Altered Tundra

Back After a While

@Daglobster
Welcome back to the Guild! Things haven't really changed, though we do got some new features that I'm sure you'll love. :D

Iquenos: In Nomine Domini

@Inkarnate Do I look like moneybags to you? no, I am a poor white man who can't afford to shell out 100 bucks for Microsoft Office. Plus, Gdocs is so much better than Microsoft Word/Office since it autosaves. So take that, Bill Gates. :P

Iquenos: In Nomine Domini

tfw
>no google docs

Come now, Ink, you know that's the superior writing document.

I mean WOOOHOO! WRITING! YAY WRITING!

&&𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.

---

Francisco had always abided by the six-question system that they teach you in grade school for his jobs. The six questions that are often asked: who, what, where, why, when, and how. Every time he took on a new job and it had him devote hours into studying the terrain and know who and what his target was, where he had to be and when he had to be there, and how he was going to achieve this goal with as little exposure to his cover as possible. These were often the goals he had set for himself. It was almost like a checklist that he marked off once completed. This happened every time he went to a new location and retrieved the item of interest.

And as he had done in the past, in this place — in the Badlands — he had studied the area extensively. He had made connections with a few, select women who were employed throughout key parts of the general area where his main objective had been: the Paramorlian Cathedral. Anyone from those who actually had worked in the cathedral itself and some of those who were part of the catering staff for the gala had, in some fashion, fallen under the spell of Francisco Delgado, the Suave Spanishman(their words, not his).

The first phase of his plan to secure entry to the gala had involved Francisco to meet up with a shady individual that, through the grapevine of his web of contact, was rumored to have owned this dive of a bar called inferos Sanctus. He just had to tail a right into an alleyway and go until he was at the corner. When he had reached it, a few men who were undoubtedly twice the mass that Cisco had and nearly a foot larger than he had from head to toe. They were dressed in dark attire, though the specific colors of their outfits remained a mystery to him. There wasn’t enough sunlight reaching this far back into the back alley.

“I’m here to speak with The Bird,” Francisco stated, his confidence unwavering.

The two large men didn’t say anything at first. They did, however, look at him as if they were judging him. Their eyes had scanned him up and down and after a few times, Francisco, though he understood the extra precaution, was starting to find the process a bit much. When would it be they would move past this advanced screening of sorts and actually speak to him. And as much as every bit of his mind was telling him to say something, he was a stranger. Of course, if they dared, he could take them no problem. He certainly had the skills in his arsenal, but this wasn’t about what Francisco could do. He needed to show the respect that The Bird deserved.

“He’s clean,” one of the bouncers said into the earpiece hooked onto his left ear.

As Francisco stood there patiently, the other bouncer, after whispering with his partner, returned his intimidating gaze to him, slightly cocking his head towards the door behind them. Without saying a word, the two of them took a big step backward, which to Cisco was the universal action that allowed him passage. He walked between them, giving them both a short glance before he walked into the bar. Best they think he was compliant rather than someone who could make this a very bad day for them.

Once inside the bar, he noted that it wasn’t much to look at. The bar looked grimy, it barely had any lighting. There were a few lamps that hung low to give it an odd aesthetic that didn’t make the atmosphere seem as unsavory. However, as Franciso’s eyes wandered from the bar to the patrons, it was obvious that this kind of establishment didn’t welcome strangers. In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact he had a glowing invitation from The Bird, his introduction to these sorts wouldn’t have gone as peacefully as it was now.

Being the man who he was, Francisco kept a straight back and his posture free of any weakness. He couldn’t allow these animals know that somewhere deep down, regardless how skilled he might be, the minute they got the impression he wasn’ there to just talk, it could go south real fast. Thankfully, as he came to a stop in front of yet another set of bodyguards, Francisco didn’t present himself as such.

“The Bird is waiting for you,” one of them said. This man was just like the ones outside.

They both stepped to the side and allowed Francisco to go through a wooden door. As he had entered, he heard the following words speak towards him. “Close it behind you.” It sounded like a male’s voice, but it had this weird inflection that seemed to distort Francsico’s knowledge of the typical male voice. “And sit down in the chair on the left. Don’t slouch and hands on the respective thigh.”

