Event || Worldwide Tourists

[eternitymods]

Who: All New Arrivals and Curti Center Staff
When: April 15th-30th
Where: All over Vaikuntha, starting outside of the airship hanger
What: Ganeshan, the resident Job Expert, will be taking the new arrivals around the the various Guilds so they can collect their chosen Job Asterisks as noted in their applications.
Warnings/Notes: Guild prompts can be found here

Enter the Master

[Each new arrival's iMog buzzes with a message instructing them to gather for a worldwide adventure to obtain the power of Vaikuntha. If they follow the invitation's instructions, they will arrive at outside of the airship hanger on the morning of the 15th, with their meager belongings packed.

An Enterprise-Class airship, the Ragnarok, hovers outside of the Curti Center. There is a flash of light on the top of the ship.]

"WELCOME!"

[A figure, minuscule at this distance, launches itself off of the ship and hurtles toward the ground. As he draws closer to the ground, he starts to flip, landing with a flourish. An armored figure, sans helm, turns his toothy Zora grin to the crowd. With a shimmer, his armor transforms into a white mage's robe, and he sends a rush of wind through the crowd for dramatic effect.]

"I AM GANESHAN, THE JOB MASTER! GYA HA HA HA! TODAY, YOUR LIVES WILL CHANGE FOREVER."

[Ganeshan shimmers again, ruthlessly abusing the Chemist's Modifier skill to once again shift Job Classes so he can lower the airship's loading dock with a wave of his hand.]

"I BELIEVE THAT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU HAS THE ABILITY TO MASTER THE JOB CLASSES. SOME OF YOU MAY MASTER MANY, OTHERS WILL PURSUE THE PERFECT MASTERY OF JUST ONE. BUT EITHER WAY, YOU'LL BE INCREDIBLE!"

[Ganeshan gives everyone a big thumbs-up. The out-worlders who are not scared off by this booming speech can feel free to enter the airship and prepare for their ride around the world. Hopefully some of the Curti Center's newest hires can serve as non-crazy less exuberant tour guides for the new arrivals.]

Around the World

[The Ragnarok will be stopping at every major city in Vaikuntha, with the exception of those cut off by the Imperial border closing. Characters can create top levels to respond to the Guild prompts and explore the cities themselves as the ship makes its stops. Each Guild provides information sessions, free food and trinkets for potential applicants, and once you're ready to receive your Asterisk, all you have to do is take some introductory lessons and fill out forms. Characters can receive up to two asterisks. Time to get to know your new world!

Questions for Ganeshan can be directed to the Ganeshan top level post.]

Comments

Futaba Sakura | OTA

[promiselisting]

Arito - A( lot of books)

[ Okay so. Astrologian was great. Makoto had been spot-on with that pick. But Puppetmaster? Gave her a tiny minion. A tiny robotic minion that didn't complain like Neo did whenever she passed him another tome that looked like it might be useful. Not that it was easy to tell.

How could you find anything like this? It was so much slower, looking for keywords was almot impossible, not to mention there was so many more people. Doing research manually sucked. And should she run into any familiar faces? Well, after an awkward pause... ]

Hey. [beat] I-I'm looking for books on legends n' stuff.

[ They'd told her Arito was the place to go for this sort of thing. So. Here she was. She'd said she was in this for the long haul and she meant it. She just hoped the long haul didn't mean being buried in books. ]

Arito - B(lah blah blah)

[ She's barely exited the library, with several notes in hand, when she gets jumped by a very spirited Lalafell with a chip on his shoulder. How he'd spent a good deal of change trying to make his yard nice and impressive only to be upstaged by his neighbor. Or some such nonsense. A part of her wants to scurry back into the library, but she needs to find the others. ]

Ugh, seriously? [Okay you know what, fine. She can get into the spirit too.] You know what bothers me? I just spent all day looking for stuff I could have found in five minutes online. I don't even know if any of it's gonna be useful at all! There's no tech here so I gotta do everything the old fashioned way which takes so much longer than it needs to!

I want to go home and I want to see my dad and I want to eat his curry and I want to make sure everything isn't falling to pieces but I can't, because I'm stuck here and nobody knows how to get us home. I don't like crowds and I don't like surprises and everyone's jumping in my face yelling about stuff I don't care about because somebody thought it would be a good idea for a holiday!

[ The Lalafell seems a bit. Dumbfounded. Eventually he mutters "that's... a pretty good one, actually." and then he ambles off. Futaba shoots a very flustered glare around the nearby area, daring anybody to follow up. ]

En Route (night on the airship, anytime after the visit to Cloud City)

[ Futaba has and probably always will be a creature of the night. Astrologian is only amplifying that, because she's discovered a bit more about how its passive skill works.

