Ivalice - Clan Wars, We begin

[Quint the Historian]

Here we're going to begin. Very quickly, an overview of what we're doing: We're going to get our characters together, form a Clan, we'll go monster hunting, and fight other clans, and along the way have some fun.

Also, please try to make each entry at least 200 words but not more than 1000. (not counting off topic discussion)

Finally, we'll be going from town to town. We'll be there until we complete the "objective" and we won't leave until everyone is ready. You'll also find a Map of Ivalice on my sig, if you want to look at where we are, we're starting off in Nalbina Fortress, and later we'll be heading to Rabanaste.

* * * * * * * * * *
The sun began to dip into the horizon as the two travelers arrived in Nalbina. They had spent two days traveling south through the hills and wood between there and Archades. With the wind picking up sand and tossing it in their faces, they wished they could have made the trip by airship, but they couldn’t risk being recognized. The hume and moogle pair rode into town on the back of a peculiar chocobo, white like the moon and a granite colored beak, but stranger still the contraptions that covered its legs. It looked like armor for the fowl’s limbs, but they were powerful mechanisms that allowed it to run faster than ordinary chocobo. No one would dare steal such a treasure from its rider.

“Whaoh, Fidelity,” the bearded hume instructed it mount. Solovino, the wandering Blue Mage, steered his bird to the town’s stable to check the beast for the night and find an inn. The chocobo stable was run by a pink Moogle in an oversized puffy shirt, it took the reins from the hume.

“Staying the night? Or just passing through?” it probed.

“We’re just..” but before the Blue Mage finished, his moogle companion zipped by.

“Cousin!” the cheery moogle exclaimed. The two floating bears circled each other in the air, then rubbed noses, a customary moogle greeting.

The hume couldn’t help but smile with amusement. It is said that moogles have a closely knit community, but they hadn’t stopped at one place where Sammy didn’t meet a cousin, or a cousin’s friend, or an aunt’s ex-neighbor. Sammy had a way with people that Solovino couldn’t help but admire, after all, it was his web of friends that had gotten them this far.

The two moogles concluded trading stories, and the traveling pair left the chocobo barn. “Did he tell you anything useful?” the Blue Mage asked.

“My second Uncle Bumbat is racing cockatrices in Valendia.”

“About the town!” replied Solovino.

“And there’s a pub and inn two blocks into town, kupo.”

“Anything good?”

“Leechy berries!” the brown moogle raced ahead with glee.

The way to serious Hume could only roll his eyes.

[Theta]

As the sun disappeared on the horizon, a dark armored female figure rode bareback on a greeen chocobo, along the main roads north from the Sky Fortress. Her dark red hair trailing behind her as the creature bounded along effortlessly making quick time towards her destination.. Nalbina Fortress. It was less than a day's ride away now, but with the coming of nightfall her chocobo would need rest. Even pushing such a creature in the darkness could be bad for the three of them.

"What say you, Falin? There wont be much left of daylight." Her green eyes looked off the road briefly to the uncomfortably large and warm pile of orange fur in her lap. The creature known as Falin looked up with large gold cat-like eyes and yawned, long black tipped ears raising in question and expectation. The woman smiled slightly as a response.

Now enveloped in darkness she pulled the reigns of the creature and slid off the feathered back to the ground as the orange furred creature sat side saddle on the bird. "Easy, girl." She calmly spoke as the chocobo let out a cautious chirp shuffling clawed feet in the packed dirt under them. Both bird and rider were equally nervous about spending the night in the unprotected woods it seemed. The moomba yawned again with a delicate show of teeth, sitting on the bird's back.
With a heavy sigh she lead the bird off the worn path to prepare for night's camp. Once settled she quickly set Falin off to make a fire while she herself set to tending her mount. Tomorrow would be a big day at market. They'd all need a good night's sleep..

((Quick post accomplished! I'll go more into detail-y type things later as we get more into it and I figure out a better flow of words that mash better with everyone else.))

[Sornas]

((Sorry ^^; Been having computer troubles lately))

"Erm...Excuse me, sir...?" Kirana watched, crestfallen, as the man simply walked by, not hearing the meek words, or if he did, not showing any indication.

