shadowbringers

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shadowbringers

beneath the stars It's been a week since our newest expansion officially launched! And, I know, I know... some of you already have a lot of feelings that you need to air out. But canon updating in your games is a struggle! And so is finding PSL partners! Luckily, that's what we're here for. This is a post for you to play out all the Shadowbringers-related content you might be dying to write. Behind-the-scenes nonsense? Between-the-scenes angst? It's all welcome here! 1. Toplevel your character. Include any details you might think are relevant. Or don't. As always, we're not the cops. 2. Reply to other people's top levels! 3. Have fun! ⚔ Please clearly mark all spoilers in your thread subject lines. Clearly indicate whatever spoiler preferences you may have. We're only a week into the expansion, officially, and there's no shame if you're not far in it or haven't started it yet. ⚔ You are welcome to play characters who are new to Shadowbringers. However, please try to avoid topleveling with icons and descriptions that convey major plot-related spoilers. If you aren't certain about a character's playability, feel free to PM parser.

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[heart_of_the_wood]

I tell myself such after every battle, you know.

[A small thing that she has never once admitted before any of the others. A thing she has to tell herself over and over; after Ul'dah, after Haurchefant, of Papalymo and all the Crystal Braves, every loss cutting deeper and yet. And yet. Insecurities piling up until it stifled. Choked her dreams at night. Perhaps it was the loss of the surety of her Wood's voice. A soothing balm, a sense of rightness with the world, of belonging to something ancient and far more vast than herself. Even should she be allowed once more to set foot beneath her own Wood's sacred trees, she would not hear her soft reassurances. No, that was long lost to her now, and in Fanow she had felt such an ache for it that it had distracted her from the pain of laying low the Lightwarden and siphoning its aether.]

Seems a bit mad when I speak of it. Yet perhaps I am a glutton for punishment, as it has never stopped me from pushing forward. When I saw you and your brother fast asleep on my journey to Eorzea's fair lands so long ago, never had I expected it would lead us here.

[She had wondered if they'd ever remembered that fateful day. She'd been a little ill from the imbalance of aether, and Hydaelyn had taken that moment to reach out and pluck her from her somnolence, all the while the twins had been dozing just a stone's toss away. Between that and Alphinaud's shockingly snide remarks when she'd listened to the leaders of the alliance expound upon all they would defend their peoples from, not once had Mykha expected what would come. She might be young, but looking back now was a...very odd feeling.]

I know I will walk more steadily. If...hmmm.

[ The words catch in her mouth for a moment, and she bows her head, brow furrowing as her ears twitch. She stays like that for a moment, then speaks again, softly.]

Mayhaps if all the Lightwardens are slain, I can only hope we might cure them. I pray we will, for all their sakes.

[Because she could not bear to think of that small boy with a face like plaster and not want to weep. It was beyond cruelty. The patients who lost their voices, yet she could see the fear and suffering in their eyes clear as day. The ones whose hands were still yet warm, but the wretched whiteness was already showing in their knuckles, stealing their strength. She could not bear to see them and know they would meet an end like Tesleen were it not for the gentle blessings of the caretakers at the Inn. The burden of knowing, and that Alisae had fought to end their suffering for so long.

So she gazes up at the stars instead, hoping the chill of night holds answers in its vastness.]

I do not know what I would do if slaying the Lightwardens does not lift their burdens from them.

[fearlessly]

Even this much will help.

[ without the light thick in the air above them, ever bearing down on the world and people below, alisaie is confident that their aether will begin to sort itself out soon enough. it might take some time, but.. they will heal. halric will survive. and that much is of.. great comfort to her, more than she can express. tesleen's great sacrifice will have not been for naught.

tonight, for the first time in a long time, alisaie thinks she may sleep well. ]

We're nearly there, now. It's almost difficult to believe..

[ she's been here only a year, and yet it some ways it feels like a lifetime. not only does time feel static with the sky always bright as day, but the work she has been doing, the connections she has made, the tears she has wept - alisaie feels.. connected to this place now, it is not home, but it is home, and she has been so very busy and invested that it is easy to feel as if she has lived here all her life.

she casts mykha a weary smile. ]

Thank the Gods you finally saw fit to arrive.

[heart_of_the_wood]

So close.

[Mykha agrees, then arches a brow, glancing down at Alisae with something very akin to amusement making her eyes shine. With a shrug and a wave of her hand, she gives a little head waggle that sends her ears flopping, earrings jangling with the gesture.]

My arrival was not of my doing, I should think one might take umbrage with our dear Exarch instead.

[She huffs, and it's easier now to tell that yes, she is smiling, and almost chuckling as well.]

He is lucky I was not of the mind to hurl him at the nearest window for all the scare he'd given us, snatching you all from me as he did.

