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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[crystallyna]

[Lyna had little at all to do with the final push of the Warriors of Darkness. Like her fellows, she stood in defiance of the Light’s return, and in awed relief as the stars burst back into view over the Crystarium again. Held her breath waiting for news of the Exarch, of the Warriors from beyond the stars, of whether this victory could be called final.

One does not pass such a hero in the streets without acknowledgement. On sight of Urianger she stops and salutes at once.]

I appreciate your concern. [In case he somehow thought she might dismiss it.] But we haven’t come this far in idleness, and so I can’t abide it now. I’m sure someone like you understands.

[epodic]

[Would that he could argue with that, even for a moment. He cants his head to one side before offering a singular nod.

Of course, he understands. He feels the very same.]

Then I must respect thy dedication. Thy post was not earned passively, I am most certain.

[As Captain of the Guard, she was exemplary. The titled had been well-earned.]

Dost thou sense something else amiss, or is it routine thou seekest?

[crystallyna]

[As she suspected, he can but acknowledge how much work is yet to be done, even in the face of what they've achieved. But to his concerns she shakes her head, almost smiling, even.]

Nothing amiss but the Exarch working himself to exhaustion for the sake of his people, though that and routine are one and the same. It is he you might better convince to put aside his duties for an evening.

[It is definitely a smile then, fond and fleeting.]

I should like to be in the room while you try.

[epodic]

Somehow, I doth doubt he would be any more easily swayed than thou.

[Even, he supposes, if he might better convince the Exarch, such things are certainly relative. Though he may be easier to persuade than the Captain herself, that doesn't say terribly much, given the present company.

He smiles at her even as he shakes his head.]

Having spoken with him but recently, I think that perhaps mine efforts would be wasted there, as well, though should I find myself of a different mind, I shall most certainly inform thee before all else.

[Of course she should have the chance to watch.]

May I ask what task has thy attention this day, then? Shouldst thou be in need of assistance, thou needst but ask.

[crystallyna]

[Her composure and familiarity with this exact question do not permit her to sigh because of it. Still, she glances away a moment, in the direction of the Crystalline Mean, whence she has just come.]

It would be unfair not to say everything has my attention, even when I know that's impossible. But representatives from each of the Facets have been in talks about what, if anything, can be done for Holminster Switch.

[Something shifts in the set of her shoulders, and she nods to Urianger in deference.]

Now that the primary danger has passed and won't return. [In which he played no small part and she doesn't dare let herself forget that.] We feel we must do what we can to reclaim it, if it can be reclaimed at all.

[Her words don't say it, but do they need to? There is so little of our world left as it is.]

[epodic]

A cause most worthy, without question.

[Holminster Switch had suffered greatly, as had many other places in the First, and being right on the Crystarium's doorstep, it comes as no surprise that those who had the means to lend their aid would wish to do so. The people of the Crystarium were a hard-working, industrious sort, and Urianger had come to know them to be quite generous.

He nods his understanding, crooking a finger as he brings his hand to rest against his chin, thoughtful.

She's right. She doesn't need to say it. They must salvage what they can.]

It may be no easy task, but I believeth it can be done. Look at all that hath been accomplished in the Crystarium alone by dedicated hands. Holminster is far from a lost cause.

[crystallyna]

[Despite herself, Lyna finds her mouth turned upward at the corners into something of a smile. This elven man certainly has a way of making one feel capable.]

Though we must first discuss it with the Exarch, I'm all but certain he wouldn't turn the suggestion aside.

[Though they have no plans to ask for his assistance, as such. He has done enough for them all already, and created in them a remarkable self-sufficiency besides. It would be more of a meeting to inform him of the plan and take suggestions.]

I have several men and women stationed around Lakeland who would like very much to return to their homes one day. [Lyna's eyes meet his, for now, very serious again.] A sentiment I trust you understand.

[epodic]

Indeed, I knoweth all too well how they must feel.

[To be stranded away from one's home— it is a difficult thing under any circumstances, and these people had been forced to watch their homes crumble beneath the might of the sin eaters that had ravaged the land. His home, at least, remained in one piece, separated from it though he was, but he knew what it was to lose a home, as well.]

If there is aught I might do to aid thy cause, it is as I said before: thou needst but ask. I have no doubt the Exarch will taketh this cause to heart, as well, for he would see this world flourish.

[crystallyna]

[He certainly would. It's all he's done in Lyna's lifetime: try to help the world flourish against all the encroaching odds. Thinking so warmly of him softens her face a moment.]

While I know you and yours have been properly thanked for returning him to us...I feel I should do so personally. He is as family to me, and losing him would have cost me dearly.

