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[Dion]

Brave Story
Act I | Movement

The city of Rabanastre burst to life once again as it did every morning. The vacant merchant stands began crowding with a number of people that bustled around, bargaining to buy the little goods the merchants had to sell. The ruins of the ancient city shadowing over the small tent settlements that now stood to provide refuge for the few people that remained there did nothing to even slightly alarm the inhabitants of the city. It was quite a spectacle.

Tents, scattered around the dusty, dry ground, would have as many as six people living in them, waiting for the Ivalice Expansion Guild to help them away from the wretched homeland of their forefathers. Children would be seen playing with sticks and the occasional ball while the adults wandered here and there, performing the little work they had to do. As many as four-hundred tents were littered around what was once the south gate of Rabanastre. Amongst these tents were merchant stands, surrounded by various people who would, without a doubt, end up fighting for something as small as a phial of cactus juice or even wolf hide. It goes without saying; most of the merchants were pillagers that made a living by stealing goods from the new Esperessence developments and selling them at inflated rates in the ancient cities like Rabanastre and even Archades.

The most notable of all the structures (and more than probably the only firm building) that stood below the murky and aged ruins was, however, the Guild’s branch. A large square shaped building with as many as three floors, and a delicate red sign that read “Ivalice Expansion Guild”, the branch served as the main attraction for near everyone in the village. The adults reported here if they felt trouble was brewing in the Estersands or the Giza Plains, while the young ones huddled around to admire the soldiers that fought so valiantly for them. Others would just sit around and berate the soldiers for not acting sooner in relocating the few villagers that remained, only to be told off by a particularly hot headed (and sometimes foul mouthed) young lady with white hair.

~~~

Vivian yawned loudly, her mouth gaping wide open as she stretched and got up from her seat in the branch headquarters. A number of people chatted inside the building, hoping to avoid the heat of the dry season. No one could wait for the rain. She walked over to Ovelia, the Guild’s shopkeeper and the second highest authority in the Guild’s Rabanastre branch. Besides taking care of the crew reserved items, she also served as the mark master in that she managed which squad would get which mission.
Despite the fact that Ovelia was useless when it came to fighting, she was a great tactician. And quite the looker. Vivian thought in her head. Vivian had always thought of Ovelia as competition for some reason. Why would I be jealous of her flowing brown hair and round hazel eyes and perfect complexion and large, firm bre-

“How can I help you today, Vivi?” Ovelia said, with a radiant smile on her face.

“Oh. Right. Hi.” Vivian started as she scratched her head slightly. “I was wondering if you had heard from the new squad we were getting today. You know. To replace the ones that got their asses handed to them because of that Cockatrice in the plains.”

“Only that they should be arriving around midday today.” Ovelia responded, making nothing of the fact that Vivian had just insulted her brother who had also gotten his “ass handed to him because of a Cockatrice in the plains.”

“Oh. Well, they should be arriving pretty soon then, right? I hope they show their mugs. I had a speech planned and everything…” Vivian’s voice drifted off as she began to turn around and walk away from the counter that Ovelia stood at.

“I’ll talk to you later, Ovelia.”

“Yeah! See you later, Vivi!” Ovelia responded.

But Vivian didn’t hear her over the roar of the people that chatted continuously in the main lobby.

Edited by Dion, 13 August 2012 - 04:28 PM.

[Lexaeus]

Jeanne waddled into the Ivalice Expansion Guild holding a rather heavy travel chest, struggling to get inside the main lobby, not that she could feel the strain it caused her, but just the sense of its gravity. It seemed like total chaos to her, and despite all her "excuse me's" and "pardon me's" everyone seemed to bump into her this way and that making it even harder to hard the chest, though she didn't feel the collisions, just noticed herself getting pushed. A rather large Bangaa bumped into her causing her to drop the chest on her foot, which might cause any other similar individual to scream. She would quickly grab the chest, struggling to lift such a heavy object for herself and make her way again to check in that see was here. She didn't understand why she was located to the Rabanastre Branch, but she would make sure to make something of herself here. She had seen all the tents here and the city and was glad she would be able to help in some way. She walked up to a certain individual that looked like they might know what was going on and asked, "Excuse me, would you be so kind to tell me where I check in for the Rabanastre Branch? I have my official transfer papers right here." She would pull them out and offer them hoping they would help guide her to where she needed to be.

Edited by Lexaeus, 13 August 2012 - 03:25 AM.

[Valor]

Through the commotion of those gathered outside of the ruins of Rabanastre, a rickety wooden cart navigated the congested streets with a rather unusual payload. Eventually, it found its way up to one of the only standing buildings and slowed to a stop. With a huff and a heavy lurch upwards from the cart, the cargo disembarked.

