[Warning, incoming game. Warning, incoming game.] [Date: Monday, Ramuh 2nd, 1360] [Auditions have begun a day ago, and they have been taking a good portion of the time and gossip of the town on who's getting in, who isn't, etc. The setting is outside of the Council's hall-type place. Nikki is the first person to answer to the summons, and after a little waiting in a semi- comfortable chair the Moogle tending the door calls. "Nicole Diodorus!" The previous person, a male Clavat, exits before she has a chance to enter.] [He's a bit shaken, but doesn't look hurt physically. Must be some really nasty grilling they're doing in there... which kinda makes sense.] [Session start!] * Nikki blinks at the Clavat. "Hey, you okay?" she asks as she heads in. * The Clavat nods. "Y-yeah. I'm fine." He gives her a smile. "Good luck." * Nikki smiles back. "Thanks." And makes a mental check: He's probably not getting on. She waves and continues her way in. [It was stated in the summons that Nikki should be ready for anything. Also, she has to sign a waiver before entering.] (Did I already do that?) (You can assume you did.) (Yay!) * Nikki rubs at her right wrist, where her bracelet is. She fingers the tiny empty magicite holes. Well, if they need her to demonstrate... [The council is sitting around a large U-shaped wooden hardwood table. From the left to right you can make out Mog, Penn Lak Illich, Loren Hasgord, Squenix Knackstedt, Cid, Gwesus Masahcarey, Ran Dom Iffin, Yarksetnik Czretzinger, and Darell Racht. Each of them observes you appraisingly, and a few whisper among eachother regarding what they see. Light is centered on you, although you can still see the council.] [Behind you and to the left is a small sparring area, and back and to the right is what appears to be the magical equivalent of a firing range. There is still a good amount of blood in the sparring area, which may or may not disturb you. Once you have entered proper and have had a seat on the chair at the focus of the U, Cid stands up and starts into one of his speeches.] (aaaah, cut and paste.) (Your friend and mine! *reads*) * Nikki looks around at all the people and gives a bright smile. She continues walking until she reaches the chair and has a seat, smoothing out her duster in the process. [Squenix is playing with a replica of the town, done using... cherry clusters and toothpicks? Well, to each their own I suppose.] Hello, and welcome. You just being here shows your loyalty to the village and all the world. For it is on your shoulders that the town's fate will be held, and through your valor and deeds that we will survive. With that, it is important that you understand that a number of obstacles will be numerous, and the hardships severe, but so will be the rewards. Furthermore, before we begin questioning, it is very impo- * At this point Gwesus smacks Cid in the side, shooting him a glare. Ehehehe... Okay, onto the questioning then. You apparently know what you'll be up against already. * Nikki watches Squenix curiously, gets distracted by Cid, and then has to cover her snicker as Gwesus does that. Second mental note: Don't sit next to Gwesus. * Mog is the first one with Nikki's application in hand. He flies up closer to Nikki and looks at her more closely. Out of nowhere, the moogle talks in an almost sing-song voice. "Do you like to... dance?" * Nikki blinks, caught offguard, but it's for just a moment. She nods at Mog. "Yes, I love dancing." She grins. "I'm not great at it, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying myself." * Mog spins around, flipping through another page. "Why do you love to dance, kupo?" Because it's fun! I guess I could say it's a way to express myself, but when I do dance, I'm not thinking of any of those things. Just that it's fun. Do you think the caravan will be a lot like that? Well, sometimes... I mean, it can't all be work. * Nikki shrugs. "But I think that, a lot of the time, there's going to be work, and if I get on, I'll have to think about things. Which might make dancing more fun, actually." * Mog nods and gives Nikki a kiss on the forehead. "Thanks! Penn Lak, your turn, kupo!" He flies back and passes Penn Lak the papers. * Nikki giggles and doesn't rub at her forehead. She looks to Penn Lak. * Penn Lak snickers a bit at Moogle's antics. "Okay Nikki, you say you don't like hunting down things in your application. If you had to hunt down something, but couldn't move, what would you do?" * Nikki blinks. "Well... that depends. What am I hunting? What do I have?" She thinks. "Is