['Given us' she'd said, yet it was personal. All too personal, seeing the Scions drop one at a time. To be handed their bodies as a thousand thousand nightmares flashed before her eyes as if ready to come to life should they have felt cold at her touch. Such things are best left buried. A loud snort escapes her then, and her gaze returns to the sky, her tone kept light when she continues speaking.]

Or been less cryptic by half. I'd thought somehow an Ascian or some other fell beast had stolen within my skull, only to find him to blame when I arrived in the city.

I may still fling him into the nearest lake should he not find a way to send us all home safely.

[She's teasing, really she is, and yet...a part of her is torn. They...they need her to go back, don't they? And yet somehow this world was sinking its fangs deep into her heart. Her sisters were right, mayhap she was too soft yet.]

[fearlessly]

Oh, believe me, I am well aware.

[ not a one of them had been consulted, after all, when the exarch saw fit to begin tugging them one by one from the source. never let it be said that alisaie did not give him a piece of her mind - in fact, she's relatively sure that the exarch still shrinks away from her, a bit, whenever she draws too near.

really, though, she's only giving mykha a hard time. ]

Still should you choose to fling him anywhere, please honor me with an invitation. I've not yet forgiven him myself.

[ no matter how well things might be turning out, in the end.

alisaie exhales hard, her expression softening. ]

But we had best be on our way. No doubt you are weary.

[heart_of_the_wood]

As if I would deny you such pleasures.

[She pauses then, a thoughtful expression settling into place, then a playful and almost wicked smirk steals across her face and she doesn't even try to hide it.]

I wonder how far I could fling him. Perhaps we should practice by tossing Alphinaud into one of the lakes? He is wanting for practice swimming, after all. I would even start off with gentle pushes, get him used to the water before I pitched him in.

[The jests come easily, though twelve know she would never do anything to hurt either of the twins. From the first she'd grown fiercely protective of the pair, teasing them and doting on them in equal measures as if they were her own family. Still, the yelps Alphinaud made whenever forced into the water were difficult not to laugh over. Somehow she'd managed thus far.]

Aye, I could do with a hot bath and a soft bed. I should think we've all earned such luxuries.

sorry for the delay my lovely!!

[fearlessly]

[ alisaie's heart is still heavy with grief, thoughts of tesleen ever still on her mind, the sound of her laugh and the light in her eyes a memory still so new as to be raw, especially now, on this night, with the light torn from amh araeng's skies. but still she finds reason to laugh - lightly, mayhaps, and with a harsh weariness that underlines it firmly, but nevertheless, the sound is genuine. few things can lift her spirits quite as well as the mental image of alphinaud being tossed into deep water and flailing inelegantly for his life.

her voice is soft, tired, but warm. ]

I look forward to it.

[ and then a deep sigh, alisaie's normally rigid shoulders falling just a little slack. ]

Both of those things sound excellent. I can hardly recall the last time I enjoyed a decent bath..

is okay, bb!! I am now All Caught Up on MSQ ahhhhhh

[heart_of_the_wood]

Would it be too cruel? Perhaps I should simply start by teaching him how swimming should be done. Urianger could join us also, I daresay it may help.

[After all, she'd heard him mumbling about the water, it didn't take a genius to make connections. Instead she simply finds herself chuckling at the thought of having to hold either of their hands while talking them through staying afloat.]

Swimming lessons once the world is saved. Please remind me, fire sprite, one never knows when it will be useful, Kojin blessings or no.

[Little does she know how useful it would be sooner than later, but for now, blessedly ignorant of what the future holds, she stretches, groaning noisily as her shoulders pop.]

Aye, 'tis one thing I was full glad of, being guests of Doma and of the Crystarium. Clean beds and baths, I should think I have grown spoiled these last few years.

YOU ARE, at last!!!

[fearlessly]

You speak as if many before you have not made the attempt. Myself included.

[ many hands have attempted to teach alphinaud to swim.. alisaie spent much of her young life trying to wrangle him into the water tbh, but the boy is simply incapable. it's fine. alisaie likes to be better than him at something, at least, even if it's something so mundane as swimming.

if nothing else, however.. it earns a soft, if weary smile. ]

But aye. Let us be about it, then - the sooner we get moving, the sooner we will find a comfortable bed.

/throws flower confettis!!!!

[heart_of_the_wood]

Aye, but would you deny me the pleasure of seeing him flounder for my own self?

[Her chuckles are deep and throaty, her ears flicking back as she makes a quiet chrrr-rrr-rrrr sound. It's subtle, easily missed, but a sign that she's relaxed enough to purr in her own way. A sound that had been rare enough from the start, but had grown rarer still since the Dragonsong War. It came more easily to Mykha when she was near the twins, and always had.]

If I should prove loathe to leave it come the morrow, I should hope you all might forgive me.

[Her huff comes with a squint that makes her eyes almost disappear beneath her wild hair, and she playfully tousles Alisae's bangs once more before trotting to rejoin the others.]

At least you do not have someone threatening to make Alphi trade his garments with you where we are going.