The morning sunlight glinted off of the worn indigo armor of the tall creature as he made his way to the driver. He reached up and unfastened the helm, putting it under his arm.

"A thousand thanks, dearest sir, for providing me your expert services this day." the gold-dusted bangaa said with a deep, raspy voice and a hint of a peculiar accent.

He fished a few gil from his pocket, the last he had, and placed them in the hume's hand.

"My the fates smile upon you in your travels, friend." The bangaa said with a small bow before departing towards the building.

He squeezed through the door and looked around absentmindedly at those who were bustling around. Figuring that his contact should be making herself known to him eventually, Ser Gawain took a spot near the wall, watching the others come and go.

Many humes milling about, Gawain thought to himself, not as many bangaa. She is more like to notice me than I her in such a situation.

[Dexel Hydagara]

Nathan cursed at himself as he walked up into the Ivalice Expansion Guild, practically cooking inside his suit of armor. It was always too hot in this "city", but it wasn't like he had a travel case to just toss the metal into. Besides, he sure as hell wasn't going to just take it off for all to see. Not in this crowded area. He bumped into many people along the way, them hurting from it worse than him, excuse maybe one individual with a travel chest who seemed to not even notice.

Not sure where to go, Nathan resigned himself to a spot on a wall near a Bangaa. Sooner or later, his employer would appear. Perhaps he would be lucky and the Bangaa next to him was just entering the guild now as well. He doubted it, though. The creature's armor looked like it had seen far better days, so it was likely it - or he, Nathan guessed - had been in for a while and simply hated crowds as much as the next guy.

Either way, nothing to be lost standing here.

[KershaFangs]

When he sought some honest work, he honestly did not expect to be sent out to the royal city. He did not expect there to be such a slum in the Capital either. Walking past the rows upon tents in the make-shift community, filled Taub with a guilty dread. It also alit a sense of accomplishment. 'I could finally do something well in my life for once.'
Entering into the designation headquarters in this part of the city, Taub had to be a small dance around a rather hefty chest being lofted about. He would have asked to help but then thought it would be overextending himself. There seemed to be a nice strong golden Bangaa there, more capable to help.
Taub make it to the front desk. "Hello? I am responding to the need for members. There was a call for help out here...?" Taub realized then the one in charge of the operation--a white-haired female...
Taub did not feel a prejudice against the woman, simply discomfort if he should have to stay too close to her. Taub coughed and held his hand up, sheilding his peripherals and repeated, "Yes, this is where to respond to the need...?"

[Secret Igshar]

Malgen shifted uneasily as his sack chafed his shoulders. Long walk. He sneered at a nearby Hume, who shied away from him in fright.

The streets here were nearly barren, save for the downtrodden; the defeated. Relics of a lost age. As he passed them by, not bothering once to stop outside of when someone decided to block his path forward. In those instances, Malgen would draw the rod strapped to his back and crack the poor fool across the back while growling, "Move." People eventually seemed to learn and stopped getting in his way.

He watched the pitiful creatures beg shop owners for cheap wares which cost near thrice the normal amount. A smirk crossed his face at this. These were some incredibly intelligent businessmen, taking advantage of the desperation of a dying populace. They were his kind of people.

Malgen eventually happened upon the tall, square building that belonged to the Guild he had come to join. He wondered, though, who his new boss might be. Malgen figured he would be tall, strong, perhaps Bangaa. He could respect a Bangaa. Allow one to give him orders. As he passed a Hume, shriveled from hunger and begging for coin, he grumbled. As long as it were not a sniveling Hume or Viera... or one of those infernal Moogles... He might manage a modicum of respect for him.

He stepped inside and was assaulted with the obnoxious banter of dozens of other people. All different races; all clearly warriors of various ability. None of them seemed to hold any real authority... He shouldered through the throng of people, making his way toward the only person who appeared to be above the others. The Hume woman behind a desk. Unfortunately a Viera had gotten there already.

Malgen groaned and spat at the ground, storming off toward the wall nearest the woman's shop counter, eying the peculiar Viera as he did so. She seemed different than those he had encountered previously... Almost... masculine? If in a rather effete way. "Tch," he spat, gazing out over the main entrance hall. Whoever was his lord would likely make himself known eventually. Until then, Malgen would wait.

That was... until he spotted a Hume woman carrying a heavy chest. He chuckled. She seemed not to be struggling to hold it, though he could tell the weight was getting to her. He could even visibly notice the very slight limp she had while hefting it about. She had dropped it on her foot. Malgen chuckled to himself and wondered... hoped she might drop it on her new friend's foot. He narrowed his eyes and mumbled a short incantation under his breath, arms still folded across his chest.

The woman would feel the strength in her arms ebb away, if only slightly, likely causing her to, once again, drop her chest. Malgen, unfortunately, could only hope it would land on the other person's foot.