He raised his eyebrow. The initial thought was that, whoever The Bird was, he not only was secretive but he seemed to also like to bark orders. Francisco wasn’t one to judge. He, of course, understood how necessary these precautions were, but the actions he was ordered to take were way too specific for him not to have a suspicious thought or two. But, while he found himself second-guessing that this was a wise decision, it was far too late to turn back now. If anything, he would have to see this to the bitter end. Worst comes to worst, he could use whatever skills that were at his disposal to escape.

He gave himself a shrug before taking his seat on the chair to his left. His back was as straight as a one-way street on the open road and both of his legs were equally spread with both of his hands on their corresponding leg. The hands had reached out to cover his knee, his fingers overextending to actually cover the knee itself. Even though he complied with the odd demands, The Bird had yet to turn around.

“I understand you wish to speak to me, Mister Delgado.” The Bird said. The chair in which it sat in was still turned around.

“I never gave the men outside my name.”

“I know who you are, Francisco Delgado Jr, son of Francisco Delgado Sr.” The Bird had said with confidence. “My eyes in the sky and ears on the ground inform me when someone of your reputation sets foot within these lands. They also tell me that you wish to request something of me.”

What a smart bird. Francisco had to admit that his new feathered friend was quite good at their game. Being able to not only know who he was but of his father’s name too and surprisingly, his reputation, certainly garnered a certain respect from Francisco. “They are correct.” He responded simply, keeping his words straight to the point and his tone respectful.

“Speak now, Mister Delgado, for if it is within my power, it will be yours.”

“Very well,” he coughed, clearing his throat. The back of it was a little dry, but it was nothing to raise a concern with. “There is a gala at the Paramorlian Cathedral.”

“Ah, yes, I am well aware of the annual gala that it hosts. It is open only to the top 1% of the top 1%.” The Bird seemed to recall.

“Then you must know a newcomer like myself doesn’t necessarily have the magic connections to get in.”

“And you think that I do?” The Bird inquired.

“If the rumors are true, you can arrange for me to be allowed entry.”

“Rumors are often inconsistent with the truth, Mister Delgado.”

“If you don’t want to help me, then just say so. I do not like to be strung along.” Francisco stated bluntly.

And for a long moment, there was silence, which immediately had him worried. Had Francisco said the wrong thing? He usually knew what he was doing and said the right thing at just the right time, but these were unsteady waters he was traveling on. He had to watch what he said. There was absolutely no telling how this enigma of a figure would react to what he said.

“They did say you didn’t pull any punches, Mister Delgado.” The Bird said, “I’m sure you will meet plenty of interesting personalities at the gala.”

“Does that mean?”

“You will find your invitation in your hotel room when you return.” The Bird said, a single arm pointing to the door. “I trust you can see yourself out.”

“Gracias, señor pájaro”

All be damned, this one was certainly full of surprises. Without even turning around and granting Francisco the courtesy of seeing his or her face, The Bird proved to be just as elusive that the rumors stated they’d be.

Flying over everyone else and always remaining out of sight, The Bird had made a name for themselves within The Badlands by creating a network of connections that ranged from beggars in the slums to the inner-circle of the Bankers who ruled the Banking District. Both respected and feared by all, The Bird has eyes and ears all over and nothing that happens within The Badlands does so without them knowing it. And though The Bird may accept in-person visits and may speak to you, it is never known whether this person is a male or a female because it is said their voice sounds neither masculine nor feminine. They will hear out any desires you have and if you pass the final screening, you may get what you want. If not, then there will not only be consequences for you after the meet is over, there is also a high chance that you’ll never be seen again.

“What a character, that one.” Francisco mused as he had returned to his hotel room. Just as The Bird had said, resting on his nightstand was the elegantly-designed invite to the gala that he so desperately needed to attend.

And now, as he sat on his bed and looked at the treasured piece of paper that had brought him one step closer to what he was truly after. But, of course, he had to find a proper suit. No thief attended a high-end event without looking sharper than a freshly-crafted blade.