The town wasn't especially large, but it was far beyond the scope of anything Kirana had seen before, and it was all just a tad overwhelming. Looking around, the Viera sighed quietly. It was getting dark, and sleeping in the street wasn't the best way to get acquainted with a place.

Sighing quietly, Kirana began to walk, staff clacking quietly on the paving stones.

"Mommy! Mommy look!" A young child's voice came, "Mommy! It's one of those bunny ladies from the woods!"

"Huh?" Kirana turned, spying a young girl, one arm wrapped around a very unhappy-looking tabby cat, and the other pointed firmly towards the tip of Kirana's ear, just barely sticking out from underneath the hood of the Viera's green cloak.

"It's not nice to point Elizabeth, and they're called 'Viera.'" The mother scolded. "I'm so sorry miss, she didn't mean to offend you."

Kirana smiled, squatting down, face-to-face with the girl, brushing away a silver strand of hair. "It's ok...she didn't mean any harm." Smiling, Kirana offered a furred hand to the young girl. "I'm Kirana, it's nice to meet you Elizabeth...who's your friend?"

Elizabeth blinked for a second, before understanding the question. "Oh!" She cried, a huge grin plastered on her face. "This is Albert!" She gave the cat a cute, though doubtfully pleasant, hug. "He got into a fight, so we're taking him to see the healer!"

The cat was covered in scratches, with one particularly nasty gash running down his back leg. Elizabeth didn't seem to realize it, but Albert was in serious danger of losing a leg if he didn't receive treatment soon.

"Hold on just a second, ok Elizabeth?" Kirana gently reached over, taking Albert from the girl. He mewed weakly in protest, but obviously had no energy to struggle.

"Leigheas..." Kirana whispered, placing a hand over the cat's injured leg, a small flash of light traveling from the fingertips and into the wound, knitting the flesh. Handing Albert back to the girl, Kirana smiled again. "Here you go, good as new. Make sure he doesn't get in any more fights though, ok?"

Elizabeth's eyes lit up as she took the cat back into her arms, a prospect Albert didn't seem all too happy with. "Yayyyy! The nice bunny-lady fixed Albert!"

Standing up, Kirana's eyes met those of the girl's mother, staring in amazement. "Th...thank you! There must be something I can do to repay you?"

"It's ok..." The Viera said with a gentle smile. "I just wanted to help...but if you know of an inn nearby, that would be much appreciated."

"Of course! There's actually one right around this corner, I'm sure that they have space...oh, but you should let me pay you, or at least something..." She began to root around her pockets, but as soon as she had looked up again, Kirana was already rounding the corner, on the way to the inn.

[Quint the Historian]

I was hoping to give Rick some time to post, but let's go ahead and keep going. Try to at least post once per week.




The duo found the Inn just as the crescent moon began to creep over the horizon. The temperature began to drop steadily, and the two foreigners, who were used to more temperate weather, breathed a sigh of relief. Dalmasca, the Kingdom in the desert, was a drastic change from Rozaria, here the rolling hills were replaced by endless dunes. They had left home less than two months ago, it wasn’t until now that the two pilgrims began to feel the longing for home.

The Inn had come with a good recommendation, and with a look around Solovino could tell Sammy’s acquaintances had good taste. There was a strong stone floor beneath their feet, and everything else seemed to be made from timber. When they entered the door, the lovely hume attendant checked them into a room. Not ready to retire for the night, the moogle and hume decided to relax at the inn’s pub area.

Sammy happily gobbled up his Leechy berries, while Solovino dug into his plate of ham and greens, and they both washed it down with a mug of cold, cactuar beer. If they had gotten into Nalbina earlier they could have gotten the provision that they needed, for now they would have to wait until tomorrow to go to the market.

“Tomorrow, we’ll be buying supplies,” said the blue mage, “The Royal City of Rabanaste is about three days journey from here. We’ll need medicine and some food, unless we intend to eat what we kill.”

“Why didn’t we just stay in Archades?” the friendly moogle asked.

