Go to the North! (Open)

[smithandwesson]

Who: Genjo Sanzo (smithandwesson) & Anyone Who May Be Willing To Help Out His Sorry Ass
What: Adventures in Nadril!
When: 8/28 Onward
Where: All throughout Nadril
Warning(s): None as of yet, but will update if need be.



I. A Programmer He Is Not

[It had been a few weeks now since most of the refugees had attempted to settle within the city of Nadril. It being so cold in the middle of the summer was certainly something to get used to, that was for certain. But, for the moment, the freezing weather was the least of this monks concerns.]

'Tch!

[This was the last time he was going to let his curiosity get the better of him.

It had started with him casually staring at the shop window of Paws About Town, looking at the small robotic animals cutely portraying little tricks for any possible buyers. And when the salesperson had noticed him staring it was a near impossible ability to turn the guy down for a free trial.

Except the salesperson may have been a little too enthusiastic.

No.

He was definitely overenthusiastic.

How else would Sanzo have ended up with a small heard of them following him around?

And he could have tolerated that. It would have been a mild annoyance, sure, but now--]

Crap. I've underestimated these things...

[He huffed under his breath. Surrounded on all sides by different variations of small metallic critters as they growled and snapped. Seems that somehow in his attempt to deprogram the darn things he had managed to set them onto attack mode. And while he had managed to take down a small few there were too many for a single man to take on alone.]

Nghh... I'm going to kill that sales clerk when I get my hands on him!

[Someone please come and save a distressed trigger happy monk in need?]

II. Respite In Troubled Times

[Despite the chaos the world had been in, it was absolutely amazing how the people of Nadril could go about their lives as if nothing were wrong. They were descendants of refugees, so perhaps they were used to this sort of thing happening?

But then what did that say about the problems of this world in general? How common were situations like this and how often did Dharma have to directly involve herself?

It was because of this he found himself engrossed in the Central Hubs main research library. Sitting at a table of books by himself as he flipped through pages and pages of recorded history within Nadril.

At least-- That was until he had heard something.]

It's almost as if you knew I'd be over here trying to concentrate. Is there a reason you're being so noisy?

III. Haunted By Old Memories

[Sanzo was doing his best to keep to himself during his time on Nadril. He was a person who enjoyed his solitude after all. And so hanging about closer to the outskirts of the hub was an ideal location for him. Of course, it was chilly, but at least this was a type of cold he was used to. He was draped in layers, covered in his usual ragged looking cloak as he wandered along the pathways, occasionally enjoying the scenery when--

SNAP!

A blinding light took hold of him, causing him to wince back sightly. Ah right. It seemed one of those picture-taking robots had been floating about. Stepping forward he reached out to take hold of the small piece of paper coming out, looking it over and absolutely freezing.]

Why you...!

[Whatever seemed to be on that picture had gotten to him. As the next thing, anyone knew he was kicking the poor insectoid-bot down from its perch.]

You piece of shit! If you're going to make people fucking nostalgic at least make it for good thing! You wanna be sent back to your maker in shambles, do you!?

[Because picking fights with robots seems to be his theme for the week.]

IV. WildCard!

((OOC: Wish to do something else with Sanzo. Have been planning on meeting up and catching up with the monk? Feel free to leave a comment below or contact me at chohakkaifan with any questions/plotting you may have!))

Comments

[smithandwesson]

[For once, Sanzo turned to look at Sorey. A genuine expression of interest taking hold as he perked his eyebrow and looked the guy over.

You genuinely surprised him sometimes.]

I suppose. Will probably try to hang around as much as I can. But it takes a lot for me to want to stay in one place for too long.

[There were only two places during his entire life that he lasted in for more than a few months: the temple he was raised in, and the temple he was forced to work at as he waited on information from the three holy god-heads.]

As for your question, I was there actually. Me and a brat who's been following me around a lot these days spent a lot of the time at one of the harpoon bays, shooting down some of the dragons as they went fucking insane due to that monstrosity that tried to destroy the world.

[He was surprisingly good at protecting people when he absolutely had to.]

Guess some of those assholes that were responsible for the kidnappings a while back were interested in trying to take the damn weapon for themselves. And fuck if I'm not going to give them another reason for this city to hate all of the shamans that are out there just trying to do their damn job.

[ofseraphim]

[ Sorey surprised himself, quite honestly. And he kinda feels lowkey bad for it. He shouldn’t go spreading malevolence like that; even if such a thing doesn’t exactly exist in this world. But, emotions can be volatile sometimes. It’s just life.

At least it dissipates quickly enough, and he’s able to crack a somewhat cooked smile at the ‘brat’ comment. Sanzo, you tend to get followed around by those quite a bit, don’t you? Especially for someone so gruff and uninviting. Yet somehow, Sorey isn’t surprised. ]

So you were the ones responsible for that. [ With that comment, he seems to breathe out. ] We really couldn’t thank you enough.

[ The devastation would have been even more widespread without those working alongside -- even if nobody knew who or how -- to prevent further damage.