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

524

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

The Lhusu Mines had been tucked away from the rest of Ivalice for a reason. It was absolutely beautiful in the way the lhusu veins, even though there was an absence of excessive light, the way they had a magical shine throughout the mines made it seem as though sunlight was necessary. Even though the deeper one went into the mines, the less present the light from the entrance was, it didn’t matter one bit.

It was a crystal mine that had all sorts of colors of crystal ore that, when mined properly and gone through the right process, could make magicite. It was akin to the Magicite Mines of Stigma, though, their mines paled in comparison to the hidden gem that Bhujerba hid from the world. As if it weren’t enough that it was high on the Sky Continent of Bhujerba and heavily guarded by the Marquis’ men, the mines had been infested with all sort of unsavory types. Monsters that ranged from the Steeler Bats to the different types of skeletal monsters that roamed the rare corners of the mines where the ore light didn’t reach.

Deeper within the mines, other monsters dwelled - monsters that weren’t so simple as the ones that greeted travelers near the entrance. These were the kind of fiends that hunters aimed to fight because they were the same breed of fiends that were known as Rare Game. Such beings like the Rocktoise and Antlion. They were ferocious beasts that had a reputation almost as bad as seeing them in person.

And when the group of Ivy, Michel, and Meli had entered what could be described as the deepest region that Lhusu had to offer (as noted by not only the absence of light from the outside world but how bright the crystal ore lit up a large section of a room), they came to the sight of something that was shocking. Coming this deep, there was half of the mind that expected to be greeted by one of those rare elite marks or a hoard of unstoppable beasts, but that wasn’t it at all. In the center of the room, along with the walls of ore lit up and a single waystone in the center, the first sight that had come into their periphery were two sets of rabbit ears, a tail, and tall forms standing just five paces away from that way stone.

“I see that you two also had the same idea,” Michel said. He approached the two and as they would turn around, he greeted them with a smile. Though, one look from Aloa and Michel knew that what he thought was the worst-case scenario was, in fact, exactly the truth. “I feared the worst when Ren didn’t return, so we came looking. Who knew that of all things, we’d find--”

“What’s going on, Miss Bunny! Haven’t seen you in for-ever!” Ivy’s voice echoed through the caverns of the mines.

Michel turned around, his eyes glaring back at Ivy. She, of course, let out a chuckle. She had to have known that this wasn't the time for her shenanigans.

“By the way, what did you find, Michey-bear?”

He sighed, shaking his head at Ivy. “That Waystone over there. Does it not look familiar?”

Ivy heeded Michel’s advice and approached the waystone. Only after a long moment of silence and of her humming to herself did Ivy have an “a-ha” moment. “Wait, isn’t this…” She turned around, facing Michel.

He nodded, his eyes on Aloa. “I heard the rumors, but until this very moment, I wasn’t sure if it was true or not,” Michel said. “This Waystone here leads directly to our headquarters.” Michel revealed to the group.

Though, while Michel had certainly been surprised by that, he noticed the lack of one person among the extended group. “Where’s Ren?”

---

Well, this certainly wasn’t a favorable situation.

Among every, bad thing that happened to them(things that were too far in the dozens to list), it would seem a dark force arriving in this grand, expansive library was just another thing to add to that list. Whilst Wesley was certainly at least fifty paces away, he could feel it: the pure darkness that was felt throughout Ivalice just last night had not-so-subtly made its presence known. He wasn’t certain if it was here the entire time and had simply decided now was the time to reveal itself or if it just came in, but one thing that was absolute, it was that, whatever he had been doing up until that point, Wesley was done.

Using the enhancements granted to him from Hashmal and the Seal of the Lion, Wesley had covered the length of twenty paces in a mere three seconds, his form dashing from one bookcase to the other. All thoughts of exploring and expanding his knowledge were now replaced with finding Emiri and Grant. This wasn’t necessarily easy for him because the feeling of the disturbance that had suddenly came into the library was hindering their mist, but with the increase of his speed, Wesley was able to cover the large landscape.

Not there, Wesley. Try the other corner. Hashmal urged Wesley.

He heard him loud and clear. By the time he had finished, Wesley