“Archades is too crowded. If we stay there, I could be spotted.” Solovino had left Rozaria under suspicion, if someone he knew should recognize him, despite his disguise, he could be extradited back to his home country. For that reason, the famous airship designer had to avoid travel by air. “Now that Dalmasca is free from the grip of Arcades, there’s a flood of merchants going to Rabanaste, the capital. All those new business means opportunity for us. They’ll need people to guard their shipments from monsters or robbers. “

“Just the two of us, against a bunch of monsters?” the little moogle seemed to shrink in his seat. He was handy with his pistols, but he could only imagine running afoul of a Antillion 10 meters tall.

“No, I’ve got a plan,” it was the main reason why they had to stop in Nalbina instead of making a mad dash to the next rest just outside of Dalmasca’s eastern desert. “Every day, there work bosses roll out a group of workers they no longer need. We’ll buy up one of their contracts, and our party will grow into three.”

“They allow slaves in Dalmasca?”

“No,” Solovino quickly answered, “For starters, this territory still belongs to Archades. The two kingdoms are still negotiating who should keep this area. But, the workers aren’t slaves, they’re conscripted workers. After the war started, Arcades used conscription to build up its armies and their work force. But, if a citizen of the Empire could not, or did not want, to serve, they could hire a different person to go in their place. The Nobles of Archades are famous for their aversion of manual labor, so they pay someone to come in their place.”

But, that was as much as the foreigner knew. Truthfully, many of the replacement workers never saw one Gill, or next to nothing, to come in a nobles pace. In fact, many of the workers were captured nomads.

[Theta]

The sun was long gone before Kleah, Falin, and the green chocobo called it a night in their makeshift camp. A small fire burned into the daylight to keep most of the smaller forest pests at bay.
Once the sun peaked over the tree line Kleah's green eyes opened to glance into a pair of familiar gold cat-slit eyes.
"And good morrow to you." She spoke softly and sat up, tossing her bedroll to the side as the moomba stood back and began gathering their equipment and supplies so Kleah could dress and eventually saddle their mount once again.
Kleah yawned, giving her eyes a moment to adjust to the morning before standing and stretching out her tired limbs and a gorgeous pair of redish grey wings. As an Aegyl she was one of the few of her kind to have seen more than two dozen summers. While most of her species relied on their flight, which thus limited their lifespans, Kleah had been more interested in exercising her mind and the rest of her body. She'd done well for herself in that respect by becoming a traveling Dragoon for her king and country.
Today, however, was one of the few such days she was wandering between jobs... hoping to find a boon in the city fortress.

By mid-morning they were on the road again, making a steady pace towards their targeted city. She passed few other caravans and travelers on the way and those that recognized her station as both Dragoon and Aegyl gave her quick passage and bowed their heads in respect as she lead her chocobo passed. More so than not, however, they ignored her and the large feathered mass at her back... because while she was generally known to be a creature rarely seen outside her native lands and surrounding areas, she did little to advertise her race. Her wings were tucked tightly against her giving them an appearance of a feathered cloak tossed back over her shoulders. If anyone had thought it odd they'd never think to bring it to the attention of a Dragoon.

With a grunt she kicked her chocobo gently in the sides to set it to a faster jog. By afternoon she made it to the city gates and looked around at the bustling market. Falin stood perched in her lap looking this way and that, his orange ears alert and eager to take in the sounds, sights and smells of everything the city had to offer.
Her stomach growled, echoing in the moomba's quiet whines as they passed a vendor selling cooked pork as a well seasoned hog turned on a spittle. He looked up at her and gave a quiet pleading coo.
"... Very well." Kleah said with a roll of her eyes. "Food first, then we look for work."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elsewhere in the city.. workers of Hume, moogle, Bangaa, and several other species in countless forms, shapes and colours were shuffled in small circles to the sides of the large busy crowds. Pulled apart by race and gender, a large burly green Bangaa pointed at each of them with either a 'yay' or 'nay'. The 'yay' groups were instructed to stand where they were, while the 'nay's were taken away from the street for destinations unknown.
One of the only remaining Bangaa 'yay's stood panting in the mid-morning sun, a lizard-like tongue lolling out the side of his sharp, pointed snout. While he was a creature known to withstand different types of environments..even those as mild as this, he found the whole atmosphere stifling.. and the tight leather and metal studded band around his neck did little to reduce the intense heat.
His last few years had been spent in the cool temperatures of underground ore mines far outside the city, so even this mild day was enough to cause him to pant. Even his eyes had taken a few hours to adapt to the surface sunlight... it'd been many years since he was put into service of the mines and while he welcomed the smell of fresh air once again in his lungs, the loud sounds of market unnerved him as a short orange stripped tail twitched nervously against his legs.
"Get these creatures to the river and scrub off their filth before someone catches whiff of them." The green Bangaa yelled to a co-worker - a tall Hume with broad shoulders almost as wide as the two Bangaas. "Gods know they wont fetch a copper if they come out here looking like they should be scrubbed for fleas."
"Of course, sir." The Hume grunted, and with a voice sounding like old sticks grinding against dirt, called out to the small group in front of him. "You heard, him! We have less than an hour until the Worker's Auction and I aim t'fetch a kings ransom off you sacks of flesh. Now MOVE IT!"
With a point towards the river nearly a dozen individuals shuffled towards the waters.