It helps that the observation deck of the airship, while they're flying from city to city, is quieter at night too. But in either case she's up there, and she's got some paper... and appears to be sketching the land below them, frequently looking up to check the stars, stepping back a moment and lifting her hand to line things up and get a rough gauge of the distance (she looks a bit like Yusuke, and the thought both amuses her and makes her homesick).

There's a lot she still doesn't know about this world. But she can point you in the direction of every city they've been to so far, with absolute certainty. And that is really cool. Not enough to make up for Necronomicon's absence, but now in this moment, feeling on top of the world with almost nobody to see her looking ridiculous, it's not so bad. ]

En Route

[conniemaheswaran]

Some nights, Connie had trouble sleeping. Not because of nightmares or anything like that. She wasn't that traumatized. Hopefully.

No, it was because she couldn't stop thinking. About Earth. About some of her more audacious plans. About why they were even on Vaikuntha. About Steven. About her family. Her brain had an unfortunate tendency to fixate on the worst possible outcomes, which was compounded when it had no external stimuli to distract itself with.

So some nights, Connie got out of bed, tired, but still too deep in a sea of doubts to fall asleep, and went out onto the deck. Sometimes she practiced her sword forms. Sometimes she tinkered with with her magitek in an attempt to stop it from blowing up in her face whenever she used it. And sometimes she just watches the ground pass by below.

This particular night, Connie drifts aimlessly to Futaba's position on the deck for a good scenic view to practice over, and doesn't even register the other girl as she begins going through the motions, the clanking of armor, heavy breathing, and the smooth slicing sound of a gunblade cutting through the air being the only things that betray her presence until she let loose a loud kiya.

[promiselisting]

Thankfully none of those things are really quiet per se? So it's not like Connie startled her all that much. Which is probably a good thing because now would be a bad time to startle her. You know, standing at the edge of the ship and whatnot.

Connie seemed distracted too, and it was Connnie, so she's... not as self-conscious as she probably would be otherwise.

She'll try to wait until it doesn't look like Connie's in the middle of a formation or pattern, before ultimately speaking up. Y'know just... making sure Connie knows she's there too. "Guess I'm not the only night person, huh?"

[conniemaheswaran]

She lets out a small yeep when Futaba speaks up during the transition between Sigma Pattern 11 and Sigma Pattern 12, whirling to face her... friend. Situational awareness, Connie! she berates herself internally. If Futaba had been some kind of enemy, she would've been dead or worse.

"Oh. Uh, yeah, I guess," Connie says, desperately searching for a topic of conversation and finding none.

[promiselisting]

Yeah ah- she felt bad for startling Connie like that, to the point where anything else she'd originally meant to say goes flying from her head. Whoops. Well ah... hm.

It takes her head a few seconds to manage to pull together a good topic for her to jump to.

"I'm actually practicing too." Even if it... honestly probably does not really look like it. "Wanna see?"

[conniemaheswaran]

"S-Sure!" Anything was better than sitting around and staring awkwardly at each other. Unless you were counting up an opponent's open mana, cards in hand, deck size and archetype, and frequency of cards during a particularly tense turn. Then it was all just good fun. "Um, what job did you take?"

[promiselisting]

"Astrologian! And Puppetmaster, but that's not important right now," she adds.

She turns back to face the wide open earth below her and looks up, gauging the stars. "It's like there's some kind of innate knowledge or skills or something in these asterisk things. I barely know anything about the stars here, but..."

She lines up a few things, her mouth twisting a little in concentration aaaand... point! "That way is north aaaand" point again! "That's the direction the Curti Center is in."

[conniemaheswaran]

"Wooooooooah." Connie's eyes sparkle with delight. Sure, it was a relatively small ability, but still, it was freaking cool. Magic was awesome.

"I mean, other than, um, this ridiculous thing," Connie points at the gunblade. It was cool, yes, but it was also completely silly, "All I got was this armor and some magiteknical knowledge. Which is kinda cool, I guess, but I'm still trying to figure out how to make my gauntlet laser and bladcharge and stuff not blow up in my face. Which they have. Numerous times. The tinkering is still fun, though!"

[promiselisting]

Are you kidding Connie? You're talking her language now.

"Wait, are you serious?" her eyes widen in shock and delight, "You've got to show me sometime. Probably when it's not dark out."

She's not like... a huge tinkerer or anything, but she's dealt with replacing more than a few computer parts and the like in her day.

b

[twomeals]

[Yue had just been walking by the library, maybe considering poking his head in out of curiosity, and. Well. That sure was a rant he accidentally got caught overhearing. The bird-boy returns Futaba's flustered glare with an unblinking stare of his own, because birds don't really blink like humans do, and--

He feels like he should probably say something here.]

.......What's the new fashioned way? Of looking for stuff.

[promiselisting]

[ Honestly this isn't making her feel any less like she should just. Turn right around and walk back into the library and find a tall bookcase to hide behind.

Not to mention that little tirade used up most of her words for the next hour. ]

....Internet.