there anyone working with me?" A rabbite, rope and darts, and there are two others working with you that can't move either. * Nikki tilts her head, thinking about it. "Can I move my arms?" If you need to. * Nikki folds her arms, still thinking. "But I have to... huh." Cue Jeopardy music here. ( That's a tough question o.O ) (Actually, there are many solutions to it.) What's the setting like? How far are we from each other? You're in a forrested area, there are trees around. The rabbite periodically moves between you two. The darts are blunt, they cannot hurt the rabbit, but weigh about a half-pound each. One person is outside of visiual site, but you can hear them. The other is closer by and you can see them. * Nikki thinks, then brightens. "All right." * Penn Lak waits in anticipation for Nikki's solution. I'd say I'd try to hit the rabbite with a dart, but you just said that they won't hurt it... maybe stun it, but that won't help. Plus, I've got bad aim. ( "So I would NOT hit the rabite with the dart, thereby winning its affection, upon whence I would call it over to me. ) Correct young lady. (Dude, how'd you know?) ( "Yes, you DO have bad aim." ) (XD) (I'm a Spellcaster. Fear me and my negative BAB. ... Well, I practically have a negative BAB.) * Nikki rubs at the back of her head. "I'd work out a system with the other two. The one who can speak should try to spook the rabbite closer to me if he can, or at least tell me where it is, if it doesn't want to be spooked. The one I can see can give me visual cues... if he knows sign, that's even better." I'd tie the rope around some of the darts and throw it when I get word that the rabbite's in about the right place - sorry, this can be kind of hard to visualize right. The rabbite should chomp on it, and I can reel it in. * Penn Lak nods. "Fishing for rabbites. Interesting tactic. I have no more questions." She passes the paper to Loren. * Nikki lets out a breath. And looks at her friend's grandpa. Hoo boy. * Loren takes the paper and shuffles through them. "Hello Nikki. How much would you give up to be on the caravan?" * Nikki blinks. "What do you mean?" ( "Would you give up your liver? We need donations..." ) (Uh, no. I like my liver where it is.) Let's say there was an auction! For a place on the caravan. People were putting up money, goods, services... Anything to go on. What would you give up?" ( "A turkey sandwich?" "SOLD!" ) ("I would like to buy a pair of red morraccas.) * Nikki smiles a little. "I'd give up certainty in the future. I'd give up seeing my family, and I'd give up the trade, if I really had to. I'd give up lazy days sleeping on the front porch, and I'd give up Mom's cooking and seeing the chocobos every morning." She pauses a moment, then grins. "I guess I'd put my weekly allowance up, too." (All I've got is fifty cents!) ( "An limited-edition Ultraman action figure." ) (*snicker*) * Loren grins. "That's what I thought you'd say. Here you go Squenix. Try to make sense this time?" * Squenix takes it and looks at the papers through her helmet. She eats one of the cherries representing the people, then takes a pen and blots some ink on some paper. She asks in a voice only she could have while holding it up: "What does this look like?" ( ... why is it always the crazy ones who go into psychology? ) (Dunno.) * Nikki eyes the blot. "It looks like the stain my little brother got on one of my dresses once, when he squirted cherry juice all over the place. He tried to blame it on Ezen Dar." She pauses a moment. "Sorry. It was very traumatic." * Squenix doesn't move her head. "Cherries?" She holds out a couple cherry clusters from her town. * Nikki perks. "Sure, thanks!" She reaches over to take them. Hopefully they don't squirt her. * The cherries are eaten! OH NOES! At least they're not the squirty kind. * Nikki munches them, looking at one thoughtfully. "Hey, it kinda looks like my house." Chomp. So much for that. * Squenix passes the papers over, but doesn't stop staring at Nikki through her helmet. * Nikki practices making her bluff checks as she works at not fidgeting. * Cid takes the papers, clears his throat, coughs, clears it again, and adjusts his glasses, looking down at the papers through the bottom half of his bi-focals. He, like so many other old people, moves the papers torwards and back from him until they're in focus. You like working with others? * Nikki swallows a pit. Cherries will commence growing in her stomach shortly. "Yes, sir." That is very important, as the co-operation of teammates is vital