soul_logs | [ OPEN ] August 2012 Introduction Log

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[ OPEN ] August 2012 Introduction Log

Characters: OPEN to new arrivals and NPCS.
Where: En route to Casualty Communal
Rating: Gen
Time: March 12 onwards
Description: Welcome to Death City!

It had been a little over a week since the sandstorm, and thus a little over a week since the last batch of newcomers. When the readings indicated that BREW was activating again so quickly, it was a bit of a scramble to get everything prepared. The last time it activated before then was early February, so this really was a small time frame. It had been some time since that happened.

But everyone dutifully prepared just in time for the first arrivals. It was also a relatively good day despite the past few rain showers. At least things were much calmer now.

[ooc: Player characters will also be joining the log. Everything after the sub thread Soul Perception is open to all characters.

Quick navigation: Kishin Chamber | Around/Outside Shibusen | Around Death City | Casualty Communal | Soul Perception | Open Thread]

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"It's best to ignore him," Clare had never meet the sword in person before today... and she was somewhat wishing this day never to happen. The room, everything was so different from her own arrival. She figured it was his fault. "He's... I'm not even sure why he's here. Just- just don't go talk to him."

"Anyway," Clare's posture and annoyance at the sword's antics and decorative style washed away, replaced with a professional and business attitude to reflect her immaculate attire. Something you'd expect on a reporter, not a high schooler, "I'm Clare, and I can answer any questions that don't involve the sword, the decorations, or when you're going home. Sorry."

"I'm Ramza," he offered in kind, giving a rather reluctant second glance over to the... golden throne. Knowing that it was, in fact, a 'weapon' and not merely a sword confirmed the awkwardness of his presence, but... if this guide of his paid it no mind, then Ramza would just assume there was something he was missing.

A pity, too; that sword actually looked a little familiar.

"...Then I shall be brief," he continued, working himself back into a more formal demeanor to match Clare's. "I was told that I would find here my station as a meister or weapon."

"Right, this way," Clare turned and gestured to one of the large machines along the wall. It'd be a bit more impressive looking, but it seems someone tried to get it to function by treating it to percussion repair tactics. Which while they worked in Star Wars are not meant for delicate sensory equipment. So while the thing worked, several dents wee still visible.

"Stand on the X in the center and I'll get an answer for that right away," Clare moved over to the controls and waited. She hoped this was still reliable after whatever happened to it. But she figured if she had to talk to that Sword it would be broken again. "So what sort of world are you from? You're a lot calmer than I was when I first came here."

"One where I could never have seen a machine such as this..." It could have been a bare, rusted frame and he wouldn't have thought twice of it for all he knew of modern machinery. He stepped inside, giving only a cursory glance at the interior... no; still well beyond his understanding.

"I had already crossed my swords with those of demons only moments prior to my arrival," Ramza continued as he positioned himself. He seemed to ponder his own words as he spoke them- Gods know he'd hardly had such a moment to think things through since his arrival. "And had I not been told otherwise I'd have thought it was death's hand that led me here."

"My own death," he soon corrected himself. He breathed out a sigh which fell somewhere between defeat and amusement. "Mere confusion pales in comparison to such worries."

"You're not the first here to be from a place without machines," Clare commented idly, the rest of his words caused her a sorrowful expression. He also wasn't the first here brought from the brink of death. She poked and toyed with the machine for a while, glaring at it before it started to do something.

"Well, you're not dead, I can tell you that much," Clare's smile was awkward and forced as she tried to make light of a heavy subject. Hoping that the machine did it's job quickly, her eyes following the readouts a bit, "Just... you'll get used to everything. I can also help you with your mirror if you need a crash course on how it works." She fished her own communicator out of her pocket to wave it at him. Returning it from where it came.

"Weapon." Once the machine was done clunking and making a few pained noises. She really should find who abused this poor device, "According to this you're a weapon. Like I am."

"I'd like to think my death wouldn't escape my notice," Ramza said with a bit of a dry laugh. Perhaps it wasn't quite as heavy as his contemplations made it out to be. But that train of thought soon left the station as he reached down to his own communicator in response to her words. "Ah, this mirror? I had seen the tidings of others on it earlier, but I'm not sure how--"

Weapon.

Ramza looked down at himself for a moment. Glanced back in his mirror. Whatever this device saw, he didn't see it... though in hindsight it would make sense that it wasn't necessarily obvious. He'd just need to get used to... being wielded, instead of being the wielder.

"...Am I?"

He felt a momentary pang of sympathy and remorse for all those swords he'd broken on the battlefield.

Another long pause. Another quick, awkward self-examination. Well, he didn't feel like a weapon yet.

"...Is my shape not supposed to change...?"

Edited 2012-08-07 02:25 (UTC)

"Well, here you're alive, same as anyone else," Clare offered, it wasn't much of a comfort. It was what she had, it was all she could offer. She'd say something like 'it's best not to dwell' but that was a hollow sounding sentiment. "Yeah, you're a weapon. I ran the information twice to be sure."

She sighed at the last comment, "Yes, but it's a skill you need to work on. It isn't something you'll master in an hour. Certainly not right after arriving." She sighed, it wasn't exactly surprising they would jump the gun. The only reason she didn't was the shock of it all. This place was so much bigger and scarier than home was.

