un: bahamut | text

[oblige]

Good day, fellow Etrayans.

Concerning Antigone's warning regarding our real names, it occurs to me that we would benefit from collaborating on this front.

To that end, I wish to open discussion.

For those who have chosen a name, please respond with what you have selected, that we may know what to call you.

For those who have not, you may use this posting to discuss your ideas or invite suggestions from others.

As for myself, I shall be using "Lucien", the name of a character from a novel in my world.

Mission Names
Dion → Lucien
Antigone → Shadow
Dwayne → Harry M'Egg
Jayce → Prometheus
Sunday → Dominicus
Prompto → Vesper
Odin → Joss
Mayuko → Murasaki
Vax → Kalas
Clive → Crandall
Percival (Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III) → Scanlan (Keylethus Pikegratia Taryon d’Shorthalt-Grogson, Heir to the Shattered Glory)
Samil → Whiskey
Noctgar → Navyth
Accelerator → Isuka
S.Rogers → Ruirthech
Nico → Slash Brightburn
Jason → Edmond
R.B. → Harker
Lady Vex'ahlia de Rolo → Velora
SquirrelPower → Sally Awesomelegs
Shinra → Evan
Emet-Selch → Eubulus
Vincent Valentine → Garm
Sciel → Céline
Vivi →
Gustave → Jean-Napoleon
Maelle → Esmé
Scott → James Bond / 007
Sleeper → Stevens
Joshua → Praeclarus
Zagreus → Dionysus
Gladio → Heliodorus
Apollo → Artemis
Dylan Brock → Reed Richards

Note: This list will remain available until the date of our deployment. At such time, it will be omitted as a precaution.

[ ooc: Free-for-all on responding to one another, of course. ]

Comments

[twin_blade]

[ Vax smiles a little as Dion sends his light forward to give them a better picture of their surroundings. ]

Must have been.

[ He strolls further, following the small lights and pausing to look from flower bed to flower bed. ]

Thanks for dragging me out. We were able to find something new.

[ Though he knows Dion's intention was to make him feel better rather than explore. ]

[oblige]

We did find something new. And I've a reprieve from networking.

[ Dion thinks it's wordplay rather than an actual term, but it's true either way. Replies had quieted down by this hour, and he appreciates that mercy.

He'd never posted on the network before. It's refreshing to get outside and stop staring down his HUD for a while. ]

Do you recognize any of these flowers?

[twin_blade]

[ Vax pauses to look at some of the blooms a little more. He then smiles over his shoulder to his friend. ]

I'm no druid. Can't really tell them apart. Your wyvern tails are unique looking, though.

[ There's none of those here for Vax to recognize. ]

[oblige]

You may have to explain druids to me, unless that is some manner of gardener.

[ He hopes wyvern tails are memorable for something other than the fog's manifestation of them, though he supposes few would forget that. ]

I've no better knowledge, myself. The flowers I grew were trial and error.

[twin_blade]

[ Vax chuckles. ]

Kind of? Actually, they're spellcasters whose power comes from nature. They can manipulate plants, harness elements, or change into animals. Back home, our friend Keyleth is a druid.

[ Every now and again, Vax thinks of Keyleth and the others and hopes they're safe. ]

[oblige]

[ Dion doesn't recognize the name, but then, there remains much he doesn't know about Vax and his world. It's good to hear him speak of a friend. ]

Power from nature... Does not all magic stem from it?

[ He supposes that could more refer to how her magic manifests, the form it takes, but as it was phrased there seems to be a distinction. ]

[twin_blade]

[ Vax doesn't mind the curiosity. He's often curious about Dion's world, as well. ]

Not all. Some magic is gained through tomes and learning, others through the blessings of the gods, and many harness magic through objects.

[ Vax touches the chest of his armor as an example of the latter, though that is also an object blessed by a goddess. ]

Magic is everywhere in Exandria and a regular part of people's lives. There are entire schools dedicated to its learning, though not everyone has the ability to master it.

[oblige]

I see. It does differ from aether then, though not entirely.

[ Aside from the crucial, blessed lack of the curse, that is.

Dion pauses near one of the flower beds, running a gentle finger over a moon-pale petal. ]

There is aether in all things, yet few can channel it. You are born thus, or you are not. Else, one relies on crystals.

[twin_blade]

[ Vax can't imagine how different his world would be if magic came with a curse, but there was a time when people could not use magic at all. ]

And the ones who are born with it are made into bearers.

[ He thinks he remembers that right. Only Dion, as a dominant, is an exception, to an extent. ]

[oblige]

Bearers are treated as property, yes. There are those who go undetected, but they are few and must hide their gift.

[ Else they would be identified, and treated as less than human. ]

A Dominant, in contrast, is not identifiable as such until awakening. Yet I've not heard of a Dominant's awakening going unmarked.

[ His wasn't, being as he was an infant. ]

[twin_blade]

[ Given how important dominants are, Vax supposes it would be hard to miss if one were to awaken.

He walks along the flower path, pausing to look at some purple blooms that catch the low lighting of the evening. He knows Keyleth would really like this place. ]

If bearers are born with the ability to use magic, is it passed down? Do their parents have it, too?

