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Post by Auric on Sept 4, 2010 17:02:03 GMT -5
Gil was good no matter where you want. It was like some sort of... universal currency. It was odd to think of the world -- its sentient masses interacting with one another by giving and taking in trade. To want something the other has or to do something for someone that they couldn't in return for something else... at its basest value, that was essentially what trade was. But with each deed and each object sold there came the variations in value -- it was only natural that communities create a currency to standardize their commerce. To make it easier to know what was worth how much and so on... Auric understood it, it was why he was good with numbers and knew precisely well how much to charge for his services to strike up that balance of good pay and regular business.
Still, if there was something which was an oddity it was how gil was common between all the new "worlds"... including his own. It boggled the mind -- and five thousand gil for a single bottle was nothing to sneeze at no matter where you're from. Already the world's economy had begun to merge... while some, like Zecht seemed bent on trying to solve a big puzzle that may not have had a solution while others did the smart thing and tried thinking of ways to adapt. Still, even this soon no one really had any of the big answers that they all needed to hear... you don't get to ask what was going on, you just established yourself and tried to get they lay of the land down before everybody else. But just as everyone was getting along so well, Cid had to go and comment on Zecht's temperament.
That was like saying "I prefer if you didn't go being a fal'Cie puppet, Cid."... ah, the way the world was going any form of whatever seemed to be a good idea. Still, Auric had already offered what information regarding their new world he had so he wasn't about to go back on his word. "The mist belongs to no one. It's more like a symptom then anything else... anywhere it seems to be present it has different effects." Auric shared. "But it's the sign of strong magick in its most raw form." he continued, explaining it for the other two so they could follow. "Naturally, its effects varies with the location and the individual. The only constant is that in larger doses and prolonged exposure you can expect change... and not in a good way."
He took a drink right then just to wet his lips. He wasn't done explaining quite yet... Zecht wanted to know the truth. Why? He'd said it was easier to know the truth than being in a confused stupor. It was almost a joke when you thought about it considering everyone was already at that stage -- sure, he may have been moving about quite a bit and learning loads more but even his skills in comprehending the situation was limited by what he could personally observe. Still, he was giving them two pieces of information that, to most, may have seemed unrelated. But to explain it for the slower folks, Auric would continue. You know, before the elvaan got conceited enough to sound stupid by demanding to know how any of it was related.
"Consider." he would put forward the idea. Perhaps they would understand. "The mist is also said to be present in places where much blood has been shed. And yet some lands have never been host to it despite the constant battles it may see." He placed his glass aside, pouring himself another drink -- topping up anyone who got empty. He doubted either of them really got what he was trying to say... so to dumb it down he had to address each individual question that the elvaan has asked. "You want to know where you can find out what happened? I'll save you the time and I'll tell you right now -- change happened. Violent change. The very fabric of what we've always known was torn and in the vast expanse of each of our realms was a vacuum. A vacuum that wasn't empty, so to fill the void our realms merged for the plain and simple reason to continue existing. To... 'maintain cohesion'."
He looked to the dark knight. Briefly, the male elvaan would have the opportunity to see on Auric's face whether or not what he was telling was the truth. Not that it would have helped him. But that's the thing about Auric -- he knew you, but you didn't know him. It was impossible to tell when he was joking or being serious... and right now, his disposition may have seemed like he was perfectly on the mark while moments ago he'd appeared to play the fool in saving the dark knight's life. Still, as his features softened and his lips curled into a grin.... it may have come off as a joke. Was he truly being dramatic...? Or was this him being the comedian?
And if it weren't hard enough to tell, what he had to say next would have thrown you for a loop.
"Yeah, Cid. It's what happens when you drink too many of these." he grinned, taking his glass in hand and giving it an indicative swirl at the flick of his wrist before taking a sip. Did Auric know more?
Well... that would be telling.
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Zecht Gaudeval
Other
The Emissary of Darkness[M:0:0:]
Darkness prevails over all. Even the brightest stars die out evenutally.
Posts: 11
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Post by Zecht Gaudeval on Sept 9, 2010 2:10:02 GMT -5
The drink freshly poured into Zecht's cup swirled about in his hand as he slowly wound the cup in a circular motion. The words of the strange human were intriguing, if not a little far fetched. Was he to believe that all of this happened simply by the whim of the fates? Slowly, Zecht consumed his second drink as his gaze drifted into thought. Mist? Effects? These were but unfortunate events occurring around them at present, the obvious negative aura spread about the planet was a dead giveaway. Whether it were mist or pestilence, it had absolutely nothing to do as to why things had become this way. Doubtful that a mere outbreak of this strange mist were strong enough to supposedly rip the fabric between worlds. This was merely a side effect.
And his question remained unanswered.
