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[greatbeasts]

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Here, There Be Dragons

New arrivals: The dream you wake from is an unsettling one that feels like a memory. It sits out of place and too far forward in your mind, yet feels as real and clear as any other could be. It's the shadow of a massive creature blocking out the sun, skyline, or similar entity. A roar that shakes you to the core and and a feeling of dread and loss weighing heavy on you. Whatever the feeling or vision that comes across, it brings with it a sense that your world is no more. A voice, reassuring and almost motherly in nature urges you gently to wake from your sleep. Rise from the ashes, little one, The voice calls in a whisper of wind and crackling fire, There is need of you, yet. As the voice fades and the world of the waking returns to you, you are greeted with the sounds of faint bustling and the bounce of wooden wheels on stone or the sight of Upper Nuren's winding streets and open squares. A cloud passes by slowly near one of the stone pathway ledges and the sounds of nearby Touched and Remnants at work or leisure filter through the calm, cool air. Whatever you had previously been wearing or carrying has been replaced. You might now find yourself garbed in a cloth tunic, pants or shorts, robe, dress or skirt, and sandals or boots if you wore clothing. A sash around your shoulders or a belt at your waist contains a small but weighted purse of gold coins, enough to acquire some materials, new clothing or food from the market and craftsmen in the city. Current Scions: Concern over the mild Winter has begun to spread through the city. The chill air should have come with the nearing end of the harvest, and so far the weather remains only pleasantly cool. The air barely passes the gentle cool of Autumn. Nuren's citizens are spreading rumors that mountaintop ice and snow have begun to thaw, causing mudslides in the mountains. The thaw has displaced the Ice and mountain creatures, leaving them irritable and unpredictable. The sailors mention that the Frozen Shore has also begun to melt, and the waters around the Frozen Shore and the mountain areas have grown treacherous and unseasonably cold. Throughout the city, activity springs to more vibrant life, with Scholars of the Cycle of Life and Scholars of Knowledge claiming that Benra has blessed the city again, bringing more Scions to help protect the great city. The rumors put the city's citizens into higher spirits, and music fills the cool air, spreading from Lower Nuren both up and down the mountain.

The Heart of Nuren

After waking, a pull starts from within your chest, growing stronger with each passing moment until it becomes the only focus. It tugs insistently once, then twice. A need to follow the pull curls around and through you, urging you toward a wide and torch lit staircase that leads down into the heart of the mountain. The steps are wide and sturdy, and the further down them you travel, the clearer the call becomes until you can almost hear it. At the bottom of the steps, the large cavern beneath the city is revealed. The floor beneath your feet is warm to the touch, and the magic in the air calms your mind and fills you with a strange sense of safety and peace. No magic or harm can be done within the cavern. The cavern's floor is covered in circles of runes carved into the stone that surround small depressions in varying sizes, from a coffee cup's rim to that of a small circular table. Some of the depressions contain dormant dragon eggs of various colors, shapes and sizes. The runes surrounding them glow faintly with a magical light. Only the Scion who is bonded to the dragon within the egg can pass the runes.

Upper and Lower Nuren

Once you emerge from the cavern, the strange spell that fell over you fades. The bond between you and your egg or hatchling remains but your command of your own decisions and actions return and you are now free to explore, question and move about. The streets of Upper Nuren are sparsely populated with Remnants, Touched and other scions with their eggs or dragons. Questioning any of the citizens leads to a variety of answers. You are a Scion of the Great Beasts. You were brought to the city from the ashes of time and space by the Great Phoenix known as Benra and the Great Serpent known as Mouros. Pressing for more information will reveal that there are five Great Beasts. They are Benra the Phoenix, Chelba the Stone Giant, Renzu the Griffin, Mouros the Serpent, and Lysheu the Chimera. They are said to represent Mortality, Order, Knowledge, Time and Chaos. You are in the great Mountain City known as Nuren, and its people are the last remaining vestige of civilization on this wild and dangerous planet. The Touched and the Remnants share an alliance and work together to keep the city protected and its citizens alive and fed. According to these citizens of Nuren, you are here to help them defend the city, unite the remaining races and restore balance to the elements. Soon after the first Scions awake, the city begins to buzz with the news and gossip that more scions have arrived. The curious and braver citizens make their way to Upper Nuren to get a look, and the rumors spread like wildfire through the city that Benra has come again.

