#carteneau

[autumnslance]

(@driftward) Send-a-heart? How about three? 💘 fake relationship / mutual pining / dared to kiss, 🤍 kiss at the wedding / milestone, 🖤 kissing while crying / goodbye kiss / desperation

Some bots are menaces. 3 short scenes, what finally came to mind, not maybe what's expected in all cases:

💘 fake relationship / mutual pining / dared to kiss

The Imperial soldiers were close, having taken note of movement in the alley.

“Swiving—Can you follow my lead?” Iyna asked quietly.

Valdeaulin frowned. “I think so—”

“Then push me against the wall—quick!” she maneuvered herself into position.

He hesitated only briefly, dropping his staff to the ground before doing as she asked, standing close, hands on her shoulders. As the first soldiers came around the corner and shone their light down the alley, she almost startled him by laughing.

“Darling! We’re going to be seen like this!”

“Who’s there?” A soldier demanded.

Iyna pretended to let out a giggly little shriek of surprise. “Looks like you were right, dear,” Valdeaulin said a little too loudly, trying to affect a slightly-drunken stagger while pawing at his partner. He blinked at the Garleans. “Oy, we’re havin’ a moment, here!”

“Ugh, bloody savages,” the soldier grumbled. “Get back to your homes, citizens.” 

“Unless you’re willing to share,” his partner said just loud enough for them to hear as they began to stagger together down the alley, Iyna “accidentally” kicking the “stick” on the ground ahead of them, the Garlean’s light having already turned away.

“Really?” the first soldier said as they moved on.

They sighed in relief. “That was a little too close,” Valdeaulin muttered. “We need to get back to Severa and the others.”

—-

🤍 kiss at the wedding / milestone

“And now, by the grace of Halone, and in the Light of the Crystal’s Blessing, I pronounce you husband and wife!” Comfraire decreed, smiling.

Emelia laughed as Corran dipped her into a passionate kiss, the few gathered friends cheering and laughing with them, colorful spring flower petals falling around them in the soft, warm winds of Coerthas.

—

🖤 kissing while crying / goodbye kiss / desperation

“Go go go!” Howling Rain shouted as the debris from the moon exploded onto the battleground. He tracked Dark Autumn, her long-legged stride taking her from the field; fast enough? Twelve, he hoped so; he had sworn to his cousin he’d watch out for her girl. This was the best he could do now.

He lost sight of Dark, which meant she had no sight on him, and he finally allowed himself to slump and then fall, the wound on his side from that imperial halberd bleeding heavily.

“Howl!” Dancing Lily crawled toward him, one of her legs mangled by magitek. He reached out, hauling her closer as soon as he could grab her armor.

There was an odd second of silence as Dalamud pulsed, fire running up the artificial slides to let loose whatever was inside.

Dance tried to staunch the bleeding on his side, weeping.

“Hey, pretty lady,” he said lightly. He tucked his hand under her chin, making her look up. His own face was wet, thinking absurdly how she would never dance again, even if they had the Spinner’s luck in getting out of this hell. “I love you, Dance.”

Sound returned, drowning out her response, but he didn’t need to hear it when he saw the shape of the words in her mouth. He leaned in to kiss her one last time as the moon exploded and fire rained down.

[4thcombinedbrigade]

Second Battle of Carteneau - Saturday June 19th @ 6pm EDT (Crystal DC)

Following our “comeback tour” with the Battle of Paglth’an [1] [2], we are happy to announce our next big event for FFXIV’s Death Unto Dawn Part 2! Taking what we learned with our previous foray (which was our first large-scale event in over 2 years), we will be refining our system to offer an even smoother experience that brings your OCs close to the main story action! 

This military-themed MSQ event will take place in a “stand-in set” for the Carteneau Flats. Due to developments in the main story of FFXIV, tempering of your characters may be possible (albeit temporary), as is RPvP as a consequence...

5.5 Part 2 spoilers goes without saying. All Crystal RPers are welcome to this event on the Balmung server. Read on to learn more!

