[IC] Shepards of Ivalice: The Wings of Ruin

[Lugia]

Dorter, Trade City

@Cyrania
"I see... so your kin is all that remains of your kind? That's quite sad," Livia responded to your question. She then opens the door to an oddly out of the way house, where several viera, just like her seem to be gathered. The place didn't seem large enough to fit all of them, and each one seemed to have different specialties. One of them for instance, seemed to have a bow, quiver of arrows, and was clearly an archer, whereas another held a staff and wore green. A mage, but something told you her spells might not be for damaging enemies. They appeared to be in the middle of some sort of debate when you entered, with three of the five present (minus Livia, herself) saying that they should stay here, in Dorter, whereas the other two seemed to want to leave, explaining that without everyone else, there won't be anything for them here... that they should go with the rest of the town. Livia took her side, apparently wanting to leave, making it a tie. After a particularly heated argument where a few breakable items were thrown at each other, two of them, Livia, and one of her sisters turned to you, and the sister asked "What do you think? Should we stay here, in Dorter, where we already know we have walls, or should we take our chances in the wilderness?"


@Evanist

You try to calm and mount the red chocobo...

RESULTS

LUCK: 10
Chocobo specialist: +7
Has taken care of the chocobo: +2
Short-tempered: -3

---

Target: 15

Results... SUCCESS!

...and you make a new friend in the process! The notoriously short-tempered red chocobo seems to calm down at the sound of your voice, as if remembering when you took care of him, and, of course, your natural knack for taking care of chocobos seems to have come into play. (New mount: Red chocobo... would you like to name the chocobo?)

After seeing you ease the riled bird, the other keeper finally tells you something "Ah, yes... shame what happened to the old rider, and a shame that you're too late. Had a bangaa come in earlier, and tame her. Dunno where HE ran off to with her, though," from his tone, it was clear that he wasn't lying, unfortunately.

@Lugia

The town seemed bustling about, with several trying to move, and or pack as many of their belongings into whatever containers they had, obviously something was going to be left behind. A familiar white mage passes by you, as well as a similarly familiar meat vendor. Both of them seemed as if they were going to move with Dorter, and neither of them payed any real attention to you, of course, since they didn't know you, that was probably a given.

---

Forest around Dorter

@Eklispe

A familiar voice suddenly erupts from further inside the church "Yes? Who's calling my name?" the voice of a supposed dead man rung out. Of course, you didn't have to go any further yourself, as he quickly made his way towards the entrance. "Ah, Arus, one of my newer recruits. I'm sorry, I was in the middle of my prayers, you see," Holliander seemed to be clutching onto a rather odd deep red colored stone. It didn't look as though it was a beaststone, after all, where would someone from this world get one of those, and stranger yet, it seemed to have an odd etching... one the depicted a constellation, but not a familiar one. What was this stone, what kinds of power did it hold, and what sort of importance did this church hold for that stone?

[Evanist]

Erion looked at the keeper, and breath deeply as he pets his new bird...
"Well... at least the bangas was able to tame her... a new rider might be better, but I hope he won't mistreat her..." he says calmly, before slowly getting on his new mount, and then looking at the keeper.
"I hope you don't mind I use her... Boco kinda too tired right now." he says, petting the bird slowly.
"Uhm... Rosa would be a good name." he says, caressing the bird slowly to calm her down. He smiles at the keeper.
"And that wyvern... I would probably have too much trouble even trying to tame the beast... I am just glad that someone else was able to tame it, kupo!" he says softly.

[Cyrania]

Jo-Anne

"Walls are a good means of defense generally," Jo-Anne replied, wondering why she was dragged into it. "But they're also an obvious target for a Risen swarm and a target that requires a force to maintain. A moving target though is harder to pin down, which makes traveling in the wilderness a safer bet. I know it's harder for that to work with the number we will be traveling with, but it's the only way to help the citizens untrained in war get through. Otherwise, there is no chance they would survive from Risen or other wilderness predators. There should be enough trained warriors that some of us can be stationed as direct defenders of the caravan while others can take care of scouting and distraction. Your help would even the odds more if you joined us. Therefore, I would suggest that joining the caravan would allow you to better survive though your help would be appreciated in the defense of the townsmen while your abilities would be used for your own needs here though then you are more likely to be overwhelmed. Nobody can be at their peak at all times and that's what you would need to be if you stayed behind the walls here, while in the caravan there are others to watch your backs and help you out when you need it."

