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

Mythra | OTA

[sirenslight]

A. Mythra in the Sky with Disappointment(Cloud City)

[So far, the Cloud City was Mythra's favorite place to be. It was the place closest to her home, after all. It was the evening, and she was staring out at the setting sun with her feet hands clutching a railing, right at cloud level. She felt somewhat solemn, however. She knew these Clouds weren't like the Cloud Sea. They were made of different stuff, that was obvious. One, from the fact she couldn't swim in them, and two, they lacked the regenerative properties of the actual Cloud Sea. So she's somewhat sad she doesn't get to take a nice swim in familiar waters.]

"If only I had some of Rex's salvager stuff..." [Then maybe she could simply, take a bit of a dive down into them while still firmly attached to the city. She supposed she could just, get some rope or something. Well, she needed to enlist someone for this. She turns to the nearest available person, and asks them,] "Do you know where I could find some rope?"

B. Tactical Living Nuke Incoming(Tactician Guild)

[Mythra walks into the tactician guild with a certain sense of swagger about her. Tactics, yeah, she got tactics. For the Architect's Sake she was pretty much designed to analyze and process data, and time and time again, when she planned something, it would work out. Rex wasn't exactly that much of a thinker, and Pyra... well, she could be reckless at times. So she's got it on this job. She fills out the paperwork relatively quickly, and she walks away with her asterisk in hand.

[She quickly heads out of the guild. She's not a fan of the stuffy atmosphere and the weird board game obsession. She hates businessmen and stuffy nobles, they were never her types with few exceptions. She was at home among soldiers and warriors, those who stood on the battlefield rather than in an armchair. And in her hurried rush, she commits the Oh-So Classic trope, of bumping into someone coming in. Though, not knocking them over, merely brushing up against them and dropping her asterisk. She stops, and goes to pick it up.]

"Ah, excuse me. I need to get out of the elitist intellectual club."

C. A Blade Gets a Blade(Swordmaster Guild)

C1. How Mythra has not Learned to Stop Thinking and Love the 1000 Times Folded Nippon Steel
"What are you doing?" [For all you new Swordmasters trying out your new jobs, you may be approached by your fellow Swordmaster, looking rather, unenthused. You are one of the unlucky souls to have caught her ire. Maybe it was your parrying technique, maybe your foot positioning, maybe it was your swing telegraphing. If a mistake in your movements appears, Mythra will be here! To fix it, whether you want her to or not.

[Because, as the experienced soldier who has bested hundreds of enemies in battle and also literally a sword girl, Mythra knows a lot about swords. And so, people fighting improperly bothers her. It bothers her immensely. And so thus, the blonde with the Messer in the Swordmaster uniform is expressing her distaste in the most helpful way she can. So prepare to get rated.]

C2. Honing Your Edge
[But maybe you're not a Swordmaster, maybe you're just around town. If that's the case, you might find Mythra elsewhere, on a cliff overlooking the city. Rather than admiring the view however, Mythra is running herself through drills, on her own. Looking incredibly focused. Mogra, her Moogle, is off to the side, taking notes on her performance. She hasn't seen you approach because of that. Her movements are all precise, yet naturally flowing. It's clear this girl has had some experience in a swordfight.]

"You were always the better sword fighter than I was, weren't you Addam?" [Two steps forward, a horizontal cut to the head.]

"It makes sense, you were my Driver after all." [A duck beneath a cut, a thrust to the newly formed opening in her enemy's guard.]

"Rex was pretty good, but you were always his better in that department." [A sidestep and a deflection.]

"But you aren't here to teach me, to guide me here." [A final thrust, to finish off her enemy.]

"I miss you, Adda-" [She turns around, and she finally sees you there. She instantly raises her sword to this new intruder, and issues a single command.]

"Don't move an inch."

C1

[modelcivilian]

[Adrien likes to think he's doing pretty well following the instructions of the other Guild members, but the style is way more kendo than foil, sabre, or épée. And maybe practicing one of those three off to the side isn't the best idea because he hears someone yell in his direction.]

... Me? [Wooden sword at his side, he points at himself to make sure he's the one she's speaking to.]

[sirenslight]

“Yeah, you.” [She looks at him, and then gives her assessment. It’s something plainly obvious. If he had his weapon out, she’d probably give him a live demonstration. But she was not going to be that mean, not when he wasn’t even in a state of preparedness. Which could be said to be a mistake in and of itself but well, nitpick too much and she’d be here all day.]

“Whenever your legs are still, you’re keeping them rigid. You know what that means right?”

[modelcivilian]

[Staring back, he's... well, yeah, he's used to the assessment. Tilting his head, he isn't sure what she's about to get at.]