Outer Nuren

Although those rumors make their way to Outer Nuren, the citizens there show far less interest in making the long trek up to Upper Nuren. The unseasonably warm winter has done wonders for the fishing in the bay, and the docks are alive with intrepid fishermen and ship crews interested in making extra gold while the fishing is still good. The taverns fill with activity and the markets are livelier than ever in the hopes of selling more of their wares and merchandise before Winter's chill catches up with the passing seasons.

Evening

When night settles on the city, the taverns, inns and squares fill with curious citizens hoping to meet the new Scions or catch a glimpse of the Scions they have already managed to glimpse a few times before. Food is offered freely, as well as blankets to guard against the cool night air. The night sky fills with beautiful displays of magic from the Fire, Light and Energy Mages, the Osaaru equivalent of fireworks, though far quieter. Several Scholars in bright and colorful robes can be found approaching the new scions and older ones alike, offering to tell them more about the city, Osaaru and the Great Beasts. Mages of similar garb guide scions to the cavern homes, and help where they can in making the scions more comfortable. Small comforts of food, pillows, decorative crafts and other small tokens are offered to visible Scions by the citizens of Nuren in hopes of earning their favor and friendship.

Notes

Please direct Introduction questions to the Plotting Post Q&A As a Reminder: Bahemait is not one of the Great Beasts openly discussed or mentioned by the Citizens of Nuren who believe the Great Dragon is little more than an old legend. We would also like to emphasize that the Spirit energy within every resurrected character is required to use all magic in Osaaru, even that which is brought from their own world. The drain of powerful or excessive use of magic will lead to exhaustion.

Comments

[arkhein]

[The flush of his cheeks don't go unnoticed, and somehow manages to spark some small wave of humor out of her. At least he wasn't injured, with the exception of maybe his pride.

She has the look of someone who's holding a smirk at bay with varying results. But then Emily straightens, gazing out over to where the sea can still be seen from where they're standing, making her tone more somber than before.]

Sorry, my mind was elsewhere. The sea reminds me too much of my home, and-- well. I'm sure I don't have to explain to you why that bothered me.

[impheired]

[Ugh, don't smirk-laugh at him. You're just twisting the knife deeper into his pride! Rude. Fuyuhiko opts to ignore that detail, folding his arms somewhat defensively over his chest and turning his own gaze to the sea as well.]

Yeah, I get that. [Though, despite his words, Fuyuhiko himself neither looks nor sounds like he's having much trouble with the prospect of his own world being gone. It's terrible, yeah, but it's a lot harder to be upset about the prospect when your world was pretty much already destroyed before weird monster-shadows came along.]

Maybe you oughta head to higher ground for a bit then. Or just go straight down to the shore, if grieving by completely surrounding yourself by what you're missing is more your style. [He's not judging, whatever floats your boat here.] Either way, I'm not sure moving through crowds is your best option.

[Next time it could be YOU who gets a fish to the face.]

[arkhein]

[How ungainly and ungraceful that would be... But then again, worse has happened. She'd take a fish to the face if it meant being able to return to her home.

She mirrors his stance, crossing her arms across her chest as well. She doesn't look offended by his straightforwardness, but she does find it curious that he responds in such a casual sort of way.]

Maybe you're right; or maybe it's better that I don't forget, no matter what. [Maybe. Maybes would get her nowhere, though, and she said that much only for the sake of argument.] Sorrow can turn itself into motivation and hope, for some.

