Complete Comms Main Story Hope in Retrospection

[Ashifili*]

It was Mizuki's statement, above else, that made Accelerator turn.

Ordnung, my friend. I'm sure you can corroborate with such a statement?

The Phantom of MIT kept his gaze on @Luthien for a few beats longer, before speaking up.

Yes, zis is true, and, importantly, is associated with more the nature of magitech than magia. Despite real world advancements proving otherwise, ze usage of magitech machinery for agricultural efforts has generated substandard results.

He adjusted his glasses.

Though this is still in a state of hypothesis and remains wholly entrenched in the realm of fancy, there are those within MIT who believe mana to be deeply tied with the vitality of living beings. As can be seen in the High March and Titanius's parasitism of it, the draining of 'life essence' is associated with the 'loss of magic', so the re-

Accelerator clapped his hands together, earning him the slightest scowl from Ordnung.

Yes, yes, fascinating theories, Ordnung. Settle down now. Now, setting aside the matter of Vern, whom we have a file on already, and the matter of the magical attack from the Magia known as the Songstress, could a member of Time EX be so kind as to elaborate on the matter of the Magia you scryed for, and the egg constructions you've seen?

His gaze swept over each of them, then directed it to the remaining team. Team Ego, composed of @Jin, @Zelrius, @Ilusa Nakhalee, @Schilva Flasch, and @Jester.

As mere speculation, the idea of an 'egg' brings to mind the reports of the 'orb' within the Tangleweaves. Would it be reasonable to presume a connection with the demons again? What say you, Team Ego? I do believe that of those present, you were the ones who traveled the deepest into Vintergard?

 

[Pandora*]

Nin

When the curious elf asked for the answer of a Starcalled he would seem to be lost in the crowd. Alas, a Lander had heard the man. One that was minuting the discussion for the MITs ever expanding records.

"Pssst, hey, sorry. Just arrived and I'm a tad lost here. What's all this about?"

Nin gave @Gwainedhel a dismissive glance as her pen stopped moving. It was annoying enough having to do this in such a manual way when she could just have designed something better if given time but of course, the world does not wait for science. That was just how the numbers added up. Instead, her focus would be shifted towards this Vintergard hullabaloo which intrigued her but was far too dangerous in her mathematically sound opinion.

"They are discussing the various values that have been added to this equation... urgh. *Ahem*, They are talking about the attack on this camp by the enemy magia forces that came from the Vintergard Dragonship."

When Ordnung (@Ashifili*) spoke she immediately stopped talking and listened only to return to her note-taking with a few more words for Gwainedhel.

"We had two groups go to Vintergard to gather intel and bring back the king. 2+1=3 which creates a symbiotic balance... sigh. Anyway, they are also reporting what they know. Now just stay quiet and listen. "

Nin returned to work with no further attention given.
She hated having to explain things.
Perhaps another could do better.

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash cast his thoughts back to the astral vision. The erratic movement and hollow words of the Magia. And beneath it all, a strange, organic shifting. He'd paid it no mind then - there'd been more important things to worry about. But as Accelerator (@Ashifili*) brought it up...

"...the Magia was strange. It looked damaged. There was something... writhing inside of it in a way that seemed organic."

"I didn't even consider demonic corruption being involved. After what we saw in Camp Ilusus, though, it would make sense. If Terrasphere were a normal game, that'd be the natural progression of the plot, wouldn't it?"

 

[Rael]

.

"[ There was a person who went into Vintergard who encountered a Magia. Non-hostile. They claimed the Magia was able to maintain a conversation and did not attack any of the people involved, but was slaughtered by the party assembled to scout the area. That person, seemingly inspired by this Magia's words, suggests the Dragonship is not acting as it should. It's malfunctioning and sending hostile directives, and not even they know why. ]"

While she searched her notes for references to the events of the Red Fever they were referring to, she stumbled upon another set of things that she thought important to share at the mention of unnatural influences at hand.

"[ For the sake of those involved, and to ensure future collaborations are not impeded by similar attempts to besmirch one's reputation in the eve of an attack, could we have a representative of the Adventurers' Guild and Commander Norn himself give a word as to the events that pertain to Camp Hope II's Survey Corps' Captain and her contract? A fight *did* break out, and it would've cost us the lives of many more if it hadn't been stopped in time. ]"

---

@Asch @Raid Boss @Ashifili*​

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

Between the talks, magical scriptures begun to show up for people to read. And each time it kept surprising her and making her recoil mentally, not just because of the contents but how spontaneous they seemed to happen!