to the growing community as a whole. Why, I remember when the town only had a population of about 3000 (it's still only about 3000) and we worked to the bone to get the chalice home! Yes, those were the days. When men were men and goblins were a snack food. Don't get me wrong, they're still quite tasty, but nothing beats t-, the-... What was I talking about? * Nikki blinks a couple times, her mind almost visibly rewinding to the point where he asked her a question. "You asked me if I like working with others, and I said yes." Of course! What would you do if you found someone on the caravan not doing their work? Uh... well, first I'd hope it's not me. * Nikki rubs at the back of her neck. "Then I'd point it out to them." And if they didn't listen? * Nikki straightens a little, getting back in her groove. Squenix threw her off. "Well, I'd ask the rest of the caravan what they think. I mean, I could be wrong. But if it turns out I'm right, I'd get more people to back me up on it. The force of many words is harder to ignore than just one." Thank you for your answers. Gwesus, you may now ask her questions. * Nikki smiles a little. She steals a glance back at Squenix, then looks to Gwesus. For the good of the caravan! * Gwesus stands up on the table to get a better view of Nikki. She's holding Gugnir straight up, easily twice her height, maybe more. "Nikki, huh? I've heard Mona talking about you. What do you value most?" * Nikki hmms. She scratches a little at her hand. * Nikki takes a breath. "I think I know what you want to hear." She glances at the rest of the council. "And I guess I could give it to you, but I'll give an honest answer instead and hope it's good enough." I value my experiences above everything else. They're what makes me who I am, and I like who I am. Even if I didn't, there's... I wouldn't want to be anyone else. * Nikki smiles. "Plus, if I didn't have them, where would I get stories from?" * Penn Lak grins, but Gwesus just takes a seat back down. "You may ask your questions, Ran Dom." * Ran Dom doesn't look like he's paying too much attention. "Huh? Oh, right, questions." He pulls out a sheet of paper that's not your application, then looks at your application. Okay. You value your experiences, yeah. Love peace, that's all good. If you saw someone dying in the miasma, but there wasn't any way to get to them in time and doing so would put you at great risk, would you still run torwards them? Wait, there *isn't* any way to get to them in time? Yeah. Would you still go for it? I... would... is there anyone else around? A faster runner, maybe? Just you and the Chalice. You could drop the chalice, but that would be putting yourself at great risk. * Nikki looks visibly torn by this. She glances at the other council members for visual cues, likely gets none, and steels herself. "Well..." If I can drop the chalice, get to him, bring him within range, and be sick after, then I'd do it. If there's any chance I could do that, I'd do it. * Nikki pauses a moment, then continues, more quietly, "If he's so far out that even dropping the chalice won't save him, I guess there's nothing I can do." * Ran Dom shrugs. "Tough question, isn't it? Yarksetnik." * Ran Dom hands off the papers. * Nikki looks over to the yuke. Maybe she'll give her an easier question. Yeah, right. * Yarksetnik takes the papers and shifts through them, not making a sound. After about five minutes of this, a voice from an indecernable location speaks. This must be Yark, really. "Nice to meet you Nikki. If I may ask, do people get mad at you often?" (The prominence of Nikki must be Loren's doing.) (It probably is.) (Plus, Nikki's always around everywhere.) * Nikki blinks, but she tries not to look fazed. She does a pretty good job at it! I don't know what you mean by often, but yeah, they get mad sometimes. * Yarksetnik, um... speaks? Well, at least you hope it's her. "And do you get mad too?" * Nikki shakes her head. "When people get mad at me? Not really." She grins. "A lot of the time, I deserve it. But you don't have to tell them I said so." Your secret's safe with me. What do you do when your mother serves you fish? * Nikki makes a face at the mention of fish, then she answers, "Spend a really long time picking at my food. Then, when everyone's about done, I offer to do the dishes and throw it out when they're gone and I'm cleaning up." She pauses a moment. "And then I get hungry a while later, so I grab a snack." * Yarksetnik passes the papers to Darell slowly, looking over at the Lilty as slowly. * Nikki