Link to our Discord server: https://discord.gg/rqnE2bjKRj

Link to our Carrd: https://4thcombinedbrigade.carrd.co/ 

This event will have a fixed structure to accommodate the potentially large number of players in attendance (over 30 last time!). In addition, an event guide will be written for participants to have access to on the day.

Prelude: Up to an hour before the official start time is some unofficial RP for our characters to get to know each other, set at the Immortal Flames outpost in Carteneau.

Act 1 (“Trash mobs”): After an initial clash of our RP army with a large enemy force, our characters split up into pre-determined squadrons to fight the enemy in easier-to-GM “mini-events”.

Act 2 (“Boss fight”): A lunar primal will descend upon the battlefield, potentially tempering your character and resulting in an RPvP sequence following modified Grindstone rules (including the ability to gang up). Don’t worry! If the heroes are defeated, a “deus ex machina” is planned to save the day ;)

Act 3: Rather than have an unofficial denouement, an epilogue will be rolled into the official event time to allow our characters to properly process the battle. This would involve tending to the injured and tempered with porxies etc!

As can be found on our Carrd, please keep in mind our 3 guiding principles:

We do NOT do DND-style tabletop events: Your characters are not arranged on a board with a defined number of enemies who have a set amount of hitpoints you have to whittle down. In most cases, there is a vaguely defined enemy force. This allows for a large-scale military conflict to be properly simulated.

Roll first, THEN emote: Outside of RPvP, your characters will roll to meet a success/fail threshold, then emote accordingly. This is contextual, and depends on the specific GM post. 

It's on You, the Writer:  In order to alleviate as much stress as possible from the GMs, it is expected that event participants take the initiative in writing their character out in whatever happenings are taking place. We are here to provide a creative platform for your characters to be a part of something greater than themselves, rather than have RP spoon-fed directly to you. When something happens, take the initiative! Be bold and confident in writing your character in a structured but freeform story. That isn’t to say your characters will be ignored by the GMs, however, quite the contrary...

In addition, patience and grace are required for these events. All 4 of the GMs are older adults with significant RL commitments, including a parent of a toddler and incoming newborn. It can feel stressful, especially RPvP, to be part of these large-scale events; but don’t worry! If you keep the above in mind, you WILL have fun being a Big Damn Hero of FFXIV’s Main Story Quest!

If you have any more questions, join our Discord server up above!

@crystalxivrp

@balmungroleplayers-blog

@balmungrp

@balmungrpcalendar

@crystal-rp-ffxiv​

[biot08]

Petrichor

She stumbled through the deep forest. Her vision was blurry and refusing to focus, and her limbs felt like heavy weights, threatening to topple her over.

Around her, she felt as though the pressure of the aether was pushing against her, wanting to well up and consume her and choke her and destroy her.

She could still see it in her mind’s eye, seeming to consume the entire sky. That terrible eikon of ages, the most terrible monstrosity she had ever witnessed.

She may have been made, trained, and deployed to be an eikon ender, but that was beyond her. So far beyond her, so far beyond anybody.

The air, the aether, the very land itself felt saturated by that… thing. Flames flickered over distant horizons. Fireballs no longer danced through the air like streaming serpents striking at everything they could reach, but that did not matter. The damage had already been done.

She stumbled, and fell to the ground, remembering the scream of metal tearing as a near miss had just barely missed her transport. They were fleeing, fleeing. They were only supposed to be observing. Trying to see from a distance whatever it was the VIIth legion was up to. Close enough to see and take readings, far enough away to not be participating. Cartenau was not their mess, not their responsibility, but the readings had been concerning. And so they had watched, from a distance.

Not far enough.

She had been flung away from the craft, and could only assume it had crashed afterwards. She was not sure. She felt that she could not trust her mind for the first time in her not very long existence. She remembered being in free fall. She remembered fire roaring through the air. She remembered wings seeming to envelop the horizon. She remembered magics glowing in the air, brilliant blue and white.

She remembered fire and light and sky and ground and terrible roaring.

