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

B

[righthandstand]

[The cookies and pens were on display in the same room as the demonstration, meaning the Okuyasu saw Monika walk in and head straight to the Guild members rather than the snack table. He wouldn't blame her - those cookies were nice but not good enough to tempt him to the Dark Side, but it was worrying to see her.

Okuyasu had little reason to trust others from the first meeting, especially when he woke up in a new universe and had no clue what the other were like. Over the past week, he had seen her posts on Mognet, wondering if she was exactly as she appeared: a weird chick with no ulterior motives for her weirdness. No lulling him into a false sense of security before she whips out her power and kills him. No Stands, no magic, just a normal chick.

But her appearance slides her away from "harmless weirdo" and very close to "nutcase weirdo". No one willingly walks into a room about reviving the dead with a smile like that. Maybe if she had a similar power back home, which she clearly didn't.

Okuyasu sips his backpack just as she asks for a demonstration for Ghoul Powder. His curiosity is piqued. As he stands in the doorway, he imagines what this does to zombies - maybe it forces them under a Necromancers control, and this guy'll have it dance around like Micheal Jackson in the music videos. The image brings a smile to his face, even more so when a Geezard is brought out. Snacks and a show does make up for almost running into Monika.

His opinion makes a 180 once the demonstration begins. The Geezard convulses, its skin breaks out into red splotches, he swears he can hear it scream.

And he's five years old again, running out of the kitchen when Pops clutches his head and screams in agony as he collapses onto the floor. Boils form on his skin, and Okuyasu can't do anything but cry until Keicho comes home.

Is this the same thing as DIO's curse? Is the pain the Geezard and Pops went though equal?

He's frozen to the spot. Necromancer was creepy, but this pushes straight into the realm of unnecessarily horrifying.]

[peninhand]

[ That boy again, the one whose behavior was so strange and illogical. A moment bashful, the next hitting on her, after that treating her like a monster. If someone was a weirdo here, she'd argue he got the spot long before she did. All in all, her behavior had been pretty consistent.

But one couldn't fight prejudices that easily.

As for her smile... Well, some people enjoyed horror, understandably so. Plenty of people, actually. Yuri was a prime example of such a person. Or keeping it more realistic, certain moderators of Melodies of Eternity whose names shall not be disclosed here. Monika herself enjoyed horror to a limited extent. Psychological and subtle horror was amazing. The stuff most people found horrifying, she didn't like it half as much.

But when she saw him frozen to the spot, whether or not he would treat her like a monster again, she couldn't just ignore how horrified he looked, walk away and pretend everything was alright. ]

Are you alright?

[ She was obviously pretty freaked out by this as well, but unlike him she didn't have any trauma linked to this in particular. ]

[righthandstand]

[Okuyasu's eyes squeeze shut, and he shakes his head to force himself out of that memory. It's fucked up, that's what it is. No more fucked up than the Stands he's seen in Morioh, but it carries a heap of bad memories.

He barely register's Monika's voice, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out what she said. He replies gruffly]

Hell no, I ain't.

[When shitty feelings don't leave on their own, he has to force them out. Punching a wall would work.]

Don't you think that ability's messed up? Why'd they even show it? [His glare is not aimed at Monika, rather at an invisible point near the floor.]

[peninhand]

[ Well, he clearly had a trauma regarding this, but... ]

... I'm sorry.

[ There was no point in hiding it. ]

They hadn't planned to, but I was curious and I... [A pause.] I asked them to do it. I didn't know what would happen.

[ He hated her already, might as well give him more reasons. ]

[righthandstand]

[He makes a small noise, a combination between clicking his tongue and quickly hissing through his teeth.]

Whatever. Don't think about usin' it. Ever.

[If she keeps this a promise, then he can trust her. Perhaps. She's still weird, because Okuyasu is judgy like that.]

[peninhand]

[ Did he really need to even mention it to her? Last time and now, the way he was treating her like some manner of monster was getting tiresome. ]

I wasn't planning to. [She looked down sadly.] Do I really look like... I'd have any desire to do that to someone? To a living being?

[ It was evident enough she wasn't amused with how he kept treating her, nor did she have any desire to push him any further. When someone had an idea in mind, pushing yourself onto them would only worsen the issue. In a way, that reminded her of when Yuri had snapped... Saying such things to her... It had been deserved back then, maybe. But now? Even if she was keeping up a facade, she had no plan to harm anyone. She wanted to find the truth and happiness.

Perhaps she was just designed to be the villain and people would always react to her like that. But more likely, she knew it was probably just him. He probably had some reason to dislike her. Maybe she reminded him of someone. Maybe he had a prejudice against people with her personality. Perhaps he was just a jerk. Regardless, what she felt at the moment was enough for her not to have any desire to continue the discussion further. When her own feelings were concerned, logic rarely did much to help.

And so she turned and walked toward the exit. Hopefully those feelings would go away once she'd have talked back to one of the more friendly people she had met before. ]