looks at Darell curiously. * Darell is, um, pudgy. Anyways, he stays seated unlike Gwesus. "Hey, can you see me?" (Yeah, it's not that hard to) * Nikki smiles at that. "Yeah, I can see you. Hi." Good. Let's say you're walking the streets of Alfitaria and you see beggars. If you gave anything at all, would you be cheap or generous? And if not gil, what would you give? * Nikki takes a breath. "It depends on what they look like. If they look weak, I'd give them any food I have left over. Or if they're in rags and about my size, and I had some old clothes, I'd give that. But since I'm in Alfitaria, I'd probably stick to the money, if they looked really needy. It's easy to trick people out of their money, and I don't want to give to a thief. But it's hard to pretend you're just skin and bones." * Darell seems to look *through* Nikki for a few seconds, then leans back again, passing the paper downwards to Cid. * Nikki doesn't fidget, looking right back. She's either a really good liar, or she's telling the truth. Or both! Okay, now that we've gone through that mess, now we get onto the more interesting events. "It says you can summon. Would you care to demonstrate your ability for us? If you lack magicite, we have some you can use in the spell-firing range." * Nikki grins. "Sure." She jumps to her feet and heads over to the range, looking for this so-called magicite. [There are four condensed orbs there welded into bangles that you can just put on. Sure, it means you can't remove the magicite short of something to cut through the metal, but it's easy to put on and take off. The orbs on the inside look a misty white-light blue, a cloudy dark-blue with sparks, a collapsing inferno in the third, and a constantly rejuvinating plant-like thing in the fourth.] * Cid looks over at Mog, who's still standing on the table. * Nikki looks over the bracelets, then picks up the one with the tiny plant. She clapses it onto her right wrist, above the magicite bracelet she brought with her. * Nikki heads back towards the center of the room, and when she decides everyone can get a very good look, she stops. "Okay," she says, more to herself than anyone else, but her voice probably sounds louder than she wants. * Mog flies over to Nikki as she begins the summoning, looking for where the summon will take place. Apparently he's there to verify. * Nikki takes a deep breath, raising her arms before her: right above left, eyes closed in concentration. A tiny spot of greenish blue is visible beneath her duster's sleeve, and the magic swirls outwards, covering her right arm, her hand, and moving to the other. * Nikki opens her eyes, and the magic starts to pool downwards. "Carbuncle!" she calls, her voice forceful and echoing off the ceiling and walls. "Three-gemmed dog. Protect me!" * At that moment a portal appears and Carbuncle, in all its disturbingly cute glory, pops out in a flip. It's glowing a green glow and has three gems imbeded in its forehead - A ruby, a saphire, and an emereald. It coo's as it appears and looks around carefully. Mog gets a closer look at it, flying around it at a distance. Squenix was apparently preparing a spell. * Squenix points at Carbuncle, and a beam of holy light streaks down from the heavens, blasting Carbuncle with holy energy. The dog-creature completely ignores the attack, however, and when the hit is over Mog gives Carbuncle a hug as it vanishes. * Cid looks impressed, certainly. Mog looks over at the council. "It's the real thing, kupo!" * Nikki blinks, snapping out of it. She looks a little tired. * Mog pats Nikki on the head and flies back to his seat. * Nikki smiles. And she looks around, not entirely sure what to do. Very well done! Not many have calling abilities at your age. Now, you say you're good at lying too. I think we can take your word for that, but if you would like to demonstrate your talents, it may improve your chances. * Penn Lak and Ran Dom snicker at the 'lying' and 'taking your word' paradox that makes. * Nikki can't help but snicker, too. "Uhm. Hang on." * Nikki takes a few steps forward, looking particularly at Cid. In the eye, since he asked. She smiles, and says, "I love fish. Battered, broiled, or fried. There's nothing I like more than a good plate of cod with a side of mashed gourd potatoes and a mug of fresh milk." (If you really want me to make a bluff check, I can.) (Sure, go for it. You can take 10 if you want. ^^) (Yeah, take the ten. That's 18.) * Mog blinks. "You do? I didn't know that! It says right here you hate it, kupo!" * Penn Lak