[oblige]

Not as such, no. Eikons favor certain bloodlines— the Phoenix with the Rosfields, for example. Bearers seem more...spontaneous. Both parents can be entirely without ability to channel aether and have a Bearer child.

[ The same, of course, is true of Dominants. ]

Besides which, Bearers are not permitted to... [ How to put this delicately. ] Procreate.

[ Ahem. ]

Not that I expect that stops everyone, but even so.

[twin_blade]

[ Vax had thought, perhaps, their magic was passed down, but to hear it's spontaneous is unexpected. How does it come to pass, then? There are not many ways one can come to wield magic in Dion's world, unlike Vax's, which has so many avenues.

The last part is a surprise and Vax looks over his shoulder at his friend. ]

Really? That's... well, I feel sorry for them. Their lives must be hard enough without being permitted to be close to someone.

[ It sounds all the more cruel. Denying bearers even a chance at love or comfort. ]

[oblige]

Yes, it is unjust. That has long been the way of things, but that only serves to make people blind to it.

[ It's such a normalized part of their society that people didn't give it any thought. He imagines it's another means of control, borne of some superstitious dread of Bearers climbing in number, though it doesn't work that way.

Or perhaps it's simply because they're viewed so thoroughly as property. ]

Yet those differences may not exist much longer.

[twin_blade]

Perhaps it is a good thing magic isn't genetic.

[ Were it so, people might try to control the procreation of bearers along with every other aspect of their lives. ]

They won't. They'll be free. But things won't be easy for them right away, I imagine.

[oblige]

There will doubtless be a period of adjustment. The reliance on crystal was so extensive that I believe people will fast find themselves more occupied with adapting to that than all else.

[ It could serve to pull people together. Dion hopes for as much, at least. ]

And that will be difficult, they will surely manage.

[twin_blade]

The crystals used to harness magic?

[ Vax thinks he might be missing a few points of the story, but so long as the bearers are freed and the world is rid of the evil god, Dion's world must be on the brink of a better future. ]

[oblige]

As I understand it, there will be no more crystal. I shall be the last Bahamut, and Bearers shall be as other men.

[ And so, people will have to rely upon one another. ]

People will be free of the curse, and the land of blight.

[twin_blade]

A world without magic?

[ Vax wonders what that must be like. No doubt it'll be more difficult in many ways, but given the past, it is better for Dion's world. No more bearers suffering and no more blight. No more curses, either. It's just a shame Dion does not likely live to see it come to pass or help guide the world with his leadership. ]

Free to live their lives. Be with their loved ones. You helped make that happen.

[ Dion may still feel a tremendous amount of guilt, but Vax hopes he also remembers the good he's done. ]

[oblige]

[ Dion glances to one side, watching one of his small motes of light drift through the night air. ]

I had much to make up for.

[ More than he has managed to admit, though Vax had accepted him after seeing the phantom of his father. What came after was worse. So much worse.

He cannot remember, but he'd seen the ruinous aftermath. ]

Only at the end did I hope for forgiveness. My life was all I had to offer.

[twin_blade]

You gave everything, Dion. And.. if those were your final moments, don't end them with regrets. It's not good for the soul.

[ Vax places a hand on his friend's shoulder. ]

I'm sure your goddess would be proud of you.

[oblige]

[ Good for the soul... Dion can well imagine that's true. He may always regret what befell Twinside, but presented with the same battle, he'd choose the same end once again.

It let the others press on, that they might finish what they'd begun. ]

Perhaps she would be, but then, I am Bahamut after all.

[ Greagor's weapon. Her champion, one might say. In any case, he lifts a hand to pat the one Vax had placed on his shoulder, appreciating the gesture. It's not the sort of support he's accustomed to, and he's grateful for it. ]

You should ensure you've none yourself. You've time yet, but even so.

[twin_blade]

You did slay an evil god. I'd say that would please your goddess.

[ According to Vex, it pleased Vax's, but not enough to allow him to remain after his time had run out.

The hand remains on Dion's shoulder a moment longer before it withdraws. ]

Even so, my soul is not bound for rest.

[ Whether he goes with regrets or not probably won't matter. ]

[oblige]

[ He's not forgotten Vax's fate. His sister had given further details, not long ago, and the feeling that it is too much to demand of a man remains. Dion's lips thin, but he keeps the thought to himself.

Would he have begrudged Greagor, if she wished service in death rather than life? He knows he wouldn't. ]

...You have not yet met your end, Vax.

[ He knows what form it comes in, he knows it may stretch long. Why not live his life while it remains his? ]

This time, however unasked for...much of it is yours. If the hereafter is not, you have the present.

[twin_blade]

[ Vax does not begrudge his goddess, either. It was the deal he made, or will make, perhaps. There's a lot he doesn't know about what happens to him before his death, but he feels it is the inevitable path, no matter how much his friends and sister wish they could change it.

A smile, and Vax lifts his hand and flicks his thumb across Dion's chin, giving it a quick brush. ]

You could say the same for yourself, you know.

[ This is additional time to live, especially for Dion. At least Vax has a couple more years of life to go back to. ]