She stumbled, holding a hand to her eye, her actual eye, and leaned heavily against a tree.

And then, a crack, and a rumble, and it was as though the entire world came apart. A moment, shattered.

And then suddenly knitted itself back together again. She could feel it, all at once. The pressure broke, like a dam releasing, and the flood of aspected energies flowed and rushed and surged. The sudden shifting in the air, as the pressure relieved all at once. The land itself, which had seemed to have closed itself off, suddenly felt as though it was opening again.

It was as though something popped in the world and in herself, and then…

A gentleness followed.

A cool breeze, blowing away the dry hot air.

A sensation of calmer aether flowing through and around her.

The moment stretched into many. She continued to lean against the tree.

She was not sure how long she was there for.

And then, she felt something land on her. It was tiny, and it was wet, and she looked at her arm, and then, she looked up.

The sky was opening. It was a slow, lazy thing, clouds drifting by lazily overhead in the aftermath of such tremendous devastation. But they were unhurried.

A calmness passed over, and the world seemed to grow quiet.

And then it began to rain. Slowly at first, but the increasing steadily to a downpour. She felt it pepper her arms, felt gentle streams begin to flow across her body, felt tears fall down her face, as at last, she sunk to the ground.

It must have gone on for bells, as though nature was trying to cleanse itself, as though the very clouds were trying to say it’s okay, it’s okay, we will wash away the pain and so begin again.

At last, the rain storm passed, and the clouds with it, and the sun came out. And with the sun came a smell to the air, a smell that she could not place, a smell that was alien to her who had spent so much time inside laboratories and war machines and cold heartless places.

It smelt fresh, and alive.

She did not know how long she spent there.

Maybe a moment.

Maybe the start of forever.

[sparrowwritings]

Final Fantasy Writing Challenge Day Nineteen: Open Fields

Day Eighteen -- Masterpost -- Day Twenty

Gripping sword and shield in either hand, Roger’s eyes turned towards the sky in horror.

One of the moons was coming down. Its imminent impact had turned the celestial body and the sky a blood red. Even among all of the fighting that was still happening, many soldiers--Eorzean and Garlean alike--also had turned their gaze upwards. Some had even dropped their weapons.

For heading their way was not only one of the moons, but a dragon-like beast trapped within it. Roger wasn’t sure if the roar in his ears was from the creature or the blood rushing in his head. Then he was being shaken and there was Lara in his face. But...she looked younger than he was used to. And far more scared than she ever let herself be in a bad situation. “We need to go. Right now,” She was telling him. 

“But, the fighting is--” He said instead of asking her obvious questions like why was she so much younger. His voice sounded weird too. It was higher pitched, almost like it had been when his parents first found--

The revelation hit him just as Lara grabbed his shield arm with both hands and started tugging him away. This was five years ago. Before he’d lost his memory. He was dazed enough that he let her drag him. But, there wasn’t any place they could hide. The monster would bear down on all of the people here any minute. Another glance up confirmed that whatever it was that had been binding it was shattering like glass. Something about the sight seemed...familiar, somehow. 

Roger was drawn away from his thoughts by a bright white-blue light coming from a higher vantage point. There was a figure in the middle that he knew but he couldn’t identify. The figure raised up a staff and the symbols of the twelve gods manifested around him. Before they could do anything, though, the monster made its move. Free from its bindings, it unleashed a massive attack at the field below. The spell being cast was engulfed in red-white, just as everything else faded. 

He could hear Lara shouting his name, just as he could feel himself doing the same for her. That final moment, with him staring into her dark blue eyes that were wet with tears, he knew that she was more than just his best friend. 

She was his--

“Hey! Roger! Wake up!” 

His eyes snapped open and he bolted upright from his bedroll, panting. The force of it also shoved whoever woke him up aside. He slowly turned, only to be greeted with a concerned look on Lara’s face. “You alright? You were thrashing around in your sleep. I could hear it from my tent.” 

