Mirandae

Regalia

.

Regalia

_{[Location] Near the harbor of Landow, Estren
[Time] Sunday, 06:30 - 07:00
[Interactions] @Teyao@vietmyke}

Akamu always undermined his own safety, or so it seemed at least. It had gotten on Laura’s nerves plenty of times before. She was most likely overprotective of him, as a way to repay him for that day he saved her from being abducted, even if she knew she did not have to compensate. “Gaia will give Titan the slipper if you’re not careful,” Laura muttered silently with a crumpled expression on her face as the jolly mountain patted her on the head. She brushed it all off in the end. The man had such a big heart for everyone else that there was little room left for himself. Laura was guilty of the same thing, but perhaps not to the same extreme as Akamu. Blondie returned her attention to the stranger again, taking a seat on the grass, as the children rushed Titan, the merry-go-around attraction. The stranger had an air of mystery to him. Laura could not quite pin point what it was, but she felt it in the way he spoke. He seemed confident and relaxed around Laura and Akamu, which was not the typical way people behaved around them or any other Regalia. This led her to believe that the stranger was Regalia himself, but she had never seen his picture anywhere. He must have been one of the lesser known ones, so she was aching to know his name.

Laura thought the nickname the stranger gave Akamu was fabulous. Not even the countless PR-people that Akamu probably had to endure, let alone the ones where Laura had been present herself, had thought of such a catchy name for Titan’s Regalia. However, his actual question was probably not suited for Laura and Akamu, or any other Accadian for that matter. Island people were simple people, not very philosophical, but excelling at many other things in life. There did not have to be any clear purpose in order to do or be something. And all the other times there was a clear enough purpose for anyone to understand – people need to eat, South Accadians go fishing; people want entertainment, North Accadians open night clubs. It is really that simple.

“OMG!” Laura gasped with excitement, mouth wide open. “That’s such a cool name! I mean title! I mean nickname!” Laura continued with a hurried tone, not finding the right words. “Like, that is soooo good, you should totally use that name," she grinned as widely as she could. Laura tried to settle herself down to hear the man’s actual question. And then there was the mention of ‘THEM’, which threw the blonde off and made her even more air headed than she already was. “Uhm, who is THEM? Like, the people here?” Laura chuckled at her inability to get it. “I don’t know anything about that, but about purpose… hmm,” she thought about it for a second or two, taking over from Akamu's thoughts on the matter. “I mean, Dominants have always blessed people, right? So, someone must’ve figured out what the purpose of it is by now, but I’ve never heard of any,” she said while enjoying the sight of the frolicking children around Akamu and squeezing the plushie. “For us it’s like Hakuna Matata, you know? That’s a South Accadian dialect for.. eh, ‘no worries’, right?” Laura glanced at Akamu for the translation. “Anyway, I think we are the wrong people to ask, really.” She smiled at the stranger, wanting to finally know his name: “I’m sorry, did I ask your name before? I think I missed that.”

A few moments later, shooting stars became visible in the sky. Laura did not notice it at first until one of the children tucked at her hoodie and pointed at the beautiful spectacle. “Gaia! – Look, look!” The little one exclaimed with excitement and wonder. Laura’s eyes instantly cast their attention upwards and were greeted by blinding flares of light moving across the great firmament. “Oh, woooow!” Laura nearly bellowed with awe, which caught the attention of all the other children around them, and some of the adult attendees nearby. “Would you look at that! Make a wish, honey – or ten wishes! There are so many of them,” she said to the kid that had brought her attention to the lights in the sky. “I’ve never seen something like this. What are shooting stars again? They’re not actual stars, right?” Laura pondered out loud.

While the spectacle in the sky so fitting for the Festival of Lights was amusing to the attendees, it was not as inviting for the security detail. Laura’s security guy, along with Akamu's, approached from behind the group where they sat on the grass, his gear making ample noise and notice, having stood a few feet away during the conversations. “Miss Genevieve,” he said with the common language pronunciation of Laura’s surname, which she was well accustomed to by now even though she preferred the correct one as spoken in North Accadia. “We should move away from the harbor at this time,” he continued. “The main attractions downtown are now open, I suggest we move there.” The man behind that thick helmet and intimidating guns did not seem to screw around when talking and giving ‘suggestions’ for the next course of action. “Well, okay then,” Laura sighed. “We need some breakfast anyway, I think!” She smiled, stuffing the plushie underneath one arm and holding hands with one of the children, as the little ones done with riding the Titan-merry-go-around gathered around to follow Earth Mother wherever she went.