Yes. I would keep them moving, but I didn't reach 'Allez' yet.

B

[poisonwish]

Uf!

[The beautiful, yet strangely clad, young man took a step back after being bumped. One eyebrow rose derisively to examine who dared be so careless. And then he saw what she dropped as she spoke such hypocritical words.]

Oh really?

[Snow White smirked, amused, and gestured with his chin toward the asterisk on the ground.]

It looks to me as if you just joined it.

[sirenslight]

“Yeah. Because the skills themselves are useful. Never said anything about the culture.”

[Already Snow White rubs Mythra the wrong way. It’s something about his smug, condescending tone. It irritates her. Which is rich coming from someone like Mythra, but she’s never been too good at spotting her own hypocrisy.]

“Now then, why is it any of your business anyways?”

[Her irritation is as clear as day. She’s not exactly trying to mask it.]

[poisonwish]

[Snow shrugged casually.]

It isn't -- you were the one who first started talking about it. I don't really care what you do with yourself.

[Or, really, anything else about her. Snow didn't know her. Why should he care?]

Be more careful where you're walking if you don't want attention.

C2

[conniemaheswaran]

Connie herself was looking for another place to train. She'd made it a habit to look for some of the most serene places to train her own sword skills once she disembarked from the airship. A quiet place was conducive to a quiet mind, and when the mind was silent the body could learn easier.

The girl is clad in plate and leather armor, with a few distinctly magitek flairs. Hand-etched arcanagrams carved around glowing apetures on her pauldrons, from which streams of indigo energy flow into meticulously-crafted gauntlets quietly whirring with stabilization servos to balance their latent power. Broad strips of nickel with runic microcircuits embedded in the metal run down Connie's spine, her limbs, and her ribs.

A pair of goggles programmed with a practical encyclopedia of mechanical and magical knowledge are wrapped around her forehead. Her gunblade hangs at her hip, a basic model that Connie has nevertheless taken the time to customize with a variety of personal modules. She wears a leather longcoat over the rest of armor, with pockets full of mechanical and magical odds, ends, and tools.

At Mythra's warning, Connie raises her hands in a gesture of surrender. "S-Sorry. I was just, uh, looking for somewhere to practice. Do you want me to leave?"

[sirenslight]

Mythra stood there, looking at Connie. She almost didn’t recognize her in all of that gear, but Mythra had to admit; it looked cool. The first thing it made her think of was Rex, dressed in his white and green armor created via her true powers.Ir wasn’t the same looking really, but they gave her the same vibe.

Knowing it was Connie, Mythra lowered her sword and smiled. She wasn’t going to drive her roommate away. The girl had already seen her get far too vulernable, her catching her talking about Addam wasn’t too bad by comparison. She scratched he back of her neck awkwardly.

“No, it’s fine. You just caught me off guard.”

[conniemaheswaran]

"I was planning on practicing alone, but seeing as you've got an offensive Job now," Connie glances at Mythra's sword and smiles. It had been awhile since she'd had an actual training partner, and Mythra seemed like as good a candidate as any. "You up for a spar? I could use some practice with live opponents. Training dummies and combat forms are good and all, but nothing can beat actual fighting experience."

[sirenslight]

“Sure. I’ll warm you though, I’m not going to go easy on you.” Which meant something from Mythra. It had been a while since she had a good spar last, and she didn’t want it to be one where she was holding back. She didn’t have her Foresight or anything, or any of her abilities that would make her need to hold back. It would be skill vs. skill here, being put to the rest. And Mythra believed that hers were he superior ones, by virtue of experience. She got into her stance, sword in one hand and the other arm resting behind her back.

[conniemaheswaran]

"Neither will I." To many, such a declaration coming from a child would sound ridiculous, but there's a steely confidence in Connie's voice that shows that she fully intends to make good on her threat. While Connie's skills hadn't entirely returned, and she was significantly slowed by her armor, she did have at least most of her swordfighting prowess back and some new tricks to boot. Hopefully, all that training and tinkering would pay off.

She walks backwards to her starting position. "Ready when you are," Connie says, gunblade grasped with both hands.

((OOC: Since Mythra has a better Speed rating, she should probably go first.))

c1

[garyoutensei]

-Honestly, her tone, in such a simple question, spoke volumes. And Baiken's shoulders immediately stiffened, and her grip on the boken tightened enough to grind. She turned to the girl, her one eye glaring a hole, daring her to say something.