[Eklispe]

Arus looked at Holliander confused why was the knight here? "What is this place and what is the stone you have? More importantly, why did you come here instead of returning to the city?" Arus asked perplexed by the knight's actions. If he hadn't searched for Holliander himself he would've assumed the knight was dead. He waited expectantly for Holliander's answers to these mysteries.

[Lugia]

Dorter, Trade City

@Evanist

The keeper says "Eh, don't worry about it, she was a spare anyways, she never really had a rider until now," he then seemed to leave the building for whatever reason... though, he was also carrying a very full-looking bag, and, soon after, someone else came in, riding his own chocobo, and let all of them out so they'd follow him. This man gives you an annoyed look, and says "So, are you coming with us, or not? I'm leaving for Zaland, and I'm taking these chocobos with me," perhaps he reminded you about the move, something you may or may not have forgotten about, or maybe he just annoyed you, but either way, he left you with just Rosa... apparently, he got Boco to follow him out of the stables. You could hear some sort of commotion going on outside of the stables, but you can't seem to make out the words, unfortunately.

@Cyrania

The three who tried to opt to stay gave an annoyed sigh, and reluctantly packed their things. For whatever reason, Livia felt the need to explain "We never leave any of our family behind... if a decision is made by the family, all of the family has to go through with it. I'm glad you helped us decide whether or not to leave," once she was done, the entire family started leaving the house, with seemingly everything packed. You could overhear some sort of meeting in the middle of the town, with Robin saying "I assume I have given everyone enough time to bring what they need on this journey, so, we shall start, but, we will avoid the usual roads and paths, and we will surround the citizens from all sides by our soldiers," an unfamiliar voice seemed to continue off of that with "Also, anyone who can will wear armor. This is mandatory for all citizens who aren't using some form of magic. I know it will be uncomfortable for some, but it will allow you to live if you somehow manage to get attacked by the enemy... you'll thank me when that sword doesn't kill you," after that, all that could be heard were murmurs that you couldn't figure out if you tried.

Forest around Dorter

@Eklispe

Holliander looked down at the stone once you mentioned it, and hid it afterwards. He then responded with "Ah, so I assume you don't have churches where you're from, correct? Well, it's a place where we worship our deity... this stone is vaguely linked to said deity, and it has the power to change the world... I was praying here, and trying to see if I could get an answer as to whether now was a good time to use this stone or not," he then continued on with "You see, while it can change the world, there could be some... horrible and unintended side effects to using it. Upon using it, I could become a grotesque, uncontrollable, and insane monster. For a while, I had to debate on whether I should even take this thing with me when I moved to Dorter... I came pretty close to wanting to toss the damned thing in the ocean where it would rot, and yet here I am, still holding onto it," Holliander then walked over to his chocobo, and said "They're probably waiting for me back in the city, and, as you've said, they thought I was a dead man, so I've got to hurry," he then mounted the bird, and had it carry him back towards the city, yet, he seemed to have the chocobo move at a speed that you could follow, as if he didn't want to lose you in the forests.

---

I tried to call out to the familiar duo, but out of nowhere, a town meeting of some sort started, and the strategists all gathered in the center of the town to explain a few things about what they were going to do next. Namely, they were going with my plan to avoid as many monsters as possible, but, they were also telling everyone to get armor. At first, I was a little miffed at that, but, then they explained that I don't have to wear armor if I was using magic, and, thankfully, I was. They seemed to keep this town meeting relatively brief, and I headed off to the stables before leaving the town with everyone else. Once inside, I notice Erion alone with a red chocobo. "Hey, Erion, everyone's leaving, I was just making sure you weren't going to be left behind... then again, we still could be, they're getting out of here fast for whatever reason," I then gestured for him to follow me, adding "Come on, we were planning on leaving this place anyways, right?" I then start to leave, making sure that Erion was somewhere nearby as I left town and headed eastwards, first, with the rest of town.