"Well, mysterious paper person(@Rael). If that's the case then we'll find our answers at the heart of it. Either it's malfunctioning or it's a trap." She paused to give a glance back at Accelerator (@Ashifili*), then at @Ash Vargold "Or yeah, we got demonic corruption going on and it's affecting machinery even."

"It's too early for speculations, but if there's the minimal chance of demonic presence though, then we should prepare for it. We don't want Camp Isulus to happen again, nor the disaster that was the encounter with the Kuruungar."

 

[Raid Boss]

Norn Jormund, the current commander of Camp Hope IV, was among the crowd of people. After @Rael made her suggestion to have him clear up the matter, the man perked up. He was finally able to vindicate himself in front of his one and only, the Golden King. He first looked over at Accelerator, alerting the moderator of his intention to speak. With that, he turned toward the Adventurers Guild's representative and beckoned him with a nod before taking his stage.

Your majesty and dear everyone else, out of concerns regarding the Dragonship Magia's strange movements and attack patterns in the recent weeks, I did enlist the Guild to find me someone who was an expert at reconnaissance who knew their way around Vintergard. They did have someone on file, Carlia Grent, a captain of the Surveyor Corp during the days of Camp Hope II. I had no knowledge of her prior since it was before I took up my post as the forth Camp Commander.

The Guild representative nodded in response.

Commander Norn is correct. Our organization was the one that connected the two, and therefore, the accusation that the Commander used Carlia as a scapegoat to sow chaos at the camp is unsubstantiated. She committed murder and was imprisoned for her crime. And in addition, she might have misunderstood her relationship with the commander.

Immediately after his accusations were obliterated, Norn immediately turned toward Astor, perhaps ever inching closer to the radiant man before bowing to him.

As you can see, sire. Your most faithful servant would not dare turn his back on the crown. I live to serve the crown, for it is my sun and the reason for my existence.

Uh, thanks. Your loyalty is worth its weight in gold, Commander.

Astor waved the beaming commander away, but away he did not go. A vindicated Camp Commander is like a rock in the sea - dutifully stationary.

 

[Luthien]

Lúthien’s gaze never faltered as the Phantom stared back, finally looking elsewhere once the Headmaster turned to address the room. Accelerator’s quick dismissal of Vern caused her eyes to narrow slightly, though Lúthien held her tongue as her companions shared additional details to the inquiries the man had for them. Rael called for Norn to take the floor, and the blonde barely suppressed a visible shiver when unwanted memories briefly surfaced in her thoughts.

"Wait… did he say Grent?"

A whispered thought left her lips as Lúthien’s attention was now on Norn as he spoke, establishing a link the elf had been unaware of between the prisoner Kyra and Rael had encountered in the prison tent and the possessions found in a metallic box back at Sven’s laboratory.

Just… what the fuck is going on in this camp?

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash glanced Luthien's way. She seemed uncomfortable, and sharp hearing let him pick up her mutter. He took advantage of others taking the floor to step back and mutter in return.

You alright, @Luthien? You look nervous.

 

[Luthien]

The sound of footsteps caught her attention, the elf turning her head just enough to glance at @Ash Vargold as the lupus moved closer.

"A-Ah, yeah, I’m fine… just a bit tired still, I guess."

Lúthien did her best to sound convincing, even offering the veteran of their party a tired smile, before the ranger allowed her mind to connect with the canine. { Carlia Grent… her stuff was in Sven’s laboratory. It was all in a metal box, including her badge. } Perhaps she was being overly suspicious, although given recent events one could hardly blame the girl. { Also… isn’t it odd how quickly Accelerator dismissed the mention of Vern? } Considering the player almost caused a rebellion in the camp it felt odd to her that the only acknowledgement had been the mention of an existing file and no more.

 

[Fina Drago]

This all felt like a whole lot of nothing substantial. The felis stood by the wall of the cramped accomodations, near the exit where there was a bit more room to breathe. She had nothing to share and her mind started wandering pretty early into the whole meeting. 'The ability of something from this world to merge with someone from outside of this world...' It kept on bothering her.

She felt that there was something deeply wrong with what happened during the fight. She was nearby when it all occured and ever since, she felt as if her mind was scrambled. The more she tried to think about it, the more unsettled she became. It didn't take long before she let out a sigh and decided to move outside on fresh air. Not like she could follow what everyone was saying anyhow. Didn't even know anyone there.

 

[Jester]

If not now, then when? Before anybody that had been on Team Ego could step up, the firm, metallic steps of a robed magician--whose features were all obscured by robe, mask, and other rags of cloth--stepped forth. She had to keep herself obfuscated from the others, despite her now literally programmed speech quirk.