[Quint the Historian]

The hume and moogle spent the night at the inn, and when the first light shined into the room’s window they were up. While Sammy put on his clothes, his hume partner began the annoying process of putting on his heavy armor. After a small meal at the pub, fried eggs and toast for the Blue Mage, and toast with jam for the moogle Engineer, they made their way out into Nalbina town to view the markets.

Solovino looked at his wallet, the leather bag he normally kept tucked underneath his chest plate, it was too light. They were spending more than he expected. It might be better to buy a cart for his chocobo to carry whatever spoils they came across as they traversed the Dalmascan desert until they got to Rabanaste. They could kill and eat whatever they found along the way, and sell the loot once they got into the city.

The tan-colored moogle flew off on his errand. A blue purse was slung over Sammy’s shoulder, the coins in his bag jingled as he floated through the streets like a wayward bee. They needed feet for their chocobo if they planned to reach the outpost outside of Dalmasca, and Solovino had set upon him the task of bringing back medicine for the road ahead. Sammy flew leisurely through the busy streets of Nalbina town, he had a few hours to browse, but his friend had asked for the moogle to return in time for the Worker’s Auction that afternoon.

[Sornas]

-One uneventful night later-

Kirana sighed quietly, staring into the cup of tea sitting undisturbed on the table. The pub was quite busy this morning, far more than would be expected in a town like this, but then again, everything seemed busy to Kirana.

"I suppose I could go through the the desert to Rabanaste...but what will I do once I get there? And how would I get there at all?" The Viera mused, "I should have accepted that money...hm?"

Hearing a clank, Kirana looked up to see a Hume in heavy armor sit down at the next table over, a happy-looking moogle sitting down next to him. "A soldier? Why would he be eating here?"

Kirana edged away from the two, slightly nervous. The Viera wasn't very comfortable around soldiers...though something seemed odd about these two...travelers maybe?

Noticing the duo get up to leave, Kirana's thoughts were cut short. Oh! I...um...oh..." Kirana fumbled at being forced to make a snap decision, quietly following the hume out the door to see where he was going.

[Quint the Historian]

Sammy was late, Solovino noticed. Probably fluttering about, running his gums off to some other cousin, the hume thought to himself. Still, he stood behind a chest-high stone wall, looking yonder to where the lot of workers were being paraded out. They had probably been washed before they brought them out. It was always better to try and observe the crop from afar, when a potential client walks up, the workers are on their best behavior, judging them from a distance would give a more objective view of the heard.

There were many more hume than the bearded Blue Mage had imagined. Halv-a-dozen humes in a lot of twenty workers. Those were immediately out of the question, Solovino couldn’t imagine having a deep to a fellow hume. There were many pig-like Seeq, but neither a Gariff or Vierra in sight. Oh, how he wished to see a real Vierra up close. There were only a handful of Bangaas. He saw no moogles in the bunch, or Cu Sith, or any of the little people of Ivalice. None of the intelligent races of Ivalice were represented. But, he wondered how so many Hume could be swindled into working on the Fortress.

