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

[chefbayardee]

But...! [ He gasps for air, eyes wide with alarm and discomfort. ] But it moved on its own, right?!

[ Giving life to a doll sure sounded like black magic. And Vaikuntha has magic. So it could be magic. But... ] Are you sure there aren't little puppet strings? Or a remote control.

[ He's staring at Noct, pleading for an answer other than "nope, magic." But Hunk's pretty sure he knows where this is going. ]

[warpstriking]

It's a magic conduit. [He shrugs.] Andthere aren't. I checked. Also not sure if they're capable of the whole remote control thing.

[chefbayardee]

So you use it for your magic, [ Still gasping, but he's looking at Noct like he's grown a second head. ] but it still moved on its own.

[ And then his eyes grow wide, and he lets out a whimper. ] Unless it's possessed? [ It wouldn't surprise him, honestly... ]

1/3

[warpstriking]

Oh, sweet Six... It's not possessed. I just got it from a guild that looks like it studies the occult and-

[warpstriking]

...

[warpstriking]

... Yeah okay it might be haunted.

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk just whimpers for a moment before gasping out a "No..." as he stared towards the floor. ] Wh-what if it's possessed by the spirit of an angry adventurer or a monster and it tries to kill you or something?!

[ Tears start to well up in his eyes. He wants to tell Noct to get rid of it, because he's a cool new pal and he doesn't want to hear that he got murdered by a doll like a horror movie. But wouldn't a haunted thing react badly to that? ] Wh-what are you gonna do with it?

[ Don't keep the creepy haunted doll. Please?! ]

[warpstriking]

Astrals, calm down. Unless I focus magic in it, it only does the damage of a wet noodle.

[As if to demonstrate, he takes out the tonberry doll, gently places it down...

—and it wobbles over. Doink. Fabric knife to the shin. It doesn't even take a hit point.]

[chefbayardee]

[ When told to calm down, Hunk tries to restrain his emotions, but he definitely furrows his brow at Noct. How rude, he's only trying to help you!

Then Noct took the doll out, and Hunk's entire body tenses up- this is how he goes, killed by a snuggly lizard with a knife. But as it walks over, the tension fades, and instead he just starts to stare at the Tonberry, rapt even as it doinks his shin. ]

Th-that's really adorable, Noct. [ The tears are still there, but now it looks like Hunk's about to start crying out of cute-inspired awe. ] What, uh... what is that little guy? [ Aside from cute, that is. ]

[warpstriking]

[Okay, good. He is calming down. As the Tonberry wobbles back, he picks the doll up and it immediately goes lifeless again. He stuffs it back into his pack.]

It's called a Tonberry, and trust me when I say you don't want to meet one from my Star. There, it's what's known as a daemon instead of the fiend it is here. A lot of health, tiny, and fast. The hooded ones have moves like they were from some sort of sci-fi movie with laser swords. Which would be kinda cool if not for, you know, the trying to kill you part.

[...Yes. You heard him right, Hunk. Terrifying thing yet, somehow... Neeeerd.]

[chefbayardee]

[ At the decidedly adorable name of "Tonberry," Hunk briefly has a vision of himself with a larger, living one, happily cooking meals. The little lantern means they could see in the dark, too-

But then there's the kicker: they're terrifying. Of course they are! Why did he expect anything else from anything related to Vaikuntha? ] But how do they move so fast with such stubby legs? A-and the laser swords?

[ At this point, they sound like the mean cousins of the Arusians. The idea of Klaizap with a lightsaber made things a lot more palatable, honestly, so Hunk's still got a bit of a smile, even as he tried to gain intel on things that would probably try to kill him. ] And are daemons worse than the fiends here?

[warpstriking]

[He asks this in the gourmand guild. Which both are still completely unaware of the terrors of, but still. There is an irony even if Noct can't put a finger on why.]

...

[He seems to ponder this for a second.] You know, I have no idea. Never really studied daemons other than on the field, in combat, where they were very adamant in trying to kill me and my friends. Normally they take it slow, luring you in before doink. [He makes a stabbing notion with his right hand to punctuate it.] There goes your kidney. As for the laser swords, it's really weird. One minute it's just a knife like any Tonberry has. The next, they're spinning in the air like gravity just don't care and the knife's a laser sword.