"Saviors, O' Saviors!" The indistinguishable and static-muddled voice spoke loud enough for all to hear. "All still alive, with organic behaviors! Not protectors of Camp Hope, but Saviors for the Masters, ASKING OF THE DEAD, with the help of the malfunctioning magia at Dragonhead. Humanity is sought out more and more, brought there, processed and made into a core, all as instructed by the voice over all: THE HANDLER. They heed. Her beck. And. Call."

The unnamed magician gave their input while taking the time to look to any and all present, whether King or commoner.

 

[Schilva Flasch]

Schilva had been leaning against the central tent-post as he listened to the big shots discuss findings from the various concurrent missions that he had been missing. The politics of this meeting weren't lost even to someone like Schilva, but he declined to take part in that can of worms.

Raising his voice to be heard prominently but not making an effort to do more than that, Schilva looks around to his fellow Team Ego members.

Mhm, we can testify. Astor- er, His Majesty too. There was this broken-down Magia in the Dragonship ruins talking about this egg business before it ran out of juice; 'will of all Magia, wishes, mission', something something...'egg acquisition, vault, key princess'.
Some nonsense like that. I ain't got more context beyond that, since I joined in fighting the DEAD.naught pretty much right afterwards. That's it.

Also, who is this...lost pile of washing (@Jester)?

 

[Lady N]

Lady N

Up to now, Chelsea had heard nothing that really mattered. One person talking about the world's mana or some superstitious mumbo jumbo. The other immediately came off as one of the worst types of "associates" she had encountered in the business world. He mentioned demonic possession of the machines or something like that, again not her cup of tea.

Machines cant be taken over by magic, at least not in the real world but of course, this was the fantasy land of some sickos. Thankfully something actually did happen to draw Chelsea's annoyed stare.

"Saviors, O' Saviors!"

@Jester... now here was someone Chelsea needed to learn about. The word cores also made the tsun perspirate a little. Earlier on, she may have charged up and begun to interrogate her for her words and try to reason with everyone to do things as carefully as possible. That was before, this was now. Especially with the stupid speech quirk, this one had Chelsea kept her problems to herself and she alone would figure out what to do. Admitting she may share an issue with those assimilated Magia. However, she refused to even entertain it much herself, let alone make it obvious to everyone here. It was bad enough her concerns slipped out in front of @Cain Darlite.

The young woman would say nothing and remained in her thoughts. All ears for any other information randomly thrown about that meant something actually important...

 

[Ash Vargold]

"It is a little weird, but-"

"...wait."

Ash leaned towards @Luthien with a strained hiss as the cloaked magia spoke. Never mind the words, which were it's own thing. It was the voice itself that was of note.

"Isn't that @Jester?"

 

[Luthien]

"What? Where?"

Whatever thoughts @Ash Vargold had on the concerns the elf had presented were momentarily paused, the man’s attention now focused on a robed figure that had stepped forth to speak after Accelerator had called for Team Ego’s reports. She hadn’t seen the fellow elf ever since they had parted ways the day prior to the camp raid, but the cloak she wore made it hard to discern the features of the figure underneath it. The voice too seemed off in a way, and yet the rhyming words uttered could match no one else but @Jester.

"I mean, she would’ve been with Team Ego… but why would she be covered up? Also that voice, it sounds different...?"

 

[Ashifili*]

A person.

But who?

Without a name to ascribe to an individual, no verification from this second-hand account could be had, and Accelerator clicked his tongue in a chiding manner as the conversation was redirected onto the topic of the one that Norn had hired. But another piece on the board, with no indication yet of the hand that placed them. Without knowing it, the man smiled, and that cold smile remained on his face as the obfuscated Magia's voice rang out with a clear artificiality.

And though he was no poet himself, it was easy enough to parse together what Jester herself had experienced.

It maps with what we know then, mysterious, robed stranger of unknown affiliations. Though it remains to be seen whether or not the Magia that guards the two eggs and the Handler who commands the Dragonship's Magia are one and the same, we've seen what the DEAD.naught has done, and we know too that this is not normal behavior for them.

Perhaps there was too much speculation here. Too many people who have experienced something, yet lacked the capability to discern or analyze the facts to create a guiding truth. But, well, Accelerator wasn't Ordnung. Whatever the Truth was mattered little in comparison to whatever the Goal was.

