorly-made clothes, esoteric minerals and oils, or even natural mog enhancement pills (for the pom-pom's fuzziness, naturally) with a warm smile. This company is a spiritual movement, a means of both enlightenment and exponentially growing income. It gives you a place to belong in this world, and the ability to help the newcomers find their place too!

There's just a 40,000 gil registration fee and another 20,000 for the starter kit, all nonrefundable. But maybe your contact is nice- they might be able to waive the costs if you can get a friend to sign up!

D. Are You Talkin' to Me?

The largest city in Vaikuntha means there's no shortage of crime and ne'er-do-wells. There could be a back alley shortcut involved, or you might've taken a step into the wrong side of town. It's almost as if with the turn of a corner, the bright, pastel lights of the city dimmed and flickered, well... except for the occasional red light.

But they're watching you. From across the street. From the windows. From the shadows. It doesn't matter, they're there, and you look like a target. You might hear the throaty chuckle of a Bangaa or a condescending "sho shorry" from a Hypello that forcefully bumped you as they walked by, and... did they steal your wallet?

Or maybe they're more overt, emerging from the shadows and snapping their fingers rhythmically. For more cold-blooded species, these Bangaa/Hypello thugs sure bring a lot of fiery passion to their theatrics. Maybe they deserve the money, they could probably take this on the road!

E. When the Chips are Down...

Maybe you don't like gambling on business deals and social networks. If you're a fan of slot machines, card tables, and a spin of the roulette wheel, PuPuLand's got you covered in spades. There are two casinos within the park's walls and a third just a block away from the entrance. Bet your bottom dollar you can find any game of chance, maybe some chocobo races, and if you're of a more rough-and-tumble sort, maybe even a fight club. With white mages on hand, of course; what are we, savages?

Be careful not to get too lucky, or you could end up with the wrong sort of attention.

F. ...Clubs are Wild

Night after night of Sparks Golsaucia and PuPuLand is bound to be tiresome, so maybe you're looking to unwind from your vacation. Could be a drink, or even a few hours of loud, thumping music and frenetic dancing. Unsurprisingly, they've got you covered here!

Surprisingly, there are some clubs and bars that are the quietest places in town once the sun goes down. Insulated walls, multiple doors between the outside and the club itself, and... bookshelves?! Is this an all-night library with soothing piano accompaniment and a zen garden meant to mimic the sound of rainfall? You betcha!

G. Golsaucian Gauntlet

Competitors, win or lose, are encouraged to use the results of the first three rounds of the Gauntlet in their Top-Levels, if they want. Pre-Gauntlet pep talks with a friend or rival, walks of fame, walks of shame, swarms of fans, whatever floats your boat.

Von Oktavia

H. Movements of Tiny Houses

Since smaller sorts live in Von Oktavia like Lalafell and Moogles, their houses are similarly proportioned. Smaller rooms, smaller bathtubs, smaller houses altogether. That means that while a strong hop could get you on someone's roof, a particularly bad stumble could send the whole thing crashing down.

And that costs money. Maybe you'll just look. Carefully. And never touch. Or if you do, you might have the joy of escaping the scene of the crime. No big deal.

I. Tiny Food, Big Appetites

The Golsaucian Gauntlet and a week in the lap of VIP Luxury means you're probably used to portions more... normal than what's served around Von Oktavia. While it's not quite this small, it does seem a bit closer to food for ants. So if hunger pangs happen to strike during this pit stop (typical of any road trip, really...), maybe you're inclined to take the hit to your wallet for a little extra, or maybe you're hangry and become one of those customers making a scene.

J. Mognet Central

Mognet Central is big and imposing, a stark contrast to the smaller buildings of the city. They need all that space, given how vital the net is to Vaikunthan infrastructure. It's impossible not to see this place, and maybe you want to go in.

Lucky for you, the ground floor is actually the world's largest iMog Store, with special cutting-edge products that you can't get to as easily at the Curti Center. The employees are bright and bubbly, eager to help you with all your needs. Even if you don't have the money to buy anything- they're getting paid by the hour!