There’s a pause, and Sorey’s eyes downturn. For a moment, he looks truly humbled. ]

I’ve never seen a dragon that big before... [ Ysevrai makes Eizen look like a snack; even Maotelus can’t compare. He must’ve been one hell of a seraphim at some point in time or another. Except he wasn’t, because not all worlds follow Zestiria logic ok. ]

[smithandwesson]

You and me both...

[He had at least grown relaxed within the midst of the conversation with Sorey. Leaning back in his seat as he contemplated over the morbid sight of Ysverai looming high up in the sky, and that dark miasma of an aura which surrounded it before the entire world went still.]

We all could have died within an instant. Really makes you realize how little of an impact we all make in the end.

[Both mortality and the weakness of humanity are strikingly horrifying concepts.]

But, I suppose it ain't like there's anything we could do about it. So now here we are back to helplessly trying to defeat the undefeatable. That damn thing's just looming in the sky ready to break the stillness cast over it and destroy us all any second now.

[Sanzo is a very optimistic person obviously!]

Kind of ironic that what I'm looking up has absolutely nothing to do with defeating the damn thing. You'd think I'd be more productive with my time or something.

[ofseraphim]

[ How little of an impact...? Sorey is instinctively inclined to view it from a perspective antithetical to that. Though, what if he had died during his first fight with Eizen? (Which his player absolutely did not do five times before figuring out the ‘run’ command.) He could have just as well been snuffed out in a blink, leaving the world to be overthrown by chaos and malevolence. Yikes.

But he wasn’t, and that -- more than anything -- truly birthed Sorey the Shepherd. Or at least lit a fire under him. And it still burns today, even without his fancy title and (admittedly really useful, now that he’s without them) powers. ]

You’re not wrong. He could have killed us all by now, honestly. But... [ Here’s the biggest ‘but’ you’ll see all day. Sorey’s head shakes. ] He hasn't yet. So we've got to keep looking for a way to stop him.

[ And yes, he sincerely believes that. (And this would be what we call ’unrealistic optimism’. ]

So you mean that’s not what you’re here for? [ Okay but is he actually surprised by this? ]

[smithandwesson]

Pft. You really are the hopelessly optimistic type aren't ya?

[Just means your life is in for a world of disappointment when it all eventually does go wrong you know.

But enough of that. Any moment a great dragon may awaken and kill them all. Or for all they know, some other bullshit can happen spontaneously at this very instant that could wipe them out while they're in the midst of this very conversation. It's stupid to get hung up on the things you can't change.

Instead, he'll switch the subject to the giant book he has in front of him, looking down at it casually as he adjusts his reading glasses.]

... Do you remember when we first woke up? That month we were stuck on the orbiter and no one was there to help aid us but Dharma, her people, and the hologram rooms they gave us to practice in?

[ofseraphim]

[ Pft. Like you'd expect anything less from a stereotypical shounen protag. He's going to exude sunshine until the very exact moment he's snuffed out.

But since this appears to be an agree-to-disagree moment in regard to whether or not they're all going to die horribly -- and sooner rather than later -- Sorey lets that topic drop. Sanzo is right -- it makes no sense to get hung up on that, anyway. Rather, attention is called to the book, strangely almost completely unnoticed thus far. ]

I do, yeah. [ He glances from the tome, to the monk, and back again. ] Why do you ask?

[smithandwesson]

[Excuse you. He is also a shonen protagonist and he is perfectly cynical and jaded thanks to his Angsty Backstory™.

But that's beside the point.]

We were treated as if we were the first people to wake up in the Orbiter. There were no previous refugees who came before us to help us with the experience. And yet, upon landing here, Olympias mythos suggested that many of those on the planet were brought here by Thessa.

Of course, that was all summed up to myth until we ended up in Nadril here.

Seems that there were indeed others brought here before us, and yet Thessa made no previous mention of it. And it can be shown by the wreckage as well as the citizen's views on the Orbiter that they are not very fond of Thessa either. So that brings up the question: What had happened between Thessa and the previous refugees?

[ofseraphim]

[ “”Protagonist””.

But yes, very much beside the point.

There’s a very long and thoughtful pause at the end of Sanzo’s explanation, before Sorey ultimately has to admit to his own shortcoming. ]

...You know, you make a great point! I guess I’d never really stopped to think about that all that much before.

[ And now, another, smaller pause. ]

Then again, I think I quit believing much of what we were told about this place when I first fell asleep here. [ Thus, he went on a personal quest for his own information about this place; to seek and to find for himself, rather than asking around or reading. (Hey, it may be a little impractical, sure, but it scratches his itch for exploration at the same time, at least!) Unfortunately, this world has proved to be simply too vast, and far too tumultuous to get much done.

His head cocks to one side, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck. ] Or, I guess I should say “woke up”.

