Until We Wake - Printable Version +- Hydaelyn Role-Players (https://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/mybb18) +-- Forum: Role-Play (https://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/mybb18/forumdisplay.php?fid=27) +--- Forum: Town Square (IC) (https://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/mybb18/forumdisplay.php?fid=21) +--- Thread: Until We Wake (/showthread.php?tid=5654)

Until We Wake - Kieron Lohengrin - 11-30-2013 Alone upon the rising spire of the rock, as it jutted and rose from the briny blue; alone with his thoughts, the monk closed his single exposed eye and joined his inner self in spiritual skyfall. Soaring through the ocean of the soul, even as the waves of the physical ocean without crashed noisily 'gainst the island crags. Light. Life. Hope. As he'd learned from his master, and from the mother crystal. The monk flew through memory, through mind and time and aetheric flow. The five-card spread. The old elezen captain predicting yet another great change to come. It wasn't that he doubted the elderly corsair, Schezar reflected - simply that her words seemed to resonate more strongly with the boy whom he once was, rather than the man he was today. Sudden anger. Hostility. Recognition. Distrust. "I didn't ask to see your memories. Forcing them into someone else's mind like that... it's the height of rudeness! It's torture!" Again, he agreed with the distress in her outburst, if not the exact wording. However unintended or accidental - he simply meant to extend the sensation of warmth and gratitude - it could indeed be completely alien. Fearsome, uncalled-for. He couldn't exactly just punch her upset away, as he did with so many other things. The Echo would do as it willed, and he had no way of knowing who it would reach out to touch so powerfully, through him as a conduit. He had to learn how and when to know. Pentacles and swords; the Emperor card. The rainstorm crashing down around them. The seafarer's praise for his bloodstained fists, even as she denounced their shared connection to the Echo. His potted orchid, kept safe. The details of the day flowed into each other. The details of the year flowed into each other. "I'll help you hold back the banshin, Lady Minfilia. 'tis what my master prepared me for." "You worry me, big brother." "These sphairai are alive! The white-hot ember, the howling gale, the hyperfused ore... you have to let them grow with you, to let your collective souls become one!" "Who are you? Why are you hiding?" The last memory, the last murmured, whispered thoughts, from the daydreaming girl in the botany guild. The one whose grandfather was close to her heart. "I'm not hiding," he whispered amidst the waves. "But I have many malms left to walk, ere the night ends." Schezar opened his eye. He balanced steadily upon the tip of his finger, his arm outstretched. The monk's entire body formed a single, perfectly vertical line, rising like a tower into the sky. Judging from the position of the stars and the moon, half a day had passed since he'd begun meditating at noon. With an exultant exhalation of breath, he pushed off from his finger, his chakra flowing through him as he launched into the air. Each stance's mindset came easily with each midair strike, spin, and kick. Opo-opo form, raptor form, coeurl form. A shift in the center, chakra gates unlocking, aether in his veins. Leviathan form, Suparna form, Midgarsormr form. The rocky outcropping beneath him shattered into dust, as his palm strike came crashing down like a meteor. I am a weapon. I am peace. RE: Until We Wake - Kieron Lohengrin - 12-05-2013 "His name is Althyk. Lord of earth and change, space and time." Schezar's master balanced on one foot, basic dodo-stance, atop the thunderous waterfall. The lalafell's breathing was still relaxed and calm, while Schezar himself panted heavily with the exertion of their sparring, sweating and hard-pressed. The hyur hunkered his body down, preparing himself for a hippogryph-form leap. "Does the Path differ for each one of the Twelve, teacher?" She turned her blind, bandaged eyes toward him, considering his question. "Yes, it does. For example..." And just like that, she was gone. He hadn't quite gotten used to it yet, even with all the countless times she'd vanished so swiftly and taken him by surprise in their training. Her voice continued from above him, in midair. "All this time, you've thought that my movements were because of speed, and stealth." Schezar was forced to take a defensive form, the surface of the water breaking into minor tidal waves beneath him as his skin hardened like stone, his arms crossed to block her crashing meteor dive. He grit his teeth. "What else could it be, then? Illusion?" His teacher shook her head, the bells in her hair chiming softly amidst the thunder of the waterfall. "Reach out. Hydaelyn herself has tempered and blessed thee. Hear. Think. Feel." The student closed his eyes obediently, extending his senses outward, as his teacher vanished again. This time, however... His eyes flared open just as quickly. Her face was now level with his, in another leaping attack. "You stopped time..." "Only for a few seconds," she answered calmly. The barrage of her fists followed, knocking him off the edge of the waterfall, and sending him crashing down to the river, 50 feet below. The lalafell landed gracefully, her feet barely causing ripples upon the water, as she watched her student plummet downward. She then turned and walked back to the shore, sitting down with their tea to wait for him, while he began the long climb back up. "The Path will be yours, too, dear one. I hope you live that long," she mused quietly to herself, taking a calming sip. RE: Until We Wake - Kieron Lohengrin - 12-26-2013 "What's this?" "A fragment from the visor the Empire used to enslave and control you, all those years ago. Most of it was destroyed, but this portion of the artifact was salvageable. It's been retooled for your use, keyed to your personal aetheric