epidemiology | EVENT ★ WELCOME TO LERAMZEN

EVENT ★ WELCOME TO LERAMZEN

WELCOME TO LERAMZEN

After nearly three weeks of "relaxation" in Oska, Audentes is given 48 hours to prepare for their next mission. Right on time, they are rifted to a different dimension, landing them in the futuristic city of Leramzen.

Instead of appearing in a large group, recruits are spread throughout the city center so as not to draw attention to themselves, arriving in isolated areas: behind buildings hidden from the street, in public restrooms, stepping into the street from behind parked cars. The key is to blend in, though the metropolitan nature of Leramzen allows for some wiggle room; the locals see enough country bumpkins from all over the galaxy that they're willing to overlook a faux pas here or there from an obvious tourist.

Recruits have two weeks before the day of the museum heist. During this time, they should contact their mission analyst, George, but the rest is up to them -- a perfect time to explore the luxuries that Leramzen has to offer.

CITY LIFE

Leramzen is a highly cultured city, with many museums and theatres, including its prized Lyushny Theatre which homes the galaxy famous Lyushny Ballet. While the natives of this planet are human, recruits will see a wide variety of other life forms in Leramzen, some humanoid and some most definitely not. Try not to stare!

The generous stipend will more than allow recruits to take in the sights and treat themselves to a luxury meal or two, but of particular interest should be the clothing and jewelry stores found in the city center. There are shops that cater to any style and taste, including a few bespoke tailors that have a convenient turnaround time of two weeks.

In addition to shopping and cultural pursuits, there is an ice rink in the city center, maintained for the long winter season, and horse-drawn carriages that will take passengers on a ride through Leramzen's historic Old Town.

This is also a good chance to observe the State History Museum to get a lay of the land before the mission begins. But remember -- don't draw attention to yourselves, so going in all together might not be a good idea.

Settle in and take in some sights, and get ready -- because when the mission begins, you never know what you'll be in for.

OOC NOTES

Welcome to the new mission! Heist sign-ups are now closed for current players, but all characters accepted after May 21st will still have the opportunity to sign up.

For more information on the mission, please check the dossier and direct all questions about Leramzen to this thread.

Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ and you may submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, if you had some kind of cause or...something?

[Actually, it's starting to feel embarrassing admitting, "Why yes, you're definitely the type who'd probably scream in fury if you had to fight to the death to defend a friend in my opinion."] Maybe I'm wrong?

[The woes of dealing with the painfully serious.

Still, Eight can see the effect his dubious response is having. So he at least pretends to consider it, bringing a hand to his chin]

...I think it'd throw off my focus a bit.

[That seems like the most graceful way he can put the notion of him belting out battle cries aside]

Some of the others were plenty vocal, back home.

A lot of us got vocal. Even the people you'd think were quiet...I mean, there was exceptions, but when we got in the midst of battle everybody got shouty when they got into it. Like my friend Laurent? He used magic. Normally he's calm, quiet, but then when he was getting ready to finish something he'd pose like [This is supposed to imply casting spells. This gesture. It's a very dramatic gesture] this. And then he'd gravely intone something like...

[With grave dignity that's so dignified that it becomes over the top in how solemn, yet loud, it is.] I grow weary of you! [Unpose.] And then boom, he'd blast the enemy.

[...

...they should probably move.]

[Gravely intone... Owain remains as descriptive as ever. Though when he puts it that way, Eight supposes he may have to amend. Although he doesn't announce attacks by name-]

Guess I talk a little. [Not as much as "Vyv" or Owain's friends seem to, but a little] Although nothing that flamboyant.

[Since people seem to be hovering behind them, he gestures toward the next exhibit before heading that way]

[The next exhibit is a collection of maps and geographical surveys which describe the state of a southwestern territory and certain city not that far away from Leramzen, specifically during the rise of the various city-states which would later reform under an alliance and become the main civilization. A great deal of this is handwoven because it'll probably get contradicted anyway.

It's very historically fascinating if you're a niche researcher. There's a few people working at the museum who spent several years of their lives researching this, actually, which is why they have such a thorough display. There's little plaques talking about the textiles (which are two rooms down and one to the east) and cultural development that is immortalized in various bits and pieces of stuff one can see around Leramzen. In fact, did one know that the five arches in a certain park in Leramzen actually celebrates the southwestern city and...?]

Wow. [But here's the grim part.] I guess a volcano exploded and that's why the city...

[Grim.]

[In Rubrum, most historical records are written. He's read quite a few in the Rubicus, and heard interpretations of the final thoughts l'Cie leave behind in crystal fragments, but this is the first time he sees it presented in this form. It doesn't seem like something meant to last, colors faded by the ages and corners singed with the heat of past conflicts. Still, it's interesting, and time must have gone into such things.

Eight's quiet until Owain speaks, just taking in the sight for what it is, more than anything else. His own world's got a long history riddled with conflict, and all records speak to it. Those things aren't new and strike him as an intrinsic part of human life, however unfortunate it is.

What a shame that all worlds really do seem to have it in common. Though he supposes they're not so unavoidable as natural disasters are]

I wonder why they'd build so close to an active volcano to begin with...

[Seems pretty foolish]

[SEE LOOK AT THIS MOMENT THEY'RE HAVING THIS IS NORMAL EIGHT NORMAL ACCEPT THE MOMENTS.]

Maybe it wasn't active when they built it? It could've been some kind of...volcano god.

[Frown.