[ See, as time passes, Sorey’s becoming more and more convinced that this world is the dream, rather than the reality. He has his theories on that, but he’ll save them for later. ]

When we first got to Olympia, I remember thinking it was pretty strange the way everything seemed so routine for the people who lived there already. And they had the empty space for us, which didn’t seem quite right, either. [ But a lot of things didn’t seem quite right to Sorey, back then. ] It felt a lot like we were being inserted into a world already prepared for us, even then; so it makes sense that we weren’t the first. I can also understand why there’d be some hostility -- even resentment -- left over, especially considering our crash landing here was probably staged.

[ His expression sharpens. ]

But to have only that resentment left behind, and no trace of the refugees before us, I have to wonder...

[smithandwesson]

[Oh boy does he remember that crash landing. It may have been more than a year now, but he still gets clear memories of the sharp pain that came with the broken arm he had received on top of his already sustained battle wounds from back on his own planet.

Good thing healing magic is so prevalent on El Nysa.]

Some people seem to believe there was a rift between Thessa and the refugees who came before us. That the ruins all over this village are remnants of a time where they tried to escape.

It's not too far fetched of a theory but as of yet, I haven't found any definitive proof on the matter myself.

[He paused.]

It certainly makes you wonder why they offered all of us something before we woke up though.

[Also, Sanzo is a cynical bastard and expects the worst in all-powerful gods who offer to help for the sake of 'being nice'.]

[ofseraphim]

[ There's a prolonged silence from Sorey after hearing all this. ]

A time where they tried to escape...

[ He shakes his head somewhat. Ever the optimist, he hadn't even given any thought to that theory whatsoever. ] Then... they must've had at least a considerable surplus of resources, if that's the case. The fact that those ruins are still standing speaks to the quality of materials used.

Those trying to escape wouldn't have the resources to build something so durable.

[ A beat. ]

Unless...

[ Unless he's looking at this the completely wrong way. Which would mean--...

No. He's got to throw that idea out. ]

[smithandwesson]

Who's to say they built it? Chances are more likely that they stole it from the Orbiters during their attempt to escape.

[Although much older, the technology is similar to what they had seen on the station after all.]

But it seems to me you may have just come to your own conclusions as well.

[At least Sanzo definitely seemed to think so. What was with that shocked looking expression of yours Sorey?]

Care to share your thoughts with the class?

[ofseraphim]

[ Sanzo almost hit it on the head just now. ]

Stole it; or...

[ Please don't let this be true. Please don't let this be true. He likes this planet, this world, despite all its flaws -- so please don't let this be true... ]

...they were stopped here by the Orbiters while trying to flee.

[ Imprisoned, basically. Though, he balks at that word. ]

[smithandwesson]

.... Highly probable.

[Gee. It's almost as if he had already heard someone come to these results before.

Closing his book, he leaned into the conversation, folding his hands on the table as he looked up to Sorey with interest.]

Now, if this theory is true, of course, the real mystery is why.

Why the previous refuges had felt as if they needed to escape. Why the orbiters felt so threatened by them coming down to this planet under their own volition that they resorted to shooting them down. And why the ancestors of those who managed to escape and survive here seem to hold so much distrust and anger towards the Orbiters to the point that they're even willing to risk the safety of this very planet by aiding us a little as possible.

And yet still offering us, the refugees, an opportunity to stay here away from them.

[ofseraphim]

[ This turns everything Sorey knows about this place he’s become rather fond of right on its head. He’s Displeased, looking for any other possible answers beyond what’s smacking him right in the face.

And finding only more unpleasantness. ]

What about the different factions? [ Or. What used to be different factions? Wyver seems to waffle an awful lot on whether or not they’re actually at odds with Olympia with any degree of sincerity. ] Could that have been all just a diversion to try to distract us from the real threat?

[ Wait for it. ]

...Maybe that’s why Wyver consistently opened its doors to Olympian refugees time and time again -- because Olympia isn’t the real enemy, it’s the Orbiters!

[smithandwesson]

I doubt it's that complex, at least where either Olympia and Wyver are concerned. Those two areas seem to be so caught up in the tiny nuances of their centuries-old feud with one another that I doubt they're even able to wrap their minds around the greater picture of it all.

One thing has interested me in the source of their feuding though. Something more important than the petty squabbles and who-killed-who for what reasons so long ago.

[If you can't tell he's been looking into all of this for quite some time now.]

[ofseraphim]

Right, but the refugees seem to be able to pass from town-to-town without issue, at least for the most part.

[ He's never had an issue, himself. It's... strange. ]

True, it's got to run deeper than a 'who-shot-first' scenario. [ Sorey cups his chin. ] But whenever you ask around, that's all people ever have to say.

[smithandwesson]

Frankly, I think both countries have their heads so far up their own asses when it comes to their own sense of patriotism that they really don't care what else may be behind it all. As for how easily we're able to get through, that's more due to the recent peace I think. You have to remember that there was once a time when Wyver was completely closed off to all of us from Thessa Station.

Which... [Ah. Right.] Olympias relationship to Thessa and the Orbiters had been getting to me for some time now.

[Since he very first landed on this planet actually.]