frequency alone." The roegadyn engineer watched closely for any reaction from the hyur highlander. However, if Schezar felt at all upset or appalled, he betrayed no outward sign. The man's face remained neutral, unreadable, as he picked up the eyepatch device, examining it with a clinical, methodical stare. "And this will help us find the Ascians, will it?" His fellow Scion associate nodded. "In theory, the new embedded crystals should help focus your Echo sensitivity. We've also added a few touches of our own to the original magitek design - it'll help you coordinate with your ride armor, and provide battlefield data in addition to all the usual chakra mumbo-jumbo you're already pulling off." The monk began putting the device on. "Works for me," he said simply. RE: Until We Wake - Kieron Lohengrin - 01-04-2014 "...you're not going into the tower with us?" "I'm sure it'll be perfectly fine! Enjoy it! See the sights and think of it as a paid vacation! We'll be right outside here at base camp, toiling away in this dreadful heat until you get back." "..." * * * * * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdh862jygt8 * * * * * "Welcome back! Well, how was it? Completely safe, right? I'll wager you all had a most relaxing time!" "You're a terrible person, Mik." RE: Until We Wake - Kieron Lohengrin - 07-16-2017 "Sarge! Welcome back!" "Good to be b-- wait." "Where'd you get that armor from?" "Won it off some skinny sod in the Bloodsands. You like?" "...sure. Makes you look positively cosmic." RE: Until We Wake - Kieron Lohengrin - 07-20-2017 Before Carteneau. A dark haze. Then, murky, distorted voices from what seemed like a malm away. "So this is one of the few specimens to survive the interrogation, is it?" "Yes, Dr. Asina. But I must very, very strongly advise against turning down the sedation--" "Nonsense. These animals will be field-tested soon enough, and I wish to personally attend to our masterpieces." A dull, stabbing pain in his side. Schezar slowly opened his bloodshot eyes, still lightheaded, feeling the cold chromite encased around his limbs. As he dangled from the lab wall, naked as his nameday, he stared down at the pair of Garlean scientists below. The man in glasses gave Schezar a wide smile, even as his female colleague continued to fret. "Sir, if the Legatus finds out..." "What our esteemed Black Wolf doesn't know won't hurt him. Our goal is to make these savages useful and compliant." He turned toward the nearby table, lifting up what appeared to be a magitek visor. "All that's required is a minor attitude adjustment. Ku, ku, ku..." RE: Until We Wake - Kieron Lohengrin - 08-05-2017 From the journal of Gehrman Stormbreaker, Fist of Rhalgr. My dearest grandson, I left these pages for you in the temple, guarded by the spirit of Master Ivon himself. That you have found them means you have passed my final test, and I watch thee from beyond with a proud, smiling heart. Ours will always be a difficult, trying existence. But that does not mean it must be a joyless, meaningless one. Far from it. When I spirited our clan away from Ala Mhigo, many called me coward. Deceiver. Betrayer of our great city-state. These titles I would bear twice over again, and with pride, knowing that my choices ensured our family's survival and well-being. When I asked Laleta to train thee in my stead, 'twas not to put you on the same path we walked as living weapons. Rather, it was to give you a choice - the choice to live freely, or to bear the weight of our name. The storm will be eternally present, in all its forms. Garlemald, the primals, creatures from the deepest pit of the Void, even the petty brigands of Vylbrand and Aldenard. The storm feasts ever and anon on the smallfolk of these lands, upon families who wish nothing more than to be left alone, free to pursue their own happiness. I chose our family name for this reason. But again, it was a choice I alone made, and would not force upon any of our kin. Whether you continue to walk this road, or break away to find your own truth, your own freedom - know that you will always have my love. When you stand in the light of the crystal, know that I always stand beside thee, a spear pointed at the heart of the squall. RE: Until We Wake - Kieron Lohengrin - 08-14-2017 The Weeping City of Mhach. I glance back over my shoulder at him, before returning my eyes up front. "Stand up." Before us, a horde of voidsent and their dark queen. Behind us, our allies, licking their wounds and pushed to the limit. Still ready to fight, still ready to do or die for their crusade. My partner, however, chokes back a reluctant growl. Young, still holding on to that tough leader exterior. "Stormbreaker, we barely have anything left, how do we even...?" I shake my head without looking back again. "Listen. House Lareont, right? You've obviously got a lot going on. Got a lot to prove. Big noble family name to live up to. S'why you're a paladin." I exhale, maintaining concentration in my aetherblade. Thank the Twelve for E-Una-Kotor's teachings. "I've got nothing like that. I'm a meathead. A grunt. I go where I please and do what I like. And... tomorrow's Earthsday." I allow myself a little smile, even as the lordling tilts his head in confusion. "My buddy in Azim, she roasts up the best mammoth haunch for Earthsday dinner. Spiced with purbol bits and all, proper xaela fare. Haven't missed one yet and I don't plan to miss it tomorrow." I wipe the slick sweat from my brow with the back of one hand. "So stand up, m'lord. We'll walk away from this together in one piece, all of us. You and me, we'll take the heaviest hits and keep this group alive. You'll do your family proud and I'll get to have me steak." I allow myself a triumphant laugh as we charge headlong into the fray. People think it's about a label, about being a mythical warrior of light or whatever it is they want to call you. I just want my steak. Followed by a sunny weekend at the beach. Saving people and helping them dare to hope again, that's just a nice little bonus.