As a mere spectator, of course, I could be comprehending this incorrectly, but going by what has been observed by the three forward-scouting teams…there is a Magia that has authority over the rest of the Dragonship's Magia. This Magia is under the influence of something demonic in nature, and has ordered the rest to start assimilating biological matter, with a particular focus on humans. Biological matter becomes a core, and perhaps enables the Dragonship Magia to utilize magic, where they previously utilized magitech. This swap owes to how magitech corrodes a vital energy out of the land, meaning that in the long run, large concentrations of Magia will be unable to function in significant capacities, while in the short run, the land itself becomes scorched, lifeless.

The blue-haired man paused, gauging the reaction of the crowds. Some nodded along, others looked lost, and still more looked discontent. That was fine, however. It was the role of government to weave disparate accounts into a cohesive narrative, no matter what convenient presumptions had to be made in the meanwhile.

The egg itself relates to the will, or the mission, of the Magia, and perhaps is a vault that contains something that the Handler, under external influence, desires for the Masters. Under such circumstances, humanity is a Savior and a source of fuel for the Dragonship Magia to such ends.

He smirked.

I suppose that's all the more reason to strike as soon as possible then. If the contents of the egg are sought by the Magia, it seems reasonable then, that it ought to be something that Astorea should seek as well. What comes as a gift from biological assimilation to them is, after all, just something natural to us. Does that make sense, so far? Or are there other facts that may offer a paradigm shift?

 

[Jester]

There was so much she wanted to defy in Accelerator's words, but she really couldn't in the situation she was in. She politely waited until he was done to do more unraveling, at which point she addressed Schilva's question. "Cepheid, the Photoprophet," she clasped her gloved hands together, "and that all sounds mostly right." She let that part hang in the air just a little bit to accentuate the forthcoming contrast.

"A worthwhile description of the moon, on a bright and starry night." She didn't quip quite the same as the MEME.naught, but quip still she did.

"The Handler and the Guardian Magia are not the same entity, and the contents of the eggs are not still in the realm of total mystery. Pertaining to the eggs one of each gold and rose, humanoid forms are inside, meanwhile the system screams out: 'Key Incomplete. Access Denied'."

"But most importantly, there's another issue to which importance we must call. How will you save your bretheren, save your people, if they fall?"

@Schilva Flasch @Ashifili*

 

[Schilva Flasch]

The more he listened to the blue-haired toff at the front (@Ashifili*), the less he understood. In the end, all Schilva got out of that long-winded explanation was that there was something majorly wrong with the way that the Dragonship legions were propagating, and they should probably do something about it before this Handler thing cracks the egg open and dooms the continent with some kind of mechanoid apocalypse.

Cool, whatever. He'll deal with that when he had to. For now though, Schilva's interest was more captured by the response of the self-proclaimed 'Cepheid, the Photoprophet'. That's not even a real title!

Sidling closer to the rhyme-spouting pile of mismatched rags, Schilva squints suspiciously as he gives this mysterious figure a very close look-over. Just short of ripping their mask off for a good proper look at who this is supposed to be, Schilva has gotten it into his mind that this person is definitely lying about their identity.

But who were they?
No, it couldn't be...could it?

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja held @Fiora Di Angelo's arm a bit tighter at all the information being handed, suppressing worried words back into her throat. Everything sounded gruesome, turning living things into machines, she was too new to this place to know this was what Magia was about, and she was one herself.

"Demons... Deadly robots..." She shook her head until a familiar voice caught her attention.

Her camera eyes clicked twice, zooming in toward the robed figure, of familiar mannerisms continued to speak. It took a moment for Ronja to realize, and when she did, her eyes grew slightly wide at the possibility of that being @Jester.

Could it be?

Ronja swallowed, nearly slipping a 'no way', but noticing others around her and keeping it to herself. "It sure... Wasn't what I was expecting just for a Magia Component hunting... Hehe..." She distracted her thoughts while glancing at her companion.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

The reports from a different Magia player seemed to confirm that they were affected by whatever happened at the battlefield when the Songstress got involved. Worrisome, to think that they could control players themselves or even affect them in the first place.

These concerns grew given the one next to her right now, eyes scouting down towards @Ronja Bubblyfoot. "You'll get used to things getting out of hand at the last moment." Fiora couldn't say anything to comfort the magia beyond that. It's the way Terrasphere functioned, and the only way events loved to turn into. A scout mission into a fight against demonic forces, an incursion into a full on war...

Now, could these waves the other magia use be replicated and turned against it's creators? A dangerous thought that had her frown, gray gaze darting towards Ronja's point of interest, a robbed enigma which meant little to nothing in her eyes. And even now it still did. Yet another magia or creep among them all. The quiets and the noisy ones alike.