[Dexel Hydagara]

Nathan tapped his foot impatiently as he kept waiting. The place was getting crammed with more and more people as time wore on. Two little kids passed by with a small Moogle in tow, and under his helmet, Nathan narrowed his eyes and snarled. Great. Place was about to have more diversity than a zoo. Maybe it had been a bad idea to sign up after all, but at least he would know if only Humes spilled red blood.

The children went inside the Guild but left just as quickly, which had Nathan assume only the Moogle was a new recruit. Out of curiousity, he snuck a peek at the front desk. A rather feminine-looking Viera - wait, weren't they all female anyways? - was at the front desk, along with the woman who had been carrying a large chest and the Moogle he had just seen. There was a rather shady-looking Nu Mou looking in that direction as well, but Nathan ignored it. Nu Mou were a strange and outlandish kind when it came to behavior.

[Dion]

Vivian exhaled deeply as she watched the hopeless girl carry the heavy trunk here and there. Can't even tell who's in charge. Damn newbies. Vivian sighed as she looked across to see a rather muscular Viera conversing with Ovelia, while a Moogle drew closer to the same desk. Lifting herself again from her seat, she started walking towards the main lobby.

It was here that Hyral would let out a large shriek, preceded by a large thud. The girl had just dropped her chest on Hyral's toe. His foot was likely fractured. Ovelia's gonna gimme shit again... Vivian shook her head and pulled a chair from a table. Standing up on it so that she would be visible to everyone in the room, she pulled her rapier from its hilt. Everyone would feel a light breeze in the room, enough for her to catch everyone's attention.

"Will the new transfer maggots step forward? Everyone else, please leave. Find your shade elsewhere." Her voice bellowed across the room. Her expression had changed from careless to threatening within seconds. The inhabitants of the city knew not to mess with her and emptied the building immediately. "Step forward. Huddle 'round. I gotta say things to you all." Vivian said, still standing on the chair, looking down at the folks.

Edited by Dion, 13 August 2012 - 08:13 PM.

[Dexel Hydagara]

Nathan burst into laughter as the chest landed on Hyral's foot and the creature loosed a loud shriek. He was just recovering as a breeze passed by, but he thought nothing of it until he heard a loud, "Will the new transfer maggots step forward?" At this his interest was gained and he looked upward, barely managing to see who must be his new leader. Of course, they just had to mock him. A woman. Real screecher, too, judging from that voice.

He gave a loud sigh and waltzed into the middle of the room where he could be seen better, then Nathan crossed his arms over his chest, listening half-heartedly to Vivian. As everyone rolled out, he reluctantly pulled off his helmet and held it at his side. Nathan stared up at Viv and replied, "What's it you got to say, ya dang broad? We ain't here to go poaching furs for robes that'll you wear later, I hope. Wouldn't put it past one of you to waste time with that."

[Kingroy]

Ichi stepped up as the others left. He was there before and didn't quite like to be crowded so he had a bit of a exhale.

"Ichi Salamander. You can call me Slow Burn." Ichi said with an almost nonchalant attitude.

He stood out a bit from the others with his foreign hairstyle, colorful robe, and star shape scar on his face.

[Lexaeus]

Jeanne waited for a response from the man, but before he could respond she noticed she started leaning forward and the chest soon was no longer in her hands, but on the hands foot. This observation was followed immediately by a shriek. Immediately following into a panic for the young man's foot she quickly tried pulling the chest off but it would seem to not lift but really jump tumble onto the floor, probably causing the man a little more pain on its journey. After Jeanne had the chest upright despite the fact it seemed impossible to do at the moment she apologized to the man post-haste. She asked, "Many pardons, Mister, are you in pain?" Her pale face would quickly brighten to a blood red.

If he said no, she would still continue to inquire until her attention was caught by the breeze in the room. She would travel over the greeter, most likely a high ranking member of the guild, struggling with chest in hand, but not before saying, "Are you sure you're right? Because that's my que."

If he said yes, she would offer the chest as a seat as she attempted to ponder a solution. She would fail in this matter as she had no medical remedies on her and she didn't have the class board for healing spells. Her face still blood red she would offer the first thing to her mind in her still panic, "Would a massage help it? I would be willing if you think it necessary." But now the lady would have made her announcement but Jeanne would probably not notice it considering all the stress she was putting towards the man's injured foot.

[Dion]

Vivian's eyes narrowed as the sexist prick stepped forward to talk as everyone else huddled around. "Hold on. Let me take care of this asshole." She said. She could feel a sudden surge of power as the moogle muttered something. "Thanks." She uttered as she stepped off the chair.