Roger took some shuddering breaths. People kept telling him to breathe deep to calm down, but he wasn’t sure if that advice was going to work in this case. “B...bad dream.” He ran a hand over his face. She winced in sympathy.

“Well…” Lara scratched at the back of her neck. “It’s wee hours yet and we don’t need to go anywhere right now…” She gave him a side glance. “Want me to make you some cocoa?”

He blinked a couple of times. “What?”

“It’s what Tanion would give me if I woke up in the middle of the night.” She wasn’t looking him in the eye, though Lara did give a fond shake of her head. “I used to have nightmares a lot when they first found me. Can’t remember a one of them *now*, but still.”

It was like Roger had walked into a spider’s web. The strands of dream fell away, leaving only the fear behind. No other details were left. Still, he didn’t feel like going back to sleep just yet. “That sounds great, honestly.”

She gave him a gentle smile and patted his hand before leaving to prepare the cocoa. He spent a moment or two trying in vain to recall the less scary parts of the dream. He was sure Lara was there. And that he’d been thinking about something related to her.

As he tried harder to remember, the memory broke apart. Eventually, he shrugged and left the tent. The wide open fields and hills of La Noscea greeted him at the same time that Lara did.

[cero-tia]

#13 - Wax

/waks/ - (of the moon between new and full) have a progressively larger part of its visible surface illuminated, increasing its apparent size

The moon waxed towards full.

As the red moon crept towards full, the country crept towards war. It was whispered in the streets, shouted in the pubs and clubs and universities, sobbed in the homes of mothers and fathers and lovers. There was no running now.

The armed forces knew it. It was just a matter of time before they would be forced to rise up against the looming onslaught of the VIIth Legion, bearing down on Eorzea from the northwest climes. Blades, already honed to a razor edge, were dragged over leather to make them sharper. Mages imbued their armor with aether-filled crystals, a little boost of power to draw from in the midst of the fight.

The moon grew full.

The order came. Forces from across the continent marched together, trickles of armored men and women becoming streams becoming swells of a massive army, all converging on Carteneau. A'panghur marched from Ul'dah, alongside the warmages in black armored cloaks with fire in their blood and fists.

The moon grew...larger.

Facing the Garlean Empire across the rocky terrain, the Eorzean Alliance knew a long moment of silence; a gathered peace that death waited for them, the crippling fear that denied sound, the stoic acceptance of fate. The moment ended in a surge of bodies, throwing themselves together amid the rocks and crags, explosions of fire and electricity and ice as the full might of four nations converged in a terrible, boiling field on the Flats.

The moon...grew...larger.

First, the sound. There can be no descriptors for what it sounds like for a heavenly satellite to fall, but the sound was so encompassing that it came with physical weight. The pressure across the Flats made many drop their arms and clutch their ears, trying to save themselves from the terrible pain. A'panghur's fire went careening wildly off target as he cried out and fell to his knees, like many around him.

The inconceivable explosion of the lesser moon Dalamud rocked the battlefield, body and soul. Soldiers and machines were thrown back by the crushing force of the power erupting from within, tumbling over the fires and bodies and rocks like so much dandelion fluff in the breeze.

A'panghur was sent rolling head over heels against an outcropping of rock, where he only just caught himself. His head swam with smoke and earth and dust, with all of it lit by the impossible glow above them. His eyes made out the brief, but unforgettable flash of shapes in the hellfire in the sky—wings, clenched fists of impossible size, a screaming maw that hurled meteors spewing from all directions...and then one much darker shape, growing too large, too fast, filling his vision as the shrapnel and detritus of the broken husk of Dalamud rained down onto the field around him.

The moon...grew...larger.

@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

[pom-friend]

Inktober 2018: Day 19 - Scorched

Doing these next few out of order because Life (tm) happened this weekend, and this one got finished first.

Svanhilda at the battle of Carteneau.

[aethernoise]

👌☄

[lodsamone]

TBQH If the Eorzean Alliance does not send Ishgardian forces to the front lines as cannon fodder for their first big battle in Stormblood I will be woefully disappointed.