laughs. "Very good!" ( This magicite is yellow! ) (Hehe!) * Nikki removes the bracelet, holds it up, and grins as she waves the magicite. "And this is fire magicite. I hate fish." ... Oh. ^^; * Nikki giggles. * Gwesus nods and solemly gets up. "Before we're done, there is one more test we must do. In a caravan's travels, it is sometimes necessary to die for the good of the caravan. And it works best if you have a taste of that feeling before you go, to make sure you're up to the task. Please, step into the sparing area." * Nikki blinks at Gwesus. "Uh." * Nikki looks at the others. She's serious, isn't she? She's serious. Okay. * Nikki goes to put the magicite back. And heads to the sparring area. She's being very slow about it, as a hard knot rises in her throat. * Gwesus steps into the arena and motions. Squenix stands up and outside of the arena, holding a glowing yellow orb in her hand. The specifics are hard to work out the way she's holding it, however. * Nikki looks from one to the other, eyes wide. But she finally steps in, at the very edge. She's she's visibly shaking. (And there's one she's, unless I SPLIT INTO TWO!) (In a moment :P) ( Very likely to happen. =p ) (*splurch*) * Gwesus takes Gugnir and twirls it in one hand. In one smooth motion, she dashes forward, stabbing a total of five times with the spear, the last one impaling Nikki and pinning her to the wall. Nikki's world fades to black, as she passes away. ( Game over. o/~ ) * Nikki crumples in place, pinned to the wall as she is. Bloodstains are so hard to clean up after. * After what seems like an eternity of nothingness, Nikki's world eventually comes to light. She's got a serious headache, and Cid's looking over her form. Gwesus is cleaning off blood from Gugnir, and the other council members are around Nikki. Darell is the first to speak up. "Are you okay?" ( ... beautiful question. Simply beautiful. ) * Nikki looks around, sees Gwesus, and freezes. Her hand reaches up to her chest, where Gwesus' last motion hit, and she looks. * Nikki's chest is completly healed, although Nikki probably feels a bit woozy from the whole ordeal. All that's left is a series of small holes where the spear hit her, and a large one where it impaled her. * There's a good amount of blood on the shirt too, I might add. * Darell smiles. "If you want, we have extra shirts for you. Gwesus isn't the best when it comes to killing someone and leaving their clothes in one piece." * Nikki pushes a finger through, distantly glad she wore her duster. She laughs, a little hysterically, and tears sting the corners of her eyes. "Bloodstains beat cherry stains for trauma any day," she manages, her voice wavering. She hears Darell's suggestion and laughs again. * Nikki shoves herself up to a sitting position, wiping at her eyes. "Shirt's okay." * Darell offers her a hand to help her up. * Nikki takes it without thinking. And that concludes the audition! You should feel all better in a day or so. * Nikki looks at Cid like he grew a third eye. "Uh, yeah." She swallows again, then smiles. "Thanks." * Gwesus looks back at Nikki and nods to her, then going back to cleaning up. If you have any questions to ask us, feel free. Otherwise, have a nice day. * Loren smiles to Nikki. She'd done good, from what she can tell. * Nikki sniffs a little and takes a breath, trying to get the shaking under control. "Not really. I'm not supposed to tell anyone what happened here, right?" That would be best, yes. * Nikki nods. "Okay. I'd like a new shirt, then. And if I can stay here until I get under control a little better, that'd be good." Other than that, not really. I guess I'll wait to see if I get on. * Darell holds out a new shirt and hands it to Nikki. Whoooo! * Nikki removes her duster, puts the new shirt over her old one, and pulls her jacket back on. She walks around for a few minutes, wiping at her eyes, then pulls out a mirror and checks her appearance. ( On the front is: "I joined the caravan and all I got was this lousey T-Shirt." ) ( Woah, Nikki has no modesty @_@ ) (New shirt OVER the old one.) (So she's got two shirts on now. >.>) (Aww, and here I was about to say something about her Selkie ancestory :P) * Nikki grins at Penn Lak. She adjusts her hair a little, brushing some sawdust out, checks again, and nods. "Okay." * Nikki waves at the council with a smile. "Thanks!" she calls, as chipper as ever. Take ten on the bluff check for tone of voice? I think so. "I look forward to hearing if I'm on the caravan." Best of luck to you. ^_^ [And, session end! Yesh.]