Over his shoulder, Solovino heard the steady jingle of a purse floating on air, he turned around and his companion greeted him, “I’m here, kupo.”

“Right. Let’s get going then,” the blue mage lead his partner towards the auction. He couldn’t imagine making this decision without his friend, after all, this new companion would be with them for a long time, potentially.

When the green bangaa, the supervisor of the worker’s auction saw Solovino approaching, he signaled his Hume assistant to deal with the hume and the moogle, knowing well that Humes prefer to talk to other Humes.

The tall hume addressed his customers, “Afternoon, looking to buy, I hope.”

Playfully, the Blue Mage smiled, “Where the Vierra at?” he asked playfully.

“Fresh out, sirs.” The salesman responded, as if he hadn’t heard that line a dozen times.

The tall hume walked the two interested buyers through the stock of workers that he kept. Immediately, Solovino discounted the humes in the presence, which left only Seeq and Bangaas. Personally, the wanderer found Seeqs disgusting. Pigs aren’t just what they look like, it’s what they are. But, the four remaining Bangaas didn’t inspire much hope. One was lanky and green, looking like he hadn’t been feed right in weeks. They didn’t need another project to sink their money in, they needed to maximize their profit.

The second Bangaa was clearly a delinquent. Rings lined the edges of his mouth, and scars adorned his body, covered in deep-grape colored scales. He’s run away the first chance he got, the Blue Mage could bet.

The third, a red Bangaa looked like it was having too much trouble staying on his feet in the Dalmascan sun. What kind of native is this that can’t stand the heat?

Finally, the last Bangaa was a sight to behond. A fine specimen, his body looked strong, covered in bleach white scales with brilliant red stripes. There must be something wrong with him, either deaf, or blind, or dumb, if he’s being sold off.

Solovino looked at the hume merchant, “What’s the story of these two?” he nodded towards the white and the red bangaas.

[Theta]

The Hume glanced over where his fellow Hume had motioned. "The 'bleached' one's named Sulaiman, the other one: Jagd. Sulaiman's a bit... thick, but he's young and a seasoned worker at a number of physical tasks... just needs someone to keep him inline from time to time.
Jagd's somewhat broken in, strong back muscles though.. he's been in the mythril mines in the north since he was a pup, so don't let that rolling tongue fool you. The rigs down there aren't set up for full grown Bangaa, so he ended up here this season. We're just trying to make room for the smaller slaves.

So, what say you? I'd be willing to part for.... oh... let's say three gold for Sulaiman, four for Jagd."

"I'll give you two for the red one." A female voice spoke. She marched purposefully through the parting crowd leading a chocobo by the reins, her armor and tack jingling with each step. A large furry moomba sat in the saddle, watching the commotion, its ears swiveling this way and that. "The way he's panting I'd guess he hasn't had anything to drink for three days.. and I'd probably spend the extra gold just in food for him."

"Now see here!" The Hume looked dumbfounded. "That's a prize standing right there, I couldn't part with him for less than four."

"Four is robbery, good sir. I need an extra set of hands, not another mouth to feed and water."

The merchant looked at a loss, glancing back to the blue mage and his companion.

[Quint the Historian]

The Blue Mage hadn’t seen a Aegyl in person, but it wasn’t his first time dealing with the feathered race of Ivalice. Aegyl raiders sometimes attacked their company’s airships. No better than sky pirates, they are. From what he had heard about them, an Aegyl’s attitude runs hot and cold. It won’t take much effort to ruffle her feathers, Solovino schemed.

Even if four Gold is too much for the Red Bangaa, he’s clearly priced better than his slower kin. Besides, dumb but loyal would be an asset for a body guard, but if they intended to form a Clan, their group needed someone who could think on their feet. The fact that Jagd was out of breath was a bonus, might deter him from running away.

Now get that Aegyl’s goat. With a subtle smile, he communicated to Sammy what he was planning. “What’s this here?” the hume sarcastically asked, “An Angel brought low, that SO graces us with her presence.” Sammy floated up, handing Solovino his purse, “My good man, I’m no heavenly guardian, but I’ve got your four gold pieces right here,” he said to the tall hume while shuffling the coins the palm of his hand.

