tdm

[medietas_mods]

Welcome to Medietas! Do you have an interest in joining the game? Is there an old muse that you want to dust off? Or, perhaps you're looking for a place to voice test a brand new character and would like to do so in our little island setting among friends? Well, whatever the reason, this is where you can do that!

You all know what to do! If you don’t, just follow the instructions and HAVE FUN!

How To Play:

→ Comment with the character you’d like to test drive. Don’t forget to add their name and canon in the subject line.
→ Choose a scenario, or start your own!
→ Tag around!

Possible Scenarios:

1. Getting Settled: So, now that you've arrived and wandered around the starter home you've been given, it's time to check out the rest of the islands. There's a market on Aerilon that is full of treasures. Or, you can check out Chapter Six bookstore. Perhaps you wander over to the Mean Princess facility on Mulciber. There is so much to see and do!

2. Islands: There is definitely some weirdness going on around the islands from the sidewalks that glow to the mysterious energy that doesn't seem to have any direct source. There are statues that hum softly and seem to grow every so often. And what is with these bridges? Go forth and investigate! Puzzles are FUN!

3. PARTY: Every month or so there's always a celebration somewhere, be it on Mulciber, Imber, Mundus, or Eurus! Eat, drink, dance, talk among the other islanders. It's about making new friends and enjoying yourself, right? Even if you have been stolen away from your homeworld to a bunch of floating islands.

4. Wild Card: Got something else in mind and want to create your own scenario? Go for it!

Comments

Balthier | Final Fantasy XII

[askypirate]

2. The Roadhouse
One would normally think living in the skies was a dream come true for the sky pirate, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Balthier could see this place for what it truly was, and that was to say a prison. He wasn't going to complain anytime soon, though, save missing half of his duo. He'd been in much less accommodating dungeons in his day.

This evening, he can be found at a table near the rear of the Roadhouse, sipping an ale, and watching the comings and goings of the other visitors. There's no better place in all the realms to find information than a tavern, and the sky pirate is well acquainted with collecting it. He's a friendly sort, offering a friendly smile and nod to any who might chance to look his way, inviting conversation, if it should come to that.

[tryingtobe]

Marie had been following the trail of another fox, bringing her to the Roadhouse. It was a strange place and she wasn't sure if she should take that fateful step inside. She had to know if the hunters guild was here and she didn't know who else to trust. She lingered at the doorway before finally stepping inside.

She looked out of place. Her hair was fiery red, long and messy. Her white dress was stained a bit while a brown leather corset locked it in place. She wasn't wearing any shoes but she didn't seem to bothered by it.

Marie stepped forward pausing at the bar, next to where Balthier sat. The look in her eyes were aged with specs of confusion. This was the first time that she'd been in a bar before. Blue eyes looked over towards Balthier and his drink. "Can I sit here?" She gestured to the seat next to him.

[askypirate]

At first, Balthier wasn't sure what to make of the young woman who walked into the Roadhouse with nary a clue as their situation. She was soiled from the road, that much was certain, and she seemed like a wilder people, perhaps raised apart from, or away from at least, civilization and it's trappings.

He met her eyes when she looked to him, and inclined his head. "It's a public house, you're welcome to sit wherever you wish."

[tryingtobe]

Marie nodded her head and took his permission to sit. She was ginger in her movements, knowing that the wounds along her back could break and bleed if she wasn't careful. She sat with her shoulders back and her hands resting perfectly in her lap. There was an air of docile confidence as she held her chin level with those around her.

"Thank you." She hadn't known if the seat was for someone else.

Bright blue eyes glanced over at Balthier and then down at his drink. She didn't know it, like many things she's finding here. "I'm not sure what to order." Marie admitted after a moment, her expression puzzled. She disliked saying more than she needed too but there was so much she didn't know here, so much uncertainty.

[askypirate]

Balthier's demeanor remained languid as he watched the girl, taking note of her movements, of her hesitation, and her naivety. She didn't know much of the world, possible had only recently made her way into it unguided, and now she was thrust into this situation. It was enough to tug at the sky pirate, not that he'd let that on.

He ran a finger around the rim of his glass thoughtfully before shifting pale green eyes in her direction.

"How old are you?" Age was always a basis of judgement for Balthier, even though he never let his own play into it.

[tryingtobe]

Marie's eyes looked over at him, studying him discreetly before she dared to speak. "Does it matter?" She asked in a soft patient tone. She had no reason to hide her age, except that she knew that the legal drinking age in most cases was 21 and she was still a few years away.