[Cyrania]

Jo-Anne

"Well, good thing the Shepherds never had time to unpack yet," thought the young Taguel as the caravan got into formation. She looked around for the myrmidon, bird-riding moogle, or mysterious man she had met earlier that day, but couldn't see them. "It is a big crowd, so they could be hiding in plain sight and I couldn't see them. Or they're gathering last minute things before we leave. It would be weird if they didn't come or weren't among the defenders." Then she turned to Livia's sisters as they got into formation and said, "I'm Jo-Anne by the way. Sorry I forgot to mention that earlier. And you four are?"

[Evanist]

Erion nodded, and breath deeply.
"I guess everyone got ready to move out quicker then I though.... well... I am ready to move... Lets go." he then said, leading Rosa outside, and looking at Robert. Well... he was right about this, they were going to leave anyway... and going to a safe place might be better.
"Alright... well, they did take Boco away before I had time to even have him rest a bit... but it might be better we move quickly before another attacks comes in." he then says. The group will probably need to surround the citizen's to protect them... Well... he guessed the could do that and take a hit or 2... and even use his choco heal to help out everyone else.

[Eklispe]

Arus thought over Holliander's response as quickly mounted his own horse and began riding after him. He wondered just what sort of deity they worshiped, in Ylisse they only had Naga, and of course Grima for the more... unsavory types. More importantly he wondered just what kind of stone that was, something that could change the world, and change its wielder into a hideous monster. It sounded like a twisted version of the Fire Emblem. He followed Holliander silently mulling these thoughts over. He wondered just what sort of circumstances Holliander would use that stone in...

[Lugia]

Fields of Dorter

@Cyrania

The five other sisters all say their name, with the obvious archer starting off with "Shiva, the swift", the green robed one saying "Tyra, the supportive,", afterwards the one in white robes responded "Sandra, the healer,", followed by "Gina, the spellblade," from the knightly sister, and finally, from one that was dressed as if they were a ninja, "Nina, the assassin," The group of them then continue to follow the caravan, though, you could hear those 'chocobo' things ahead of you, for some reason, you could also hear one approaching you... odd, why would that one be so far behind the rest of them? As soon as you all leave the gates, you were told to keep with your division, near Robin, who was quite a distance away, and, unfortunately, your group of new friends seems to be in the opposite, with the summoner, for the most part, with Nina and Gina being under the new commander's command. Oddly the strange one from before doesn't seem to be anywhere...

@Evanist

"Alright, then," Robert answers you, making sure to follow you as you both head out of the city. An oddly familiar bunny person can be seen ahead of you, talking with several Viera with varying jobs. Oddly Rosa seemed more content to just walk, and thus, not catch up with Jo-Anne. "Sounds like a plan, I guess... I just hope he'll find his way back to us. Honestly, I considered him more of a team member than a pet..." Robert drones on as you make your way out of the city, where people were being divided into groups depending on some random factors. Strangely, both you and Robert ended up in the same group as Jo-Anne, Robin's group, that is. Robert complained for a moment, but didn't convince them to change his grouping to anything other than 'the outsiders'... maybe that's why they put you in Robin's group?

@Eklispe

You make your way out of the forest with Holliander without so much as a single risen attempting to gnaw at your ankles, thankfully, and once you're there, you see some sort of spectacle. All of Dorter appeared to be at the gate, and separating into three groups. Robin's, and two people who you've never seen before, one of whom was in knight's armor reminiscent of Walhart's, if someone dyed his armor black. Holliander seemed somewhat mad about this, as the first thing he said was "I'm gone for a few minutes, and they get that hack to replace me? I suppose a man just can't have a few minutes to himself without being declared dead and replaced, anymore," nonetheless, he continued towards the group of people, and once he got close enough, several people started gasping, and murmuring. The armored man who took his place said "H-Holliander!? You're still alive?" Holliander's response was a quick "Yes," and the armored man continued with "Thank goodness you're here. Now I don't have to lead these people anymore... honestly, it was already getting to be too much for me," Robin then called for you, as apparently, you've been assigned to his group during this journey instead of Holliander, who was now taking over for the one who took over for him.