Baiken's technique definitely wasn't 'proper' by any means. Part of it was because proper technique was impossible for a one-armed person, but most of it was simply her experience deviating her far from an established form. But for some people, that really wasn't enough...-

[sirenslight]

[And it’s the improper technique that caught Mythra’s attention, though not instantly her critique. She wasn’t exactly sure how to go about this. Namely because of the one arm thing. That, made it difficult. So she supposed she needed greater observation of the movements. Needed every little detail to be later out before her to be looked over and ran through.]

“Can you just, run through that again for me?” [She’s forceful, it’s less of a request and more of an order.

[garyoutensei]

-And Baiken doesn't like orders.-

No. If you want to feel how effective my technique actually is, pick up a weapon and face me. Only a coward demands to watch when they can learn from doing.

A

[daggercubed]

[Vax isn't even a Ninja (yet) but he has an annoying habit: being so quiet, so sneaky, that he passively just ends up next to someone completely quietly. He does this now to the person who he might be closest to calling a friend here his traveling companion.

He stares at her, for a moment, and blinks.] A rope? Well--probably a general store. It should only be a few gil.

[His nose wrinkles.]

...Who's Rex?

[sirenslight]

[Mythra feels a bit relieved knowing it’s Vax, given that they are “allies”. From most others, that was a question to be dodger. But well, given that they would working together, he would find out sooner or later.]

“Rex is my Driver. Essentially it’s like, hmm... he’s an operator, of sorts. He channels my power and utilizes it and directs my goals, sort of. It’s complicated.”

[daggercubed]

A Driver? It's--hm. Hard to imagine.

You didn't... pick your own goals?

[That sounds worrying, really.]

A

[studdedcouncilprez]

[Makoto had just gotten to Cloud City and was fumbling her way through the city proper to get to the Observatory. Before she knew what was going on, she heard a voice around her. Why did it sound fami--]

[All doubt disappeared when she saw the source of the voice.]

Oh, hello Mythra-san. [She then tilted her head.] ...what do you need a rope for?

[sirenslight]

“I’m going for a dive in the Clouds. The rope is there so I can secure myself and not fall to my death.” [She says it casually like “yeah that’s a completely reasonable thing to do and say. Sure”. Namely because to her it was. But Mythra tilted her head slightly at Makoto.]

“Do you... know where I can get one?”

[studdedcouncilprez]

"Well, aside from stealing it, the best location would be a general store..." [Wait, what?]

"Go into the CLOUDS?!" [WHY?]

[sirenslight]

“Because. You’re supposed to be able to swim in the Clouds. But these ones are, weird. So I’m going to defy this world’s dumb rules and do it anyways, via exploit.”

[I am so sorry Makoto.]

C2 (with a dash of C1)

[jeido]

[While his time spent in the Red Mage's Guild was quite enlightening, there's still nothing like actually seeing the experts at work, and Jade finds himself learning more from observing the Swordmasters at work, intent on improving his bladecraft.

It's by happenstance that he comes across this lady practicing off the side--well, or as much as this particular cliff would qualify as such. He remembers her from the guild and how she busy-bodied about the folks getting some practice in. And while some people looked like they'd rather do without it, he can tell that she knows her craft, and for better or for worse, those who did heed her advice looked like they've improved slightly in during the practice sessions he observed.

It's with that in mind that he's decided to watch her as she went about her drills, looking for the right time to approach her then. Fortunately (or not), he's spared of the decision by a blade pointed to his face.]

My apologies for the intrusion.

[Yet, the course of action causes him to break into a smile anyway as he slowly raises his hands in the universal signal for surrender.]

I didn't wish to interrupt your practice session. It seems you're in top form today, Miss Swordmaster Teacher.

[sirenslight]

“I’m not a teacher. I just don’t like seeing people suck.”

[Harsh, Mythra. But she was never known for being good at sugarcoating things, especially given her obsession with sugar.

[But cautiously, she lowers her sword. Yeah, he’s not a threat. But she can figure he had business with her, she had seen him stalking around the guild earlier, watching her. She hadn’t thought it worth commenting on them, but now she had him alone. He was interested in her, clearly, but she couldn’t deduce why. In her world? The answer would’ve been simple. Here? She had no clue.

[Even so, his tone bothered her a bit. It didn’t too heavily matter how he spoke, she supposed, but she made a note of it. It was an indicator of something.]

“What’s your business with me?”

[jeido]

[Jade lowers his hands, though purposely keeps them where Mythra can see them, not too keen on getting her on guard again--for now, at least.]

I simply wondered if it would be possible for a skilled young lady such as you to provide some valuable instruction in the art of the one-handed sword. At my age, it gets quite difficult to pick up things in a classroom setting, so I believe I might benefit more from some private instruction.

[Not for the reasons he states--quite the opposite, really--but a half-truth all the same.]