K. Say Cheese!

Eventually it's time to leave and return to the Curti Center, and so everyone's gathered by the offices of the Oktavian Triumvirate. The Under-Secretary of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of an Executive Assistant's Assistant all but appears out of thin air due to eldritch bureaucratic magics, and shouts that a picture will be taken in five minutes.

How's your hair? Is that what you're wearing?! You still look a bit rough from the night before, maybe. Or you might just be against this entire thing, and you're trying to hide behind the crowd or duck away. That's difficult, because the arrival of the Under-Secretary of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of an Executive Assistant's Assistant brought with it her assistants, who are cutting off a lot of the exits. Maybe you need to use a human shield.

Or maybe you're gonna dab on camera. They never said it had to be a serious photo!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

“I’m here.” Shiro slowly draws his spear and holds it loosely in one hand with the point aimed at the ground. “Everyone speak up. List your status and if you can see.” As a dragoon he needs a clear target for his jumps and flames. If someone can sight, he can attack. He shifts slowly from side to side. He doesn’t have a light on him.

And he won’t risk his iMog. These moogles had ignored their attempts to reason. Now comes the fight. He will give it to them.

"I'm here, too."

Dylas groans and holds himself upright. If he were a smarter person, he might've recognized that two of the voices belong to strangers. It would be a smart decision to let them know that while his voice is coming from one spot, his yards of serpentine tail could be anywhere around him. Hopefully, Shiro and Sasami don't trip over him at some point.

He swings his bell, drawing more sound to himself and outing himself as a Necromancer to those who paid attention during the guild tours.

"I want nothing to do with this, but I don't want to be stuck here all day."

It's not like they'd stolen anything from him.

"Ugh, of course I'm stuck with you," was Snow White's reply to hearing Dylas' voice. It seemed a little forced. Truthfully, a familiar voice was the only thing he could cling to here in the dark. He didn't like this uncertainty, he didn't like being trapped!

He unsheathed his chef's knife from his back sling, holding it ready just in case.

"Seriously, no one has any light spells? Nothing we can burn?" Because he could definitely burn things.

Edited 2018-06-19 01:43 (UTC)

"Dammit Jim, I'm an astrologian, not a flashlight," is her first retort. Memes, at a time like this? This is her we're talking about.

"Can't see a thing either, and my jobs aren't exactly the best for lighting things up. They've got Ninja equipped so you probably won't be able to hear them either. So either we better figure out another way to track them or start spamming AOEs."

It helps a bit to be genre-savvy at times like this.

"Light... fire... wait a second!" Sasami called out. It's dark, way too dark, but she does have something that she could help out. "I got fire bullets for my weapon! I... actually think these were the ones I was given to start off with!"

She's gonna attack the darkness here. "If I hit you, I'm sorry!"

And she's going to fire a Fire Magitek Bullet randomly.

It's almost a good thing that Sasami fires that fire bullet, because Dylas had been considering trying to slither away from everyone. He would've met an electric barrier that way. Instead, he's minding his own business and a fire bullet hits him in the back.

He yells and then there's a thud followed by an awkward silence—but all good things must come to an end. Dylas is back up and yelling.

"What the hell?! What's with that 'if I hit you' crap?!"

No one can see his motions in the dark, but he waves his hands to cast Prismatic Missile. It's a light spell, so it should help with lighting! Unfortunately, it's a "hit all enemies" spell and he's aiming randomly, too. Good luck everyone else.

Edited 2018-06-19 04:23 (UTC)

"Wai-" Too late. He listens to the results and scans the darkness. Will he be able to see anything? If he can see their enemy he can leap and hit them. "Let's try not randomly firing things into the dark, alright?" If his tone is slightly exasperated, so sue him.

This is a bit dumb.

Alas, the Magitek Bullet did nothing but harm Dylas.