Regalia

Environment Art

Landow, Estren

^{♫ 3}

_{[Location] Landow, Estren
[Date/Time] Sunday, 07:00, September 15
[Weather] Partially cloudy, sunny
[Temperature] 16c / 60f}

A meteor shower hit the world of Libra in the early morning hours of the late summer in Estren. It began as beautiful shooting stars clearly visible in the blue and orange drenched sky. However, over the course of the next half hour, those opportunities to make a wish turned into concern about what this incident might be. The falling lights could be seen far and wide, and close and personal. They were noticed by some, ignored by others, and completely evading the rest, at least for a short while. In the meantime, the food stands and other activities at the closing festivities of the Festival of Lights were opening as the morning reached 07:00 AM. The scent of newly baked bread, delicious soups, and even meat being grilled for those with a bottomless appetite filled the air of downtown Estren, being carried by winds to the shrines where most attendees were held up. As a precaution, the security detail of the festival have been ordered to control the movements of VIP and certain guests. The recommendation is to move away from the harbor and gather in the downtown area in case of an emergency. It is unknown at this time if the meteor shower poses an actual threat to the festival, but the security detail is there to consider all possibilities and act on it.

Regalia

@Aeolian@vietmyke@Tlaloc@Teyao@Aku the Samurai@TokyoPewPew@Silly@rabidbacon
Next GM-post going out this wednesday/thursday, so get your posts up when you can :)

Regalia

Alrighty! We seem to have a mix, so let's just do both. I'll set the Discord up as an option for a bit of chitchat and collaboration for those that simply feel more at home with Discord. But, it's entirely optional! I'll send the invite link out a bit later.

Regalia

@rabidbacon
The timestamp in your latest post says 6PM, honey 🤭. I think you mean 6AM.

Regalia

@Aeolian@vietmyke@Tlaloc@Teyao@Aku the Samurai@TokyoPewPew@Silly@rabidbacon
So here's a question for everyone: do you want a discord server for this roleplay? Yay or nay.

I've been ripping my hair out for the past few days over this, going through pros and cons. So, I'm just going to straight up ask and leave it to democracy to decide.

Regalia

@Mirandae I like that. Lets there be consequences for Beth's actions, while not inflating the situation with a false sense of stakes or suspense. (There's no use pretending two Guys with Guns^tm stand much of a chance against someone who can Za Warudo their asses back to grade school.)

Is it my understanding, then, that from now on we must assume Dominant Form before wielding our chief Abilities? Should I edit the post?

@TokyoPewPew

That's true! Beth is pretty intimidating. Although, some of these soldiers with powerful Crystals can overpower Regalia if they're trained well enough and work as a team. Laura would chicken out right away, probably, she's a wuss :P

No no, you don't have to edit anything. But, yes, the rule in this universe is that Regalia must fully transform in order to use the "ability" and some of the magic that comes with being in the Dominant Form. We will go through all this with the combat details. We'll also add a Combat section to the character sheet, where you can explain everything about your character's training, magic, and everything.

Hey gang, will work on getting a post up in the next couple of days, but I'm moving home next week -- so if I'm radio silent for three or four days, you know why! (Shouldn't break @Mirandae's post schedule though!)

@Tlaloc

Oooh, lovely! :) Tell us how you like the new place later.

Regalia

@Mirandae I'll look forward to that, then.

<Snipped quote>
Whatever is more interesting to you. If a chase scene sounds boring and/or you need to just move things along to this inciting incident, we could easily say that residue defeats gas mask/CBRN filtration apparatuses, and so the guards don't even remember they had been having that conversation.

@TokyoPewPew

Let's say they circle the festival, looking for Beth, and then they can resurface at some point or just as the inciting incident is happening. It could make for a funny scene :) they're arguing about a fine while more serious things are happening lol.

Regalia

Thank you, Mirandae!! As for authorial intent, @Silly is spot-on. With only one caveat: that being that I've chosen to present Beth's "Dominant Form" not as a transformation, but more akin to a Stand from JJBA. She does not herself don her Dominant's likeness in order to perform the Last Rites move but instead summons Him as something of an obedient familiar. Mostly this is for flavor, but because Odin is written as a wise god, and one content not to be worshiped with any largess or regularity (or, in truth, sincerity), I've interpreted these eccentricities to mean he prefers more intimate relationships with his Regaliae, appearing personally by their side when they conjure His strength and invoke His dominions. They walk among Him (perhaps even converse with and confide in Him!) but in exchange, their relationships with their Dominant, and their entitlement to His power, are even more fragile. After all, the transgressing Odinite has not merely abused His abilities but outright forced His complicity in those abuses. An even deadlier sin than simply using His magics to exploit, brutalize, and bully people...

@TokyoPewPew

I see, I see. I'm all for creative liberties, but one of the reasons for a full transformation is 'narrative balance', should we call it? The size and the high profile that comes with it. However, I did chat with @Tlaloc the other day about sort of 'half-way' powers. Although, then everyone should be able to have one. I have another solution, though. With the combat stuff that I'll show along with the third GM-post, there can/will be sort of 'character perks' or 'exceptions' that you'll be able to create yourself. Such a perk could be this 'stand' variation as opposed to the traditional transformation.

Also, I suppose those guards that Beth tricked will react to her simply vanishing? Or what happens there? Just curious :)