[More dearly than most in the Crystarium are supposed to know about, though over the years she can't say her guardsmen haven't caught on. They are both careful not to play favorites or curry favors - Lyna earned her post as legitimately as the Captain before her - but her feelings are so rarely made known, and the chance to do so even less common.]

Should you receive word of an abundance of resources or idle hands, we'd be grateful to make use of them.

[epodic]

[Urianger can only bow his head in response to her thanks, accepting it as graciously as he is able— and yet he hardly thinks it necessary. Even now, looking back, he cannot imagine walking any other path. Not a single one among them would have been able to rest at ease with the Exarch lost to them, though their reasons may have differed.]

I am but grateful that we were able to bring him home safely. Too, I am all too familiar with the feeling of which thou speaketh— whilst he may be a leader to others within the Crystarium, he is much and more in thy heart.

[Every hero is family to someone. Naturally, he and the other Scions are intimately familiar with this concept.

At her request, he can't help but chuckle in reply— of course he would be glad to offer her both of those things, though idle hands might be more difficult to come by.]

Certainly— whatever can be spared will be thine. Would that I could inspire the fae folk to lend their own idle hands to those in need, but I am afraid they hath played their part, and will be satisfied by such a contribution for quite some time.

[crystallyna]

[At the mention of the fae folk her fingers twitch just a bit. The Exarch may have a friend or two among them, but she's always felt caution the best path when dealing with flighty immortals with a warped sense of what is amusing and what is cruel.]

A contingent of pixies would be...poorly received, at best, no matter their intentions. There are too many tales of what befalls the poor souls wandering into Il Mheg unwelcome, and more still of those that go invited.

[So don't trouble himself trying to get them involved. She doesn't need her best people provoking any and getting transformed into garden ornaments.]

We may not relish the thought of facing any sin eaters left in the village, but without the Light to bolster them, we should not return with any lasting injuries.

[epodic]

Indeed.

[He cannot help but laugh, a brief but almost musical sort of sound. He well knows the way of not only the fae, but how others have come to heed their well-earned reputation as a warning more than anything else.]

Though 'tis true I could maketh an argument in their favor, I concede that the people here rather have the right of it.

[How he's gone so long and remained relatively unscathed is nothing short of a miracle. He's fortunate the fae folk find him as charming as they do.]

Those sin eaters that remaineth should be of little consequence for those as skilled as thee and thine— however, I would request the honor of fighting alongside those embark upon this venture.

[crystallyna]

You would?

[This shouldn't surprise her. The Warriors of Darkness seem ever intent on getting themselves into scrapes, never mind that they do get out of them in one way or another. But she knows Urianger in particular is a skilled healer and of gentle bearing with the citizens when they dare approach him; his presence would be far from unwelcome.

Yet her surprise is apparent.]

Forgive me. I presumed you would have more pressing obligations.

[epodic]

Perhaps— though I should consider this matter to be quite pressing, as well. The fae folk will not miss me in mine absence, however long it may cometh to be.

[By their counting, quite brief, he would imagine— and if he's away from the Shelves too long, he's long since fooled the pixies into offering him 'appropriate' punishment for his negligence.]

If I do stayeth away too long for their liking, then I will be swiftly taught a sound lesson with a steaming cup of tea and cake, a punishment I am more than willing to bear.

[crystallyna]

[The breath she takes has sound, and could almost be a stammer of surprise, were Lyna prone to such things. At all. In any way.]

Tea and cake?

[This...are they speaking of the same pixies? What fey magic of his own must this man possess, to earn from such feckless immortals not cruelty and life as a pruned hedge but...tea and cake?]

If they truly would "punish" you with such treatment, you possess a power over their ways beyond the understanding of even our best mages.

[epodic]

[He smiles knowingly, with just the barest glimpse of self-satisfaction to be glimpsed behind it.]

The pixies hath no greater love than that of games, it would seem. I hath simply taken the time to learneth how to play as they might— 'tis all about appearing as if thou wanteth the opposite of thy heart's true desire.

[He drinks that tea to be polite, as far as the pixies are concerned.]

[crystallyna]

I don't intend to cross paths with them any more than I must, but should the worst befall me I'll keep that in mind.

[The pixies and their ilk may prove valuable allies. That doesn't mean Lyna wants anything to do with them unnecessarily. Even the one the Exarch favors has their...moments.]

It is apparent you are pleased with your victory over their games.

[epodic]

[That smile hitches slightly to one side, as enigmatic as it is satisfied.]

T'was quite hard-won. I am afraid I cannot help being pleased with such a triumph.

[Nothing involving the fae could be considered an easy task.]

All the same, thou art quite wise to take pains to avoid them. Useful though their knowledge might be, 'tis true that they can be most fearsome foes even in the most favorable of circumstances.