And Primsatic Missile did give quite a bit of light for a brief instant, at the cost of hitting Sasami and Futaba. Perhaps they would take each other out without the Moogle having to do anything!

Unfortunately, Shiro wouldn't be able to see a thing in the darkness, nothing at all even with the help of Prismatic Missile. And for good reasons: Kupena Kupashi was holding onto the energy "ceiling" right above his head. She was sporting quite a devious smile and was holding a comically large hammer in her hand, pointed in Shiro's direction. Could it be she was in the process of using the Throw skill and literally hammer Shiro out of this battle?

Well, perhaps someone else would have been able to see the devious Moogle during the cast of Prismatic Missile. Better be fast to warn him or do something about that Moogle though! If one of the two next replies doesn't warn him, then he'll unavoidably get hit by the hammers and be knocked out!

Snow White yelped and jumped as a bullet whizzed past him and slammed into Dylas. The missile didn't help, either.

"That's IT! You're all worthless!" Snow White huffed. "Gotta do everything myself..."

Concentrating -- or more like channeling his irritation -- he cast Sacre at the ceiling to light the place, figuring that no one should be up there to accidentally hurt and it would give a good spread.

Well, she'd asked for AOEs, and she got them. Has she mentioned she really hates being targetable? "Hey, what the heck!" she snapped. Thankfully Astrologians have high magic defense, so it didn't hurt as much as she could.

That being said, she's in full Oracle mode now, and she uses the illumination to quickly whip her head around... and see nothing. Except... Ninja. Between that and Snow White's spell catching her attention, she looks up and.

"Everybody, look out! She's on the ceiling!" she shouted. And calculating the trajectory... "Shiro!"

There's not a lot she can do to help with these abilities and even if she could try to run and push him out of the way, he's a... lot more solid than she is. She's a string bean.

What she can do, though, is cast Boon of the Stars on him, which she does, without delay.

Spirit surge rolls over his spear as he throws himself out of the way away from his allies. He spins the weapon in his hands, ready to thrust it up at the moogle or brace it for his own defense.

"Good idea throwing the spell at the ceiling. Let's keep throwing a spell up at intervals to take away their stealth advantage!" He calls out and braces himself to Jump if the moogle comes at him again.

With the ceiling attacked, Kupena falls onto the ground quite painfully. Futaba's iMog Slate falls on the ground as well. Mostly intact asides from a few scratches.

"Kupooooooooo!"

Getting up on her tiny feet, she didn't go for Shiro again, but instead decided to attack them all seeing how her situation was compromised.

> Hell Frog

And lo, a frog appears out of nowhere beneath the Ninja Moogle who is now riding it-- Indeed, it is quite the gigantic frog. As if this wasn't strange enough, the frog immediately started using a breath of fire on the characters.

The sad thing being... Silly as it is, that's an actual skill Ninja can get, no smoke and screens effects here.

Sasami yelped in pain as everything hit her. The Prismatic Missile was probably the worst because, sadly, she's a Magitek Knight and magic defense is VERY poor. And the fire, which doesn't hurt as much, still is a pain to her.

"S-Stop it!" Sasami cried out, taking aim with her gunblade again and firing another Fire Magitek Bullet. "We don't want a fight, we didn't come looking for a fight and if you call yourselves heroes, why did you attack first?!"

Whoops. Sorry, Orange.

[Orange is Futaba. And Sasami? She knows exactly what she did and why she doesn't get an apology, even if she's only eight years old. Dylas is so tired of being shot in the back, thanks very much.

Two fire attacks in a row really doesn't feel great, but Dylas hisses (yikes) and casts Earth Grave not at the Moogle rider but at the stupid frog it's riding.]

I don't mind fighting it! Bring it on, you pain in the ass!

The fire hurts. Luckily it's the first time he's been hit in this fight. Time to get in on this. Shiro jumps and aims his strike down at the Hell Frog. That beast needs dealt with now. He misses his usual methods of attack.

No helping that now.

"Oww!" Snow White yelped, flinching back from the flames. "That... hurts!"