"If you want to figure out what your weapon form is, head to the training grounds any morning of the week. They serve breakfast and people can help you learn about your new abilities," Clare was trying to figure out what he was thinking about, all this had to be new. Should she return to the mirror, explain that. Send him on his way and suggest a warm cup of tea? She... didn't really know the right answer.

"I suggest getting to know the city, find a place with food you like. Or try new things. That... kinda helped when I arrived," Clare offered, weakly. "Show most of the restaurants your mirror and you eat free. Just nothing too fancy, you need a job to eat there."

"I'm to train in transformation? I couldn't even imagine where to begin, let alone which muscles to tense." Ramza scratched the side of his face idly as he glanced off in thought. But he was brought back to the discussion by her novel- and sensible- suggestion.

"...Not a bad idea, that," he muttered somewhat sheepishly. "Mayhap I ought to concern myself with my new home before I give further thought to battle..." But he still seemed to relax and brighten considerably at her mention of the mirror's use as a show of station. Not turning your back on those who protect you... another thing his world could have used. "And it's no small relief to know that our endeavors are not thankless."

"Ah! The mirror-" Ramza once more retrieved it. He drew a finger across its sheen to evoke a response- that much he had figured out through trial and error. "-It's made note of whatever I've written upon it, but I've seen others outright speaking through it. How do I...?"

"It's not really muscles, it's... more spiritual than anything, flexing your soul," That was a really bad way to describe it, even if the words were accurate on their face. She'd been able to teach it a few times on her own, but only through action, not really words. "Just go to the training fields in the morning, Yuuri can help you out."

"There's a mark on the screen, like..." Clare fished out her mirror and brought up the post entry page. Noting the microphone button, "this. If you press this it records your speech. This one," video button, "allows you to post a video of you. It's a bit more personal than voice, but you have to look directly at it to get it to record you." This was part of why she always used voice, she liked leaving the device on a table to speak to it, and do other things.

"It has maps of the city, and you can store notes for yourself on it, if you wish," Clare looked a lot more comfortable explaining this than she did working the battered soul scanner. Probably due to her using the mirror most days, and the perception room not being... quite so comfortable with all the idols of Excalibur around. She pointed to the filter tools, "Also with this you can limit your messages to a limited circle of people. If you like discretion."

"Oh, so it's magic." Oddly, the soul-flexing analogy seemed to be satisfactory. Ramza nodded, following along, making a note to pay the training grounds a visit when he had a moment...

Meanwhile, he followed along on Clare's mirror tutorial, feeling a little foolish as he heard the instructions; that's the point of those buttons? Well, he'd never even seen the words 'video' or 'microphone' in his life, so perhaps it was forgivable. "Rather like conversing through a pane of glass," he added in half-inquiry at the end of her description.

As an afterthought, Ramza scribed 'training grounds' onto the mirror with his stylus, watching as his script turned to simple, curved letters. "Ah- that must be it." He'd keep that as a reminder, for later.

"It's close enough, most people that use magic can use that training to help them transform," She didn't bog it down with her theories on how it worked. For now, that it worked, was enough.

Clare wouldn't fault him, given a lot of this would have been labeled fiction not too long ago, for her. It was more than clear that wherever he was from, this would be sorcery if it existed at all, and not everyone had magic to mimic technology. "Yes, that's a pretty good analogy." Even if the camera wasn't quite centered, he could manage well enough with that in mind.

"Any other questions, on the mirror? The city? Weapons and Meisters?" She wanted to cover as many of he details as she could now, so he could think them over before he put anything to use. Plus she wanted to do a good job.

He'd had a modest training in magic many years ago as part of his lessons at the military academy, but he was sure those lessons were too scattered and too far in the past to do him any good here and now. Ramza set the mirror aside for now; he'd just have to practice later.

And speaking of practice, a sword wouldn't be of much use in the absence of a wielder. "The training grounds... I would find meisters there as well, am I not right?"

"For that matter..." he thought back to that tiered, vaguely castle-like city that sprawled out into the distance he'd glanced through a window. "...where might I find it?"

"Yes, but one step at a time. Focus on finding your form, and making sure you can transform consistently before you worry about a partner," Clare tried to find the right comparison. ...She still wasn't good at the whole combat-weapons-explanation thing. "You're not a very useful weapon like that."

Clare smiled and took her mirror out, fingers dancing over the surface. She turned so Ramza could look over her shoulder and showed him a city map. Rotated it so North was at the top of the page screen and pointed out the important locations, "This is here, the center of the city is Shibusen, and here is the training grounds. Morning training won't be hard to spot, most of the Guests will be there."

"Of course." Even so, it wouldn't hurt to think ahead, or at least mingle with his prospective partners. Novice or no, a little insight would go a long way.

He hurriedly attempted to match her motions across the mirror as she brought up the map... after a bit of fumbling, Ramza managed to being the image of Death City up on his own mirror, taking note of the orientation and landmarks as she displayed the directions to him.

It wasn't helping that the city was one big circle, but at least the stairs were only one one side.

"Then I shall be there as well." He set that mirror aside for the last time- he'd bothered this poor guide of his plenty for one day. "You've been most helpful, Clare. You have my thanks."

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[ OPEN ] August 2012 Introduction Log

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