[Eklispe]

Arus turned his head at Robin's call and dutifully made his way over briefly wondering if he should mention the stone to Robin, he quickly thought better of it. It was Holliander's to do with what he willed, if he felt a need to share the information he would do so. Arus noticed that Robin's group had some of the inhabitants from this world in it as well, perhaps Robin wanted to get used to working with his new allies. Mentally shrugging Arus merely pulled his horse up with the others and waited for further orders, keeping his eyes open for any attacks. Though no doubt Robin already had scouts deployed an extra pair of eyes couldn't hurt.

[Evanist]

Erion looked at the group him and Robert were put in, and then stared for a bit, looking at the his group. He then made Rose walked over towards where Jo-Anne was, and then looked down at her from his chocobo.
"It seems we will be grouped together for this journey, Kupo." he says, looking at the others in the group.
"This should end up interesting. I hope we will not lose anyone while we travel. I will try to help out the most people in the group as I can if anyone of you get injured." he then says calmly. To say the least, it was a bit strange how him and Robert were put in the group with that Robin fallow... a outsider from this place. One thing for sure, this would not end up as a easy walk in the park. Traveling with these people will end up being a heck of a journey probably.

[Cyrania]

Jo-Anne and Arus: Support Conversation Level D

At first, it was hard for Jo-Anne to recognize the horse rider as he joined the group, but he seemed awfully familiar. Then realization dawned on her as she got closer and saw the familiar armour and sword. The Taguel managed to work herself to be right next to him before saying, “I didn’t realize myrmidons knew how to ride horses.”

Arus shrugged, “Most specialize too much to worry about other things. While mastery of the sword is an admirable goal, one skill does not a master make. I would be practically useless if I didn’t have some skill with a horse, I don’t prefer it but it is better than waiting in a wagon or being left in the dust. Though you surprised me as well, I did not know it was possible for a taguel to also be a manakete.” Arus said thoughtfully. Such a skill must be quite helpful, he imagined her taguel form would be more helpful for when speed and precision was needed and the dragon form for when more brute form was necessary, or the ability to fly.

To that the hybrid herself shrugged and replied, “It’s perfectly possible when your dad’s a taguel and your mom’s a manakete, it would be strange if it wasn’t. Though either way, I’m extremely vulnerable when I can’t use my stone, something I could probably use some shoring up in.”

Arus nodded, having no combat skills when lacking access to a single object would be rather limiting. While Arus naturally prefered having a sword at all times he could hold his own without one. “Perhaps you don’t need more skill in that area, rather a good companion to ensure such an event does not prove troublesome. If you desire, I could make sure that you don’t suffer during your periods of weakness.” Arus said wording his statement carefully. He certainly didn’t want to sound forward, yet it seemed that such a weakness should be addressed. “Though if you seek to become more self-capable I could perhaps give some lessons in basic self-defense, of course I don’t know how much experience you have with such matters.”

“How different could self-defense be from Taguel form? They both are weaponless states except for your appendages.” Jo-Anne answered with a smile. “I would gladly accept your offer to be a companion and to teach me self-defense. My name’s Jo-Anne by the way, we never did quite introduce ourselves properly after we put down the possible fight,” offering her hand as she finished.

Arus mentally berated himself, how crude of him to not even ensure they knew each other’s names. “My sincere apologies, I am not usually so rude. My name is Arus, I will teach you all you seek to know.” He said firmly as he accepted her handshake.

[Cyrania]

Jo-Anne and Erion: Support Conversation Level D

Jo-Anne turned to see who spoke and saw that it was the moogle from earlier, she smiled and said “It seems like we are. I want to thank you for your words earlier and apologize for not thanking you sooner, I was just in a turmoil for my charging having cancelled the chance for the summons to appear.”

Erion smiled softly and breath deeply. “It is alright. I kinda went in gun’s blazing also there. I thought I could have gone and helped people to escape quickly, but it seemed I was stuck also. I also wanted to thank you for getting us out of there. My ride would probably have been hurt if it tried to escape without help.” he says calmly. And to have seen her change like that into a dragon… that was something that was really surprising to see to say the least.

The Taguel smiled, “It was nothing. Though speaking of which, where’s your previous bird? I’m sure the last one was yellow.”