Baring his teeth and feeling the urge to devour this moogle, he played to his old strengths instead. He didn't care anymore if this was some misunderstanding, this thing was hurting him and he wanted it gone. The frog might have been bigger, but the moogle was obviously controlling it.

Snow cast Cyanure on Kupena. "Die in pain!"

Okay scratch everything. Scratch even her desire to grumble at that name that Dylas chose for her. She's diving for her slate and scooping it up to her chest as fast as she can, looking up just in time for Kupena to summon their amphibious mount.

"What-!?" is all she has time to get out when she's hit again, this time by fire. Praise her magic defense stats, at least.

"Ugh..." Once it abates, she takes a second before shoving herself upright and raising her voice, "Sound off if you need healing!"

She's having to prioritize here, which thankfully she's had a bit of practice in? But not for a full-sized group. And she can't keep precise track anymore here, so she has to guess at it. And for right now that means aiming a Benefic at Dylas. Sasami's probably next, barring next turn turning out something nasty.

"And see if we can get rid of that thing!"

She's not a master strategist the way Makoto is but even she can see that thing is the more dangerous enemy right now.

Edited (FORGOT TO ACTUALLY HAVE HER DO SOMETHING) 2018-06-26 04:27 (UTC)

The combined attacks on the frogs did exactly what they hoped for: it killed it, the creature exploding into a bunch of fireflies.

"M-My frog, Kupo!"

This time, she didn't try to hide back in the darkness. Knives in hand, she lunged toward Dylas. If she was allowed to reach him, she would direct her knives towards his hair to try and cut them down. He broke her heart, the only rightful payback was to break his.

She, however, wasn't using a skill and as such could easily be stopped.

"Ow... please, I need healing. That really hurt..." Sasami groaned. At that, she looked over to see the Moogle lunging at Dylas. She had no idea she was aiming at his hair, just that she was lunging at him.

"Leave us alone!"

And she's going to respond by swinging her gunblade, flat side of the blade first, at the Moogle's face

Shiro straightens and darts to the side. If he can reach Dylas first he could thrust the spear between them to prevent the knives from reaching their target. "Stop!" But he hangs back when the girl swings her gunblade.

Snow White didn't think. He just moved. In hindsight, it would remind him of stupid Otogi being stupid and jumping in between him and Rapunzel. Which would probably make him stupid right now. Snow leaped in front of Dylas with his chef's knife out, ready to parry the blow -- or absorb it, in the worst case.

Stupid.

When the flat side of the gunblade hit the Moogle's face, the poor tiny Ninja was thrown back against one of the electrified energy walls... And started ricocheting across the energy walls like a ping pong ball that was looked more burnt by the second.

"D-Deactivate energy walls......!"

The energy walls faded within seconds and Kupena fell upon the ground, smoking and defeated.

"K-Kupo... We'll be back..."

He closes the distance between himself and the moogle as quick as he can. He kneels down with his spear at his side. “Do you need me to get you to a healer? I told you. All we want to do is just have a talk. We are not here to hurt anyone. But they don’t stick around long enough to listen to that request. That was all we were doing.”

We’ll be back. No. He will try to get some measure of peace now.

While everyone had come to attack the Moogle, Dylas had lost all interest and had slithered out of the way. The girl's attack turned out to be brutal. Maybe she has some sort of killer instinct? ...Nah.

He attempts to pick up the knives the Moogle had been carrying, whether they were dropped during the bouncing or are still at the Moogle's side. That's it. He just wants to take the knives. He'll leave the diplomacy to the others.

He felt Dylas move away and looked over his shoulder. With the moogle threat subdued, and Shiro already interrogating their attacker, Snow White followed the naga instead.

"Are you still hurt?" he asked. Internally, he couldn't believe he'd just stood in front of an attack intended for Dylas and how stupid that had been, but thankfully the others had dealt with the problem.

Player Plot: The Golsaucian Gauntlet

Sparks Golsaucia

Von Oktavia

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