It depends how desperately she wants this Bangaa. If she’s desperate she’ll go up in price, and therefore not as though as she lets on. If she’s as hardnosed as she lets on, she’ll take Sulaiman instead.

[Theta]

The Aegyl's feathered hackles rose as the only signs of her frustration with these two. She kept her demeanor cool while glancing back at the merchant, who shifted his weight nervously and obviously not wanting to get in the center of a debate... it might just be more profitable for him if they started a bid war.

"I'm sorry, lady, but unless you want to strike a better deal these two have the money."

"That's highway robbery!"

"That's business." The Bangaa replied coolly.

The Aegyl growled under her breath digging through a coin purse at her belt.
"Five." She produced the coins and held them out for all to see. Her eyes glanced at the Hume and Moogle. "I'll make it six if you back out of this deal now. In exchange I'll offer the both of our services to your clan and I get an equal share of your earnings... since obviously I don't see the pair of you needing him for simple garden work."

[Quint the Historian]

There’s some sharp claws on this bird, the hume could almost admit. She was sharp enough to deduce he was forming a clan, a yet has the audacity to ask to split the clan earnings. On the one hand, getting two companions for 50% of the loot is like getting each at 25%, which is technically fair. On the other, promising 50% before he’s even official formed a clan can lead to some major setbacks. The only way to turn a profit now would be to take on high risk Marks with big pay offs that won’t mind splitting.

“Maybe we can reach a temporary understanding,” Solovino had experience negotiating with the union workers back home. “How about you join me, and we split the earnings evenly for four months. Then we’ll renegotiate. Don’t want to be tied down to something when the wind starts calling.” By then, we’ll hopefully have a full-fledged clan, and I can have a greater negotiating advantage.

The hume and the moogle awaited the winged woman’s response.

[Theta]

"You drive a hard bargain, hume" Had there been anymore venom in her voice she probably would have spat on the ground. "But.. in light of that.." She dropped the coins into the clawed palm of the merchant who simply pocketed them and motioned the red Bangaa over to the group. Jagd's tongue pulled into his mouth as he snapped his jaws shut with a clack and proceeded to walk towards them, his head down in submission.

Taking the lead chain that bound his arms and legs together through leather bands on his ankles and wrists, he handed them to the female. "He's all yours, lady."

"Thank you."

Turning, merchant and slave master then proceeded to clear the area of the remaining slaves as other prospectors would soon come looking.

Jagd stood there, silently, his eyes down cast. The expression on his face gave the impression he had wished the crazy bird lady hadn't singled him out from the group. Occasionally, however they could spot a slight twitch of his eyes as he stole a few glances at her. Being in a mine it was doubtful he'd ever seen a creature such as she.

"Now then." She smiled slightly seemingly glad the negotiations were complete. "I assume it's just the two of you?"

[Quint the Historian]

I don't know if anyone is still interested in keeping up. I'm sorry I was away for a whole month. My classes are essentially over, while my pain is still relatively the same. Here goes nothing.

Solovino and Kleah, the bird woman, made their way to the pub back at the inn, while Jagd trailed behind them. Before they left, the blue mage instructed his moogle companion to take the money they had and seek a cart for their chocobo.

Sammy fluttered away, his heavy purse dragging behind him. The bag was filled with pounds of seeds, and half a bushel of Galshal Greens for their mount, Fidelity. The local stable did have seeds for the giant birds, but for a highly efficient, modern marvel like the mechanical chocobo they rode in on, only Greens could fully fuel its fire.

The yellow bird gobbled up seeds by the beak-full, and ravenously ate up the Greens. Watching Fidelity eat was like watching a wild chocobo rip an anaconda apart. Yes, the wild chocobos from Rozaria were infamous pack hunters and scavengers. Catching one and breaking it was an accomplishment in and of itself. But the moogle engineers, Sammy’s family, had taken nature’s design and improved it.

And yet, with that wilted piece of Greens hanging off the creature’s beak, the moogle remembered the condition Fidelity was brought to them. It let out an ear piercing shriek, “KYWEEEIII!!!” after slurping up the last bit of Greens.