"Eh. Mr. Hotshot, huh? I bet you get all the broads with that stuck-up attitude and ugly mug of yours." Vivian said as she drew her Rapier. Simultaneously, the man would be knocked back into the wall as a strong gust would push him. "Don't knock that off and it's your tongue that I'll cut out next." Vivian sneered as she looked over him, a look of pure menace in her eye.

"Now, where was I?" She said, as she turned around to look at everyone else. "First things first. I don't like ruling with an iron fist but I will if I have to. I'm here to be your friend and comrade so that we can get these damn missions out of the way. I've seen pricks like him before. I've taken care of pricks like him before. Make sure I don't have to take care of you."

Vivian would pause as she caught the young woman nursing Hyral's foot. "Oye. Girl. Leave him. He'll run off to his little sister like the little girl he is." She said. "Grab a chair or just stand with everyone else. We need to get this out of the way."

"In any case, you all know why you're here. We're on a shortage of soldiers and you're the most proficient we could find. Yay you. We need to help the population here to the Fenrir settlement, and that's what we're going to do. Obviously, we might have to do some clean ups here and there, but it's nothing we can't manage. Once we're done with Rabanastre, we wait for orders and move to the next city. Simple as that, right?"

Vivian crossed her arms and looked at everyone else.

"You forgot to introduce yourself, Vivi." Ovelia called out from the other side of the counter. "Any way. I'm Ovelia. I take care of your item needs and give you your missions and marks. Just ask me over at this counter if you need anything." She smiled brightly at everyone as she said this.

"And I'm Vivian. You follow whatever I say. Deal?" Vivian said, her arms still crossed.

~~

Nathan takes 6 damage from Vivian's Tempest Blade.

Edited by Dion, 13 August 2012 - 08:57 PM.

[Lexaeus]

Hearing a thump Jeanne turned to see a man sitting by a wall, she wasn't sure what she heard, but now that lady was singling her out. Responding to the lady while tending to the foot, she responded quickly, recognizing authority, "Yes Ma'am. Right away." Leaving the chest there for now she walked over to the lady and listened. She took note of Oevlia and then Vivian and noted Vivian as leader, still embarrassed at herself. She wished she had mastered controlling that blush on her face and knew how she dropped that chest the second time.

[Dexel Hydagara]

Nathan was blown back by the gust of wind, letting go of his helmet as he was sent smashing back into the wall. He groaned in pain and got back onto his feet, then cracked his neck and walked over to retrieve his helmet, and put it back on as he laughed, "Got some fight. Good for you. Maybe the head honchos weren't so dumb after all. Gotta say, you're far from a prize, yourself. White hair is a color fit for old hags. Reminds me more of a mop anyways."

Content with that for the meanwhile, he got in the huddle as well. He didn't like the Moogle much for that earlier spell, but ignored the fuzzy creature for now. Another woman, Ovelia, called out from the counter, saying she'd handle items as well as missions and marks. Great. Another one to go through just to make a living. Why in hell did he put up with this job?

Nathan effectively ignored everything Viv had said about the mission and only caught her name and the fact that they would follow what she said. He tried his very best to keep a loud snort from becoming fully audible and bit his cheek to keep from laughing. This whole field was a joke. Only thing worth it was the pay and dead bodies along the way.

[KershaFangs]

Taub took a big gulp. It was no doubt who was in charge, and for good reason. This Hume woman would cut any number of them down to size. While flattered initially by the "most proficient soldiers" comment, the sarcasm took over and Taub looked at the ground near his feet. That was when he took notice of the Moogle, just barely half his height--if that. He gave a curt nod to the Moogle (one of the friendliers it seemed.)
"Yes, ma'am," Taub said, loud enough for most to hear and in a suave baritone that would likely surprise the others.

[Valor]

Ser Gawain snorted as the hume claimed her dominance over the others. She had the heart of a bangaa, he thought. The strength of... well... an adolescent bangaa, perhaps. As the others introduced themselves, Gawain merely stayed where he had been, not much inclined to be moving just yet.

He wondered if she was, in fact, the one that was supposed to be in charge of this area's guild. It seemed it was the case, and so, she would be something like his boss. Ser Gawain didn't know how much he enjoyed having a female hume as his boss. He rose from the pillar and rolled his broad shoulders. He reached up and unfastened his helm and took it off.

"Lady Vivian, I am Ser Gawain Burrough. I studied under the ancient dragoon of my ilk. I am here to offer my services to the rebuilding of Rabanastre. I do hope there is a mission available, for my long travel to reach this land has left me anxious to stretch my muscles." He slammed the butt end of his spear into the stone and let out a deep bangaa growl. This was the way to assert authority. Even in hume culture, the strongest one who talks and acts the toughest is usually in charge. Bangaas and humes didn't differ all that much.

Edited by Valor, 13 August 2012 - 09:37 PM.