Okay, so maybe it's not much of a moment.]

[Owain ought to keep a moment count just so he can let Eight know how many he's missed.

Spoilers: it'll probably be a lot]

That...doesn't seem like a thing.

[Forgive his skepticism here]

Why wouldn't it be a thing? [Yes, they're going to talk about volcano gods and things like that.] Okay. [Hands up. Work with him.] Hear me out. We both know people who can turn into dragons. And someone else I know was talking about a planet of cats. [Dramatic pause.] That can talk.

[One of the people walking past them makes a noise about tourists.] So...why not a volcano god? It could be some fire spirit that they freed by accident and that woke the volcano up.

[Eh? Eh?]

[He can't deny cat planet was a thing, since it's the first place he was dragged to. Definitely didnt't help his confusion, but then, nothing really did.

He weighs this theory over, weird as it sounds]

It could be an Eidolon, but I don't know how it could be there without somebody to summon it.

[And considering the cost is a human life...]

You'd think the locals would be aware of it, and mention it somewhere up there [he gestures at the tapestries] whatever it was.

[Now he'll always wonder, thanks pal]

[That’s what he’s there for! Either way, though, Eight’s getting a puzzled look, and then he turned to the tapestries in question. On one hand, Eight’s right: there isn’t anything obviously ominous, at least in the universal way that made Owain go, “Oh, that’s clearly some kind of fire beast.” But there’s maybe enough ominous bits that could imply something if you squinted hard and maybe applied death of the author (weaver?) to the pictures depicted.]

It could just be shy. I mean, I don’t know about you, but if I was an immortal fire creature spun from myth, legend, and fire, sometimes I’d want to take a century or two off. Wouldn’t you?

Have you ever known anything that powerful to be shy?

[It's an honest question, since Eight can't say he's aware of any such thing. Those endowed with power tended to wield it, whether for good or ill, in a way that left a mark on the world. People would know a name, even if not a face, and at least have tales to tell about them whether they were accurate or not.

As much has been his experience, anyway. But the closest they got to dragon gods were l'Cie, who were themselves subject to the will of the Crystals]

Kind of? Well, maybe shy's not exactly the word...but a friend of ours, Tiki, she slept...a lot.

[Turns to Eight, and he gestures, implying something small, compact...] So she's a manakete and when she gets a magical stone - a dragonstone, but I don't think you'd know what that is? Anyway, she can turn into a dragon. And she wasn't...shy, but she wasn't exactly going, "I am Tiki, Voice of Naga!"

[When Owain looks his way, he takes his attention off the tapestries. Only so much to get from staring at them, after all]

With a title like that, I'd figure she wouldn't need to. Where I'm from, only l'Cie could do that, and they're pretty well-known.

[Chosen by the Crystals as they were, such people were heroes to their respective nations and menaces to their enemies]

Well, wouldn't you want to sometimes lay low if you were some kind of superpowered omnipresent being that could do really important stuff?

[Somehow this is important.] I'd think we'd all need breaks from...that.

Maybe...but it wouldn't explain emerging just to wipe out a city.

[Eight had only aspired to Agito, and nothing near omnipresence, but a being that went without notice emerging just to cause destruction...?

Not that it'd be the strangest thing in the world. Worlds.

The universe is weird]

[His mouth swings open. His mouth swings shut. He turns to a small model- they can look at the small model over there.

It's a small model of the city. Maybe.] They could've built it on top of...it. That sort of thing happens all the time.

[Eight looks back up at the map nested in the middle of this display. There's only a broad area highlighted as a possible location for the city, apparently buried somewhere under so much volcanic rock even now.

That range does include the base of the volcano, as well as areas much further from it. Allow him a few moments to assess, bringing his hand to his chin as he's so inclined]

Guess it's a possibility...but even the local experts don't seem too sure.

Yeah, but...

[And he gestures to Eight. And then he gestures to himself. And then he gestures to Eight. And all of this says (or is supposed to say) we pchooed in from other worlds and they didn't seem to expect us, except in Owainese, so imagine that sentence except with more frantic vowels and excited verbs.]

We're in no better position to draw conclusions, I suppose.

[Alas, he doesn't read Owain's gestures quite so well yet. But his own short gesture might be indication enough of his own meaning before he starts off toward some other exhibit. If they linger in any one place too long, they might garner unwanted attention.

Besides, they can't very well scope this place out if they're stuck on questions they can't answer]

Right. [And he's going to trot along.] My friend, Laurent, he was the scholarly one of us. Most of us concentrated on, you know. Fighting things. But he took after his mom. He said it was important that research continued despite what was going on.

He'd probably love this.

One of my brothers probably would too, actually.

[And speak in complete paragraphs, or rather lengthy walls of discourse, that might put Owain to shame. Far less colorful to be sure, but Try could monologue in a way that frequently begged interruption. And almost always incurred it]

It wasn't research, exactly, that's always been Mother's domain. But he likes picking up new information.

[Or maybe he likes lecturing his siblings on it more, it's hard to say. Whatever the case is, Eight feels the absence of the others no less than he did when he was a new "recruit". Now, he supposes, he's somewhat inured to the sting of it.

He halts when they reach a towering statue of some regal figure in armor, a hulking sword in one hand — or one would at least presume that's what it is. This he chooses not because of its impressive size or craftsmanship, but rather for the vantage point this location affords them. It's easy to see the entryway from here, and the security measures as well]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT ★ WELCOME TO LERAMZEN

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