[impheired]

[He uncrosses his arms, holding his hands up in front of him in an "oops" sort of gesture. He's still not exactly the best when it comes to comforting others or talking about tricky, feelsy subjects like this. So sometimes he doesn't make himself as clear as he intends.]

Oh, no, you've got it wrong. I'm not saying you should forget about what happened or just get over it. That's definitely not what I meant, forgetting about shit just cause it's unpleasant is stupid, that doesn't help anybody. [He's actually agreeing with her. He knows just what kind of motivator sorrow can become. Been there, done that.] I just meant that sometimes it's best to take a step back for a bit. Focus on something else and then come back to your grief later.

[He scratches at the back of his head.]

Sorry, I probably should have made myself a little more clear. I'm not always the best with words when it comes to shit like this.

[arkhein]

[She smiles a little at his hurried explanation.]

I think your words were fine. Straight to the point; that's how I prefer it.

Is that how you dealt with the loss of your world? Focusing on other things?

[impheired]

Err...not exactly. My world was already destroyed once. Things were finally starting to turn around, but... [He shifts a little uncomfortably, fingers fidgeting in a way that makes it clear that he usually wears rings on a regular basis. He's trying to twist at something that just isn't there anymore. Finally, he offers a halfhearted shrug.] it's not like there was much to get over losing anyway.

[Just the people, really. But some of his friends have already made it here, so surely it's not unthinkable for the others to eventually show up as well. Kind of hard to be too upset about dead friends when there's apparently a great big phoenix that goes around reviving people whenever it feels like it.]

[arkhein]

[Emily frowns, shifting her weight to another foot, mentally chiding herself for broaching a subject that made things more uncomfortable than they should have been. He notices the fidgeting of his fingers, playing at the ghost of ring that isn't there anymore; it suddenly makes her self-conscious of the ring she's also lost, over-aware of the empty space on her naked finger now.

She tries to consider her words before she speaks them, uncertain on how to proceed.]

It must still be difficult. Even if there was nothing much there.

[A pause.]

...I'm sorry, I'm not trying to dredge up difficult memories.

[impheired]

[He waves a hand dismissively.]

Don't worry about it, takes more than than to get to me. [Which is partially true. He's either nearly impossible to offend or incredibly easy to offend, with little middle ground. And, fortunately, this is one of the many subjects that falls into the former category. (His height and face, however, re completely different stories) Sure, the fact that she's a complete stranger makes it a little weird, but he's had far more uncomfortable conversations than this.]

And besides, people like you who actually lost places worth being upset over have it worse. I'm not gonna lie and tell you it's something that's easy to get over, but...it does get easier with time. But from what I've gathered by asking around, it might not even be a permanent issue, in this case. If we just cooperate a little here, supposedly that phoenix can do something about our homes. [He sounds a little skeptical as he says this.] I'm not entirely sure I buy it, myself, but...it's not like this is a situation a normal person could fix on their own, y'know what I mean?

[arkhein]

That's... true. [But something about his last statement sticks, the innocuous wording bothering her.]

Though there's something else I don't quite understand about our situation. You said normal people... everyone I've met seems to be anything but. We were chosen for a reason, for a purpose. And what makes me worth saving, over the countless others in my world?

[She was Empress, but that seemed so far away and small now. She scoffs a little, a deprecating sort of sound.]

I guess you could say I'm suffering from a bit of survivor's guilt.

[impheired]

Ah... [He nods slightly, in a understanding sort of way. Survivor's guilt he gets. He's been through that.]

You're not the first person to ask me that today. [He shrugs.] Obviously, I dunno the answer any more than you do. Hell, I could almost ask the same thing when it comes to me. I'm exceptionally talented by my world's standards, sure, but I don't have magic bullshit powers or anything.

[He's also done some things that REALLY don't make him worthy of surviving over innocent people.]

But, it's like you said, there's a reason for it. So put that guilt to use and start figuring out what that reason is and what you've gotta do to fix the situation back home.