[Warning, incoming game. Warning, incoming game.] [Date: Tuesday, Ramuh 3rd, 1360.] [It's early morning as Leran is answering the summons regarding his application to join the crystal caravan. Having been called, he has already filled out the prerequisite waver and is probably walking to the council-hall- type-thingie. A moogle is at the podium at the door, looking fairly bored and reading an old book. Guess you're the first one of the day. The summons also mentioned that you should be ready for anything.] [The weather is a little cool, but it's morning so what do you expect? Session start] * Leran is dressed in his black shirt and light pants, wearing a thin leather jacket, with his greatsword, his longsword, and his shield strapped to his back. He's also carrying a backpack. He approaches the moogle. "Um. Hi." * The moogle looks up. "Oh, hello. Are you... Leran Hasgord, kupo?" * Leran smiles. It looks rather practiced. "Yes." * The moogle points. "The council is waiting for you! Don't keep them waiting, kupo." * Leran keeps smiling. "Of course not." He heads on inside. [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.] * Leran walks in, wearing the smile, and sits down. * Grysar is now known as Grydlish Ah, Leran! Welcome, welcome. As you know, it is both important and imperative that new children take up the torch of the crystal caravan. And by trying out to do so, you are making both a younger generation's future brighter and keeping the hope that us of the older generations have alive. On a related note, you should consider those around you as team mates, and work with them to make our lives and our futures brighter than before... And with that, I turn to Mog to begin questioning, so Gwesus will leave my sides alone. * Gwesus has been nudging him in the side ever since the third sentence to get him to stop. * Leran begins to sweat. He's still smiling, though. * Mog gets up and stands on the table. He hops down and walks over to Leran. "What's your real favorite food?" My, uh... * Leran wipes his brow. The smile vanishes. ( Now his unfortunate love for moogle flesh comes out. ) I thought I wrote it down? I mean, um. The sausage stuff. Toad in the hole. So that's what it's called! Okay. Why do you like it? * Leran blinks. "I ... like sausage?" And it's um warm, and good on cold days. Because it's warm. One more, kupo. One more ...? What do you like the most? The most... about toad in the hole? Um, I guess that my mom makes it. And I like my mom. * Mog nods solemly and flies back to his seat. "Have fun Penn Lak!" He hands her the papers. * Leran wipes his brow and lets out a breath. He looks slightly more comfortable. * Penn Lak grins an almost-evil grin that you've seen somewhere before. "Okay Leran, let's see..." Let's suppose there were two girls that you really liked, but they both hate eachother and can't stand to see you with the other. How would you resolve this situation while saving the most face? * RDMgryphon is now known as AFKgryphon * Leran 's eyes go wide, but he forces himself back into a vague poker face. "Uh." I guess, I mean, that's not a stable situation, really. Which is why it must be resolved. But how? So, I think, I'd have to sit down and pick one. I mean think about it first, but then pick one, and stick with that one. I think, yeah, I'd maybe do that. I think. Think? Well, that way you only make one of them mad, but any other way you could get both of them mad. And, uh. One is better than two. * Penn Lak nods. "Okay. Your turn, Loren." * Leran sweats again. Profusely. * Loren takes the papers and reads over them. "Okay, grandson. What is it that makes you want to go on the caravan? Why is it important to you?" * Leran twitches, ever so slightly, and wipes his brow. "Because the safety of the village is paramount to any personal desire, and everyone has a duty to step forward and try to do their part." Yeah, that's not rehearsed at all. * Loren shakes his head. "No, I don't want the answer that has been said to you time and again. I'm asking why it is important to *you*." Uh. Because, well... because it's important to you that I get on, but also, um. Because I want to go out and see things, do things. Like you did. * Loren smiles. "Thank you." He passes the papers to Squenix. * Leran looks shocked, but covers quickly. * Squenix has idly been playing with a pile of roasted cashews on the table, which look mysteriously like a floor plan or skeleton of some kind. She holds out a piece of paper to Leran. "Read this." * Leran takes the piece of paper and looks at it. * Leran squints. "The sedimentary rocks are worthless for fortification as they crumble at the slightest tap and resist, uh.... mortar." Then it um. Goes on about maps. * Squenix holds out some cashews. "Cashew?" Y- uh, no. Thank you. * Leran is still sweating, albeit slightly less torrentially. * Squenix shrugs and eats, passing the papers to Cid. * Cid looks over the papers. "How much do you value the opinions of those around you?" * Leran wipes his brow again, but doesn't look so shaken. "Uh. Well, like, Nikki knows stuff about people, and Mona knows stuff about ... stuff, I guess. I mean, everybody's good at knowing something. And if I don't know it, but I know they know it, then, you know, what they know is kinda valuable." You know? * Cid nods and smiles. "Don't look so uptight. So you recogonize that others have talents you lack and therefore should handle certain situations instead of yourself?" Uh... yeah. Ditto. * Leran grins a little. * Cid hands the papers off to the Lilty to his left. "And that's it for me." * Gwesus stands up and looks pretty damn imposing, even though she's short^2. "Would you, in any type of condition you can imagine, ever attack a caravan member?" Uh....yeah. I mean, they could have gone crazy, or something like that, and if they're trying to destroy the chalice or knock it over, or kill other members without a reason. Then yes. But that's still kind of last choice. Um, yeah. * Gwesus nods. "Alright, next." She passes the sheets onto the next person and sits down. * Ran Dom sits up and puts his feet on the floor (they were on the table earlier). "On the road, who's lives are more important? Yours