Change... A rather generally accepted concept of reality grasped by those who also struggled to justify a rapidly shifting world around them. It was an unexplainable phenomenon, one brought about by inevitability far beyond the ability of the current level of sentience to either comprehend or decipher. Accepting change as the cause of such rapid and impractical events would be easy. Zecht sighed aloud as he poured another drink, swirled it about again and drank it down. It was a fine, bitter taste which left a sweet aftertaste in its wake. Each gulp calmed his irritable mood bit by bit, surprisingly doing nothing towards hampering his thought processes. Still pondering, the most obvious question but possibly the most irrelevant question of the evening was asked.
"Before I ask you 'why' again, I'd like to know... Where do you get your information from?"
It could be nothing more than word of mouth spurring along this seemingly pointless meeting. Either he thought he was being funny by teasing the intelligence by providing useless information thus far while keeping the important tidbits to himself, or he was legitimately clueless on how everything really started. He did look like the wayfarer type but something gave Zecht the feeling that there was more than what was being told stored deep in that cranium of his. More out of pure intrigue than anything else did Zecht linger within the conversation, wondering how far this would go until he heard anything of use. Besides, nobody really enjoyed drinking alone.
"Cid, it seemed as though the two of you know each other" turning to the one who had spoken out against his behavior. Not that it was his place to tell him how to behave, he still thought it necessary to maintain some verbal conversation with this man. "Do you know if his information is reliable or not?"
Although born within a house of nobles, Zecht's time on the road had taught him a few things about patience, and the many doors it can unlock to learning new things such as the ability to listen closely to what is said. Words were powerful, capable of imparting untold wisdoms or capable of weaving together intricate illusions to fool the careless. The man named Auric was a wily one and knew the power spoken word possessed. As frivilous and carefree as he seemed, he possessed the mind of a tactician. At best, he was amusing. If he were a bringer of such, he was quite good at it.
All that mattered to him now was the reply.
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Post by Cid Raines on Sept 17, 2010 15:43:36 GMT -5
“yeah, cid. it’s what happens when you drink too many of these.”
the primarch allowed a panicked expression to make way onto his face. it was fake, but there to play along. a smile was on his lips as he responded, “i’m not sure i’ve been drinking alcohol that much, auric. really, the last i had alchohol was... two... no, three years ago,” he corrected himself, forcing himself to remember that he had been missing for a year, instead being dead when he was meant to be in a safe place. he was meant to be twenty-five years of age but really he considered himself to be twenty-four. did a year of being dead count as going towards your chronologic age? didn’t seem so to the dark haired man.
cid turned his head to look at zecht when his name was spoken. he lowered both hands on the table, stretching the fights of his right hand. “we only know of each other from our jobs, or rather, his job before he became a mercenary- sorry, i mean hero for hire,” he stated, raising an eyebrow at auric for a moment before resting his pale gaze on the elvaan again. “at the current moment we know nothing, it is unfortunate to say. i would take the information and use it as a ‘base line’. who knows, what auric says may be true,” cid’s eyes rested on the opposite wall again, returning to his reserved nature until he would be addressed again or he had information to put forth.
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Post by Auric on Sept 24, 2010 2:15:09 GMT -5
"OR you could have had one HELL of a party." he added, continuing with the joke as to Cid's gap in memory. He could tell the man wasn't lying but either way crying over spilled milk was hardly the way to a productive information gathering.
The world was full of contradictions... for example, nothing was static but that same fact was a constant which never changed. The environment was no different -- given time, the land shapes itself with the aid of the elements -- forming mountains, rivers and then splitting to become flat or shifting landmasses. But such things take place over aeons at a time... and in the scope of a single hume, the length of their lives were so tiny by comparison and practically insignificant. And such things tended to pass into their perception -- as things that didn't affect the bubble that people lived in, so too did people ignore the goings on of things outside the scope of their lives. Of what they could perceive. It was only natural -- it applied to all, even to long-lived races such as the Viera.
Auric was bound by the same rule... the different was that his "bubble" was exceptionally large. He was required to know these things and had figured it out long before anyone else in the room would come to accept it. He'd answered Zecht's question... whether the Elvaan thought it was what he needed to know, or not. Did Auric tell them because he needed them to know? Certainly not, no. He was no fool -- he knew that, as far gone as the world was, people were still slow to accept change. And like it or not that's precisely what this was -- sure, the world was constantly shifting around them but that wasn't what could be called change. This was erratic, almost chaotic and even with his ability to completely comprehend just about anything the scope of it all was so grand that even he had troubles intuiting the very nature of the new world they'd come to know. And if you think that just because he was a single man, you would be wrong. Auric had completely understood the world of Cocoon five years ago within the span of two days. It was no city. No continent, no country -- but a world.