Erion looked at the Taguel and breath deeply, shaking his head a bit. “He needed some rest and I left him in the stables, but unfortunately they emptied the stables before I had any time to get Boco to fallow me. I should be able to get to him later on…. I hope at least… I just wanted him to have a bit of time but it seems everyone in a rush to get out and move towards the castle.” he says, looking down a bit. Boco was his friend, they been together for a good while since this invasion. He just didn’t want to lose him.

“Things do often get mixed up when the camp leaves in a hurry.” Jo-Anne replied. “You should be able to find him again, I’m Jo-Anne by the way.” Then she offered her hand up.

Erion smiled at her, looking down at her. “Names is Erion. It is nice to meet you Kupo.” he then says, smiling softly at her.

“Nice to meet you too. I can help you look for him when we stop for the night if you want.” She replied with a smile.

Erion smiled back at her and nods at this. “It would be greatly appreciated. I just hope there isn't another rider that ends up taking him and that no one stops him.” he says, a bit scared of that.”I just have to pray to that.

[Lugia]

Fields of Dorter

@Evanist, @Cyrania, @Eklispe, @Lugia

Robin almost seemed to wait for the group to stop chattering among itself before announcing "Our scouts have returned, and thankfully, they have returned in one piece," the three scouts, all of whom were riding something, either a wyvern, a horse, or a flying horse, and all of whom seemed relatively unscathed. The trio said something to Robin, who then tried to convince the other groups to wait another day before leaving, however... nobody listened to him. The summoner, and Holliander were both adamant about leaving today, arguing that the town would be destroyed by the next day, whether they were there or not, arguing that the dark esper that almost ruined the town before would come back for revenge, arguing that they had a sneaking suspicion that the thing wasn't truly dead, yet. Robin came back to the group with a defeated look on his face. "They want us to leave now, but the scouts have reported a huge number of Risen, as well as other monstrosities from here all the way to Zaland. They were all, oddly enough, waiting in ambush, as if they expected us to do this somehow. Waiting a single day would most likely resolve this issue, but they want us to leave now," the three groups then all started to leave the area, and head into the Araguay Woods, though, the groups didn't take the path... something told you that even then they were likely to encounter monsters.

---

I was ready to leave after everyone stopped talking, and, while I found my way back to Erion, he was talking with that rabbit lady who could turn into a dragon, and I didn't want to interrupt their conversation. Eventually, Erion finished, and I finally got to say "Hey, don't worry, Erion, I'm sure Boco will turn up somewhere. He's strong, you know, he won't get taken down that easily," pretty much immediately after that, the stranger, who everyone around me seemed to be calling Robin announced that his scouts have finally returned. One of them was riding a wyvern, while the other two were riding on something that for some reason, I well and truly hated. I managed to keep my rage to myself, and it was quickly replaced with worry once I heard Robin talking about how the entire path was littered with ambushes, and how we couldn't even wait a day for these ambushes to disperse, or attack the town directly... and then we started moving. Since our group had no civilians, and had the greatest number of people riding various mounts, we were going to go ahead of the rest of the group. I, however, due to me lacking any sort of riding animal, and due to not possessing a natural speed as a viera, or even gria would have, lagged behind everyone else in my group. Why couldn't they have lent a wyvern, or something? Dang it... I'm already out of breath trying to keep up. Erion was always so nice to stay behind and make sure this never happened... I thought as I tried my hardest to keep up with the rest of the group. Interestingly, I wasn't the only one having trouble, as there was a strange, almost blank-faced man wearing bright orange and silver armor who was moving at about the same speed as I was. I tried to say something, but as soon as I stopped looking at him, he seemed to vanish... what sort of sorcery was that?

[Cyrania]

"Well, guess I better stay alert." Thought Jo-Anne as she thought about Robin's news while walking along. The woods still had a beauty to them, even in this dark time. But the Risen were somewhere in there, lurking and waiting to pounce. And if the Shepherds fell, what would happen to the caravan? The taguel shook her head and tried to stay focused on the here and now, not wanting to be the one who failed to spot the enemy. Then she noticed that Erion's friend was lagging behind. She smiled and went back to him. Then she offered, "Here. Would you like to ride me?" She then pulled out her beaststone, waiting to see if he take her offer and hoping he didn't ask for the dragon form. "The Taguel form can carry people and if we really are ambushed, a second's delay in being ready could be deadly. What do you say? I'm Jo-Anne, by the way."