"I've drank before if that's your worry." It had never been by choice and those nights were filled with hazy scenes that she'd much rather forget.

[askypirate]

A slight smirk touched his lips as he lazily met her eyes, a subtle amusement dancing in his eyes. Her reaction proved her youth. While subdued, it wasn't unlike the defense and admitted offense Vaan ever took.

"Then I suppose you should order what you like."

[tryingtobe]

Marie watched him closely, finding his reaction odd. Then again, there were few who would offer her a smile. She inclined her head at a soft angle before turning her attention to the man behind the bar. It was most likely the look in her eyes because he didn't see a reason to card her. She worded a class of house red wine, knowing that Ethan's mother often ordered the same. It was one of the few things she knew.

"I'm seventeen." She only replied after the bartender had stepped away. Her tone was soft but honest. When the glass of wine was set in front of her she whispered a soft thank you before rising it to her lips. It was bitter and others not used to alcohol might have made a strange face at the taste. Marie just drank, placing the glass down and then turning to look at Balthier again.

"And how old are you?"

[askypirate]

She ordered the drink with familiarity, but not the sort one would expect from someone who ordered it often, and then there was the business of her originally saying she didn't know what to order.

A wry smile teased his lips at her question, which he'd expected. While she might be naive, she did not strike the sky pirate as shy or innocent, nor did she come off as dumb.

"Old enough to have sailed around the world."

[tryingtobe]

Marie was quick to reply. "That isn't an age." She lifted the glass of dark liquid to her lips again, tasting the dry flavors of the wine before continuing. She spoke a little slower than before as if carefully considering each word before speaking.

"It also tells me very little about your age." It did tell her a lot about him. Whatever world he was from, he was a sailor though Marie knew that the word alone could have many meanings. He appeared comfortable here so perhaps it was a world with technology like this one. He was confident and each word was laced with a charisma that Marie was very familiar with. Of course it could all be a mask, hiding the true man inside.

There was no way to no for sure and no reason to linger on it but Marie found the mystery of the man sitting next to her far from interesting than the uncertainty of this new world.

[askypirate]

"It does, indeed, though I found myself making the realization knowing yours tells me little of anything." While Balthier himself was rather new to this world, he's learned one thing very quickly: the non-hume appear very hume here. "Perhaps it would be more fitting to begin again more simply."

He moved his hand to his chest and inclined his head as though in greeting. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am called Balthier, and I've recently found myself making port in this most curious of worlds. And you are?"

[tryingtobe]

She watched him for a moment before lowering her eyes to the floor and speaking. "I am Anne-Marie. Like you I've found myself here however I know nothing of travel." Her fingers rose to her collar which spelled out her name clearly on the copper plate. She wore what she was but she knew, that in this place, it meant nothing.

"You are a traveler." Her eyes rose to meet his. "What makes you travel?"

It felt like such a simple question but Marie had a feeling that he'd ignore it, just as he had with the question of his age.

[askypirate]

His eyes followed her hand as it moved to her throat, delicate brows lowering in confusion. What, he wondered, was the significance of such a collar, and why did it come to mind when she mentioned knowing nothing of travel. It was only that, he reasons, that caused her to touch it so. A shackle, perhaps?

He rolled his shoulder in a shrug at her question. "I go where the wind blows. It took to the skies seeking freedom. They have yet to disappoint."

[tryingtobe]

His words didn't exactly answer her question and yet at the same time they did. It said something about him, a traveler with no destination, perhaps he enjoyed the thrill or the adventure. Marie didn't know and there was no way to really tell given how little he's willing to offer about himself.

"And if the sky is taken away from you?" Her eyes watched him, the dark color deepening as she waited for his answer. They appeared to be stuck here, there were airships but they traveled between the islands and it seemed like there was little else.

What would he do? What should she do? Maire hoped to find her answer in his.

[askypirate]

A devilish smirk touched his lip as Balthier waved a hand. His tone, as he replied, suggested he had utter confidence in his words, as though they were to be expected rather than optional.

"Then I'll take it back, and it'll be mine." It wasn't as easy as all that, he knew. Without Fran's intuition, he'd have a lot of guess-work in his future. Not a happy start to things, but it was what he had to work with, and he would simply have to assure it was enough.

"What else does one do when they've been robbed? Either they find someone to do something about it, or they take matters into their own hands." He straightened the cuffs of his shirt as though that motion accentuated his worlds. "The former usually involves a great deal of paperwork. Much more efficient to cut out the middle man, wouldn't you say?"