[ Though honestly if the library had even had a computer catalog that would've been nice. ]

[twomeals]

[Internet. Does he know that word? He sort of knows that word, maybe? There's a questioning tilt of the head as he thinks on it, humming thoughtfully to himself.]

...I don't know much about tech stuff, but...if you're lucky, maybe you won't be stuck for too long? So you can have internet again, when you go back.

[He's got no hope himself, but that's no reason to be a downer!]

[promiselisting]

[ She grimaces. ]

Dunno if it'll be that easy.

[ She's certainly not expecting to get sent home by chance. Which means they'll have to find it, which, if the Curti Center folks are to be believed, is going to be quite difficult. Everyone who's ever arrived here from the Dream Width is still here. ]

[twomeals]

[Ah, it didn't work...he frowns slightly, unsure how to proceed. Having people to go back to....he has people, and he misses them dearly, but he's no longer needed back in Utsuwa, and Ryslig......

....He shakes his head to get that thought out, though the frown doesn't quite go away.]

Even if it's not easy....it's something to do, right? [A pause. He's never been all that helpful himself, but.] ...Hijikata-san wouldn't give up.

[promiselisting]

[ Okay whoever this is? They really suck at encouragement. ]

And who's that?

[ And why exactly should she care who that person is? ]

[twomeals]

He's a samurai...who's also a gargoyle? And he runs a store, and fights crime!

[does this sound like some sort of cheesy kids' superhero tv series]

[promiselisting]

[ Just a bit yeah. ]

... and?

[ NONE OF THIS IS TELLING HER WHY SHE SHOULD CARE.......... ]

A (belated as hell tag)

[acceptedlife]

[She wasn't the only one who was looking through the shelves upon shelves of books, either. Though he started his where religion texts were usually found. Something he wished was universal among the worlds, because he certainly didn't expect to find a book on herbs and their healing properties right beside a book talking about the eidolons who are currently available for summoners. Which was all in a language he couldn't read. Figures.]

Think there'd be a sort of catalog or something--

[He groans, letting his head roll back before he straightens his neck, rubbing it in an attempt to seem less irritated than he feels. That's when he catches someone's voice, and he turns slightly to see who it is.]

You too, huh. I'd say small world, but I know quite a few of those and this isn't one of 'em.

[promiselisting]

Yeah...

[ She's... inclined to agree. Especially with that getup, he's clearly not a local. Which, if he was a new arrival.... She squints just a little bit warily. ]

.... you didn't happen to see my post the other day, did you?

[ If he doesn't know what she's talking about, then her question will probably just be confusing to him. Otherwise... ]

[acceptedlife]

[OK. He's used to the whole skeptical and wariness thing from the Tower, but it still catches him off guard here. He's no double agent here. An Assassin, yes, but- he blinks.]

I did. Was one of those who responded, too.

[promiselisting]

[ Okay that.. yeah. He responded to her post, and he wasn't a new arrival. Which... there were a few she'd known or met there and a few she'd only really spoken with, but either way, probably someone who agreed with her. Or at least seemed to?

Point being, probably a good egg. She relaxes a bit. ]

R-right. Sorry. Didn't really get everyone's names or faces.

[And then, though he probably saw it at some point or another on her post...]

Futaba Sakura.

[acceptedlife]

[Oh, don't worry. He was. Why else would he be here if he didn't? Especially with that one lady who drove him nuts, even though he tried offering the olive branch.]

Ira Nakagawa. Nice to meet you.

[Though now that he thinks on it, he didn't really share his own name, did he? At least, his full name. He did mention that his name was the same as that lake. So, just in case:]

I was the one with the info on Crystallis.

[Also one of those who asked if she was OK, but he isn't going to say that in a public place.]

[promiselisting]

[ She appreciates that bit of discretion, she really does. ]

Oh!

[ Well dang though, he's one of the people that she definitely was hoping to meet at some point or another. For a multitude of reasons, really, but. Well, this was definitely one of them. ]

Guess it makes sense we'd both be here then. Any luck?

[ She's guessing about as much as she's had, given his greeting. ]

[acceptedlife]

[He chuckles, offering a faint smile. He can't help it; the realization on her face amuses him a bit.]

Not really. Found something on a few of the eidolons here, but nothing on the legends.

[There's still plenty of books in here, though, and he's no quitter.]

[promiselisting]

[ And neither is she. ]

Me either. Ugh, you'd think world creation myths and folklore would be pretty standard stuff to have on hand.

[ Pulling out her tablet, she pulls up her datalog on her progress - leads she's working on, notes from everything that's been said and seen thus far, things like that, until she's able to get to areas she's checked thus far without success. ]

Here's the spots I've checked so far. ...I've been wondering if it'd be worth it to even see if they'd have something like it in like... kids stories.

[ Seemed about as likely as anywhere else at this point. "Where the world comes from" seemed like a common story kids might learn, right? ]