And I wouldn't know. Haven't run into one here, yet. [To which Ignis and Prompto were likely very thankful for, he thinks. Considering his penchant for wandering off to the nearest fishing hole...]

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk stifles a giggle at how Noct explains the creatures. It reminded him kind of how he broke stuff down for people- was it this funny for everyone else? But that yet makes his attention perk up again, and a smile creeps back onto his face. ]

What if they're here, [ And then he gives a thumbs-up. ] but they're friendly? You never know! [ He wasn't going to go into detail about how an alternate universe flipped good and evil on its head a bit, but the idea of a Tonberry fighting evil with a laser sword gave him the cheeriest little giggle. ]

[warpstriking]

[Noctis leans in, face completely serious.] Do you really wanna find out?

[He knows he wouldn't. He got enough kidney stabs he had to heal with potions as it is!! Maybe it's just a once bitten, twice shy kinda deal, but it's still not something he even thinks about being a possibility.]

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk just shrugs awkwardly at Noct's question. He had a real good point. ] No. No, I do not.

[ But then he sighs, shoulders slumping just a bit. ] I just wanna run into a monster that doesn't want to kill us, y'know? Why is that so much to ask for?

[warpstriking]

[Good plan. But if they actually do meet a nice Tonberry, then his mind might be a bit b l o w n. . .]

You and me both. It'd be a nice change of pace.

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk takes a moment to nod, clearly enabled by Noct's words. ] I mean, seriously.

[ He rolls his eyes. ] It took a while, but we found aliens that didn't want to kill us, so where are the monsters like that?

[warpstriking]

[Blink. Aliens, huh. (Was now a bad time to point out they're technically all aliens to those on this planet?)]

Your guess is as good as mine.

[chefbayardee]

W-wait. [ Hunk's eyes go wide again. His eyelids might be the strongest muscles in his body. ] Do chocobos count as monsters? They can kill you, and the Cavalier thing has them do weird stuff, but they're really friendly...

[ Hunk looks very, very conflicted over this notion. Chocobos are too cute to be monsters, right? Right?! ]

[warpstriking]

No, they don't count. They're companion animals, and some of the most stalwart of allies when trained well.

[chefbayardee]

So they're like dogs. Awesome! [ He sighs, and just starts smiling. He doesn't need to worry about evil chocobos, thank goodness. ] You... you do know what a dog is, right, Noct?

[ People don't know what pizza is sometimes. He can't assume anything! ]

[warpstriking]

[Only because there (hopefully) aren't and red chocobos. Rest in pieces if there are.]

Yeah, kinda. [He pauses, then smiles.] Of course. My fiancee had two. More of a cat person myself, but Umbra and Pryna were the best.

[Uh oh. You got him started on cute animals. Hope you're happy, Hunk.]

Umbra passed along messages between us for twelve years. Pryna never really visited after someone hurt her when she tried to see me.

[chefbayardee]

[ See, Hunk was all-in to talk about cute animals, but then Noct mentioned Pryna getting hurt, and the mood shifted immediately to gloom. Noct... ]

Was... was she okay? [ But then he gets a little smile. He knows how to take them out of this dark place! ] Did you get her a guard dog afterwards?

[ Dogs all the way down. Dogs on dogs on dogs on dogs. ]

[warpstriking]

Yeah, she was. Apparently some nerd who likes taking photos of animals found her and helped her out.

[There is a hint of fondness in his tone, far from any sense of gloom. Well, for him anyway.]

Pryna never really left Luna’s side after that, far as I know. Umbra was dead set on not letting her deliver messages after that. He’s a bit protective of his sister.

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk just gasped at Noct's words. Not just because a wildlife photographer found Pryna, but because she had a brother! ] I'm glad everything worked out okay in the end.

So, wait, if Pryna got hurt, wouldn't Umbra be in danger when he was delivering those messages? Or is Umbra part wolf or something?

[ The last question sounded just a bit sarcastic, but not so much to indicate Hunk was entirely joking. ]

And why didn't you just, like, send a text message?