and your charge, or the merchant caravan of twenty being harassed by an army of orcs?" * Ran Dom doesn't bother with the papers. He already had his question. * Leran answers without thinking about it. "The chalice. If you have to choose between the two, you have to choose the chalice." That's not to say, uh, you shouldn't help. Help if you can, but given the choice, you know. It has to be the chalice. Ignoring the chalice, what is your answer? * Leran blinks, and frowns. * Leran looks like he's putting quite a bit of thought into this one (you can see the smoke), but comes out with "I guess it depends on the situation. I mean, if we can save a lot of them but we're at risk, that's okay, but if we're all going to die and we might not save any of them then it's probably better to not." * Ran dom thinks for a few seconds, then passes the paperwork on. * Yarksetnik takes the papers and reads through them. About five to ten minutes later, a voice comes through and talks to you out of nowhere. Probably Yarksetnik, but maybe not? "What would you do if I said you had no chance of making it on the caravan and that you're a discrace to your family?" I would be really upset. Really. But then, uh, I would probably go home. My dad would be happy. Then, I guess, I'd have to learn merchanting like I did all my other stuff. * Leran pauses. "Or I'd hitch a ride with the caravan anyhow and go do something else somewhere else." Have you ever hurt anyone out of spite? I yelled at my dad. I guess that maybe hurt him. But I don't think I've ever physically hurt anyone out of spite. * Yarksetnik passes the papers. "You've been most informative." * Darell Racht grabs the papers and walks around the table to get a better view of Leran. He leans against the table and reads through the papers. "You clearly like other people. To what length are you willing to go to make total strangers happy?" Uh... I try, I guess, I mean I would hold stuff for people or get stuff from stores if they can't or are in a hurry. Or maybe even find pets, if I'm not in a hurry. I dunno, I mean, whatever seems reasonable. Would you put yourself at risk for their well-being? Probably, if they weren't mean or demanding about it. Like, not ordering me around to. * Darell nods. "Okay, I'm done." * Darell Racht takes the papers and puts them on the table next to Loren. He goes back to his seat. * Loren takes the papers and glances over them, then back at Leran. "You say you can use a number of weapons, types of equipment, and also have survival skill. Can you demonstrate one or two of those applications for us?" Um, if I were outside I could try some of the survival stuff... or I could show you how to build a shelter out of branches... or I could just do a sword routine... No son, that's okay. I know you can do the survival stuff. Let's see you try that sword of yours, though. The council needs to see something in those regards. Okay... * Leran reaches back and pulls the greatsword out of its sheath. He balances on the balls of his feet with it for a moment, then begins half of a mock battle. It's fairly clear that a good deal of what he's doing is defending, but it usually runs in a pattern of three or four blocks and then a counterattack, interspersed with a few full-on swings. Finally, he switches tactics and begins full-on attacking, with large sweeps of the massive sword. * Leran finally slides to a halt, sword quivering in midair. Now he _is_ sweating. * Loren looks proud of his boy. A few of the other council members nod. "Now, there is one more matter of business to attend to. Squenix, Gwesus, if you may." * Leran looks confused, but puts away his sword. * Gwesus jumps up and lands in the sparring area. "As you know, caravaning is a risky business. You can very well die multiple times, or even pay the ultimate and final price guarding the chalice. Because of this, it's important that you feel what it's like to go beyond at least once before you go on the caravan." * Leran does the wide eyed thing again. "... you're joking, right?" * Gwesus isn't even phased. "No. Don't worry, we will make sure nothing permanent happens to you. For the good of the caravan, this has to be done to make sure you don't choke on the road." ... right. * Leran drops his shield and weapons off his back. Ready when you are. * Gwesus motions for Leran to enter the area, so as to keep the blood off the rest of the floor. * Leran walks into the area and stands, fists clenched. * Gwesus glances back at Squenix, who has already made her way to the edge. With that, she spins her spear in one hand and dashes forward, stabbing Leran in the chest five times, the final time going through his chest. With that, she takes the spear and with a final, sixth, thrust throws Leran's body off of it and into the wall. * Leran grunts with each stab, actually letting out a choked-off cry when he slams against the wall and then into the floor. (And Leran doesn't die!) * With that, Leran is way past dead. And that hurt man, there's a small crater in the wall. (Okay, if Gwesus can't kill Leran with a pentathrust using pretty much artifact-level weapon...) * After spending almost eternity in the darkness with no feeling at all, Leran is suddenly shunted back to life. He opens his eyes on Loren, who's looking at his grandson approvingly. The other council members are at various places around him, and Darell is holding out a new shirt for Leran to cover his now super-bloody and holy shirt with. .... ow. * Oh, and you've got a serious headache, too. Ow. OW. Was that wall thing really necessary? You're a tough kid. I had to be sure. * Leran sits up, wincing, taking the shirt. * Learn's hole-in-chest experience is very much a thing of the past. He's got no hole in his chest any more. * Leran feels it absently through the hole in his shirt, then slips the new one on top of the old shirt. (it being the ex-chest hole.) Is that it? Yes. Good job Leran. I think the council was rather impressed with your performance. * Loren points outside. "Now go out there and catch us lunch!" * Leran stands up. ".... yessir." * Leran grabs his stuff and heads on out! * Loren pats his grandson on the back and watches Leran head out. [Session End!]