If he had a greater form of awareness -- and given time, when his abilities would have furthered in their development, there was no real way of knowing what form of comprehension he could have of the entire universe. But such things were high-brow... his bubble was beyond the other two and he couldn't put it in comprehensible words to break down what he knew and give it to the other two. Still, having dumbed it down to a bit of a dramatic statement you had to admit he'd made quite the summary. "The moogles." he replied frivolously, citing his reference of information. It was only partly true -- not that either of the two would know or probably care. True, the cartographers guilt and the machinists appraising the technology or various new technologies in the scope of different worlds had provided him with a large source of information of how each culture developed. But in terms of the much, much larger picture it was a joke.
Obviously, Auric knew they weren't certain as to how to take him... whether he was being dramatic, playing the part of a nay-sayer and muting their sighs or just completely messing around with them. "Base line? Huh, that would mean it's true and general, Cid." he commented, observing the man's use of the term. A base line was something you established -- in Auric's case, he looked at others, observed their reactions and mentally recorded the stimuli of people when they were telling either a lie or the truth... there was larger complexities but that was getting too technical. It was no different when in used in the context of anything else... suffice to say, if they wanted to use what he had said as a baseline then that meant they had to accept it as a truth. "Although, there's one thing I can tell you with absolute indisputable clarity on." he mused, giving it a moment to let that idea appeal to either of them.
Valuable, reliable information was a commodity you couldn't let go. And even as he rolled his wrist, glass in hand, he looked to one then the other before deciding to share.
"... I need another round." he grinned, shooting a look over to their Elvaan guest. Teeth bared in an open grin. Since when did Auric finish his drink?
... uhh, magick?
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Zecht Gaudeval
Other
The Emissary of Darkness[M:0:0:]
Darkness prevails over all. Even the brightest stars die out evenutally.
Posts: 11
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Post by Zecht Gaudeval on Oct 11, 2010 12:23:09 GMT -5
The dark knight sat back with a grin, making sure his armor did not rest too heavily against the wooden seats upon which they sat and drank. The man named Auric... Referred to by his acquaintance as a 'hero for hire', was an amusing fellow indeed. From the conversation had by the two it seemed that he had everything carefully planned, possibly many steps ahead of whomever he conversed with. Of what he could remember of his past life, he was often instructed that men in high positions of power ought to know how to speak when the need to do so arose. This man not only knew how to speak, but how to mask the intentions hidden within his words. It made it so that even for the analytical dark knight it was as if peering into a cloud of uncertainty and chaos. It intrigued him, at the very least, since before then he had known no companion whatsoever. The darkness drove all people away from him, kept them from coming near enough that he could get any intelligible information.
Not that he minded it, anyway.
Change was indeed all around them. Whether by way of phenomenon or by the whims of the gods who sat above all creation, it was an unavoidable fact. Perhaps this hellish chaos consumed by monsters and warfare was part of the beginning stages of change. It was most likely an unavoidable stage in the course of nature as they knew it. But the most perplexing part of his conundrums was that whether or not it was just a circumstance of change or a miracle of chance, the events that had transpired were far beyond his control. Everything he had come to know up until the point of his arrival in this new world was null and void... The sooner he realized that, the better off he would be. Moogles were always an option for answers, but it was never a garuntee that they themselves would know what even the most brilliant human minds befuddled themselves with trying to figure out.
With a shrug, he turned his icy gaze onto the 'hero for hire'.
"If you need another drink, that's out of your own pocket" Zecht said dryly with an exasperated sigh. By no means was Zecht a poor man... But by those same means were any of them entitled to more than just one gift of charity. As grateful as he was for the help earlier upon entering Rabanastre, he was not about to exhaust emergency funds for liquor. As he spoke, he closed his eyes and smiled with a wry grin.
"That is, of course, unless the next one's on Cid."
The world around him had changed, of that he was certain. Such circumstance was beyond his control, and he knew that. The least he could do was find a new reason to live in this twisted world. He was no good at agriculture, nor had he allowed himself to remain in his father's compound long enough to attain the wisdom of scholars. He did however have only two things to account for.... The darkness that had poisoned his soul, and the sword that now leaned on the wall beside his chair. His index finger tapped the table as he looked about. He saw the multiple requests on the wall, some to search for relics of the past, others requesting the slaying of monsters that ran rampant in the wild. Maybe in the end, that was all he was suited for... An instrument masterfully crafted to kill and maim life itself.
Not soon after than he had looked around did his attention turn to the bottle of expensive liquor. It was almost empty... And Zecht by no means was a charitable man.
With a sigh, he poured a bit more drink into his cup, saving the rest for whoever wanted it. "So... Who's going to buy the next drink?"
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