[Eklispe]

Arus frowned, riding into an army of monsters didn't exactly sound appealing to him yet it seemed they had little choice. Nodding reluctantly he kept his sword at the ready and had his horse trot towards the front of the caravan keeping his eyes peeled for anything that made it past the scouts. If they saw an enemy he wanted to be one of the first ones there, until they found something there was very little he could do.

[Evanist]

Erion fallowed the group, before seeing Robert fall behind with another man. He breath deeply. He then slowly made his mount slow down to get back a bit, seeing Jo-Anne go and ask if he needed a ride. He looked towards Robert, then seeing the man from before having disappear. He stares for a bit.
"Wasen't there... I mean.... " he says, clearing his eyes a bit.
"Never mind... Kupo..." he says, shaking his head. He then looks towards Robert and Jo-Anne.
"It might be the best way so that you don't fall behind. And because we don't have civilians to move with us, it would be bad to have people fall behind...." he says calmly, before looking at him and sighing.
"And we all know what would happen if they would have given you one of those... horse creatures... Am I right Robert?" he then says, a slight exasperated look in his face, showing a bit of a backstory about that. He breath deeply.
"So lets move on kupo." he then says.

[Lugia]

Araguay Woods

@Eklispe

As you and your group ride along, you can hear rustling in the bushes, and occasionally see a small creature dart from one bush to the next. Though Robin seems intent on continuing, something doesn't seem right about doing so. Your possible suspicions are instantly confirmed with a single arrow, which nearly hit a neighboring knight by the name of Andrew. Whatever enemies might be around, they're here, and they've already seen you all. "ARCHERS!" Robin calls out, though it's not entirely clear if he was warning others about the enemy archers, or if he was calling for our archers to attack. Obviously, no matter what he meant by what he said, you had to be ready... though, it seems as if some of the team has been left behind. That can't be good.

@Evanist, @Cyrania

I finally stop running, and after taking a few minutes to catch my breath, I answer the strange not-quite-viera offered me a ride, and while that would normally sound very wrong, I knew what she meant. She also introduced herself as 'Jo-Anne', a name I probably won't forget, just due to how, well, uncommon it is. I hesitated just a bit before saying "Sure, I was never all that great at running, and I've seen that... odd.... rabbit-like creature that aided us in our last fight. I'm guessing that's what you mean by 'Taguel'..." I then see that strange, armored man again, and ask "Say, does your group have a history of being haunted by a strange, blank-faced, brightly-armored ghost? I've been seeing one ever since I joined you guys, and I'd like an explanation if you have one," I then overhear someone up ahead shout "ARCHERS!" as if it was a warning, and not soon after that, one of those zombies, but in knight form, blocks the rest of the group from heading back towards us... it looks like we've encountered our first ambush, and unfortunately, it was going to be the first of many.

[Eklispe]

Arus frowned and drew his sword and eyed the woods carefully, he wouldn't attack unless ordered to but he disliked inaction. A single shot was surprising though, surely there was not just one enemy attacking them? Perhaps this attack was simply to draw them into the woods, more worried about the possible repercussions then the attack itself Arus's eyes roamed the trees searching for anything. His horse snorted nervously and Arus patted it calmly, "Steady..." He said quietly and waited for something more to happen.

[Cyrania]

"Stay behind me," Jo-Anne said to Erion's friend, obviously a mage. Then she activated the beaststone and charged at the risen. They needed to get back to the main group, when Risen were concerned, there was definately safety in numbers. And she didn't like the idea of this ghostly guy the dog-like person said he saw. Someone in authority might have some idea what it is.

---

Jo-Anne: SPD 12 = 6 actions
Activate Beastone: Free action, Uses left 48
Move towards Risen Knight: 1 action
Attack Risen Knight: 1-5 actions (depending on whether the knight is defeated or not)
(If Actions remain) Move to main group: Remaining Actions