[coquere]

(ooc: because they have the same English VA and I think it'd be funny)

It didn't take more than a few seconds for Ignis to ascertain that he was not, in fact, in Altissia. Nor was he anywhere on Eos. The prince's absence was troubling but Ignis reasoned that Gladiolous was surely by Noctis's side. For now, Ignis could do some reconnaissance and hopefully meet up with them later.

The establishment he walked into was no Crow's Nest, but the proprietor would still likely have useful information.

"I'm looking for a young man with dark hair, wearing all black," he told the barkeep. "He'll likely be accompanied by a taller man with two scars. If you have seen or heard anything about them, please let me know."

[askypirate]

From his position, Balthier was poised to notice everyone who entered the establishment. When they did, he'd track them with his eyes, follow their behavior by listening in, and generally getting an idea for their arrival. Until Ignis walked into his bar, he'd been disappointed and decidedly bored. For a home for displaced kidnapees, things were abysmally quiet around Medietas most of the time.

And then Ignis walked in, proceeded to the bar, and began to question the proprietor with all the subtlety of a rampaging behemoth.

Under the guise of requesting a refill, Balthier made his way to the bar, placing his glass atop the counter and only meeting eyes with the bartender when he replied in a hushed tone, "The locals know little of the comings and goings your fellow kidnapees. If any further information is valuable to you, I have a table." After his aside to Ignis, Balthier smiled at the proprietor, tapping the lip of his wine glass casually. "A refill, if you would be so kind, my good man."

Once his glass was filled, he nodded his thanks and made his way back to the table he'd mentioned. While this may prove utterly fruitless, it at least promised to alleviate a bit of his boredom for a time.

[coquere]

His request was met with a blank stare. He waited patiently but the barkeep remained silent. What sort of place was this where there were no tipsters ready to doll out information? Turned out Ignis's mental question was answered by another patron at the bar. He bowed his head in a subtle nod of understanding, waiting for the other man to have his order filled.

"I'll have whatever's on tap," he said to the barkeep. He didn't usually drink but he probably drew enough attention already. Ignis thanked the barkeep once given the drink and headed to where he saw his mysterious informant settle.

"So I don't suppose you have seen either of the men I described?" he began.

[askypirate]

Balthier watched the other man approach languidly, taking an idle sip from his wine glass and setting it down gently on the table's surface before rolling a shoulder in response.

"Not as it happens, but that isn't to say they aren't somewhere around here." His tone suggested he didn't quite believe that. He hadn't, as it were, found any of his fellows, either. "And if not, all's the better, isn't it?"

[coquere]

The other man posed an excellent question: was it better for Noct and Gladio to be in Altissia without him? He reasoned that Noct would soon connect with Lady Lunafreya, and should there be trouble he had Gladiolous by his side. Still, it troubled Ignis to be so far from the prince's side.

"It would be better for us all to be together," Ignis concluded. "However, I have already learned that petitioning a release back is a futile endeavor. So, I can only ask for people to be on the look-out for my companions should they arrive."

awkward...you saw nothing!

[askypirate]

"A strange thing to hope for, wouldn't you say?" Balthier panned his gaze around the bar, such as it was, then back to the man, a playful smile teasing his lips. "You know nothing of this place, the abductions seem to be random. You'd be better served searching for a way home than hoping they make their way here."

[coquere]

"With all due respect, if the abductions are random, then learning about this place and having people look out for my companions are equally valid uses of my time," Ignis pointed out. "Though of course I will be seeking passage home as well."

The way he thought of it, Noctis was safe in Altissia. Until Ignis found a way back there, it made more sense to do some reconnaissance of his new surroundings on the chance the prince and the others arrived.

[askypirate]

Bemused, Balthier nodded, a slight smirk touching his lips. "No tall orders for you then? Glad to hear it." He jested, of course, and he took a sip from his glass before looking back to the man.

"I happen to have a knack for finding things: information, people, priceless artifacts. Normally, I'm in the business of keeping them for myself, but I think we might be able to benefit one another."

[coquere]

A smile touched his lips. This man's teasing tone reminded Ignis of the friendly banter between himself and his friends.

"I just need the information. Though if I happen to find any artifacts, I'll be happy to pass them along to you."

[askypirate]

What a charmingly beautiful budding friendship. If Balthier were to uncover any information, however unlikely it was to be found, he would pass it on to Ignis, and in exchange, Ignis would provide the same.

And easy smile spread across Balthier's face as he nodded his agreement. "You needn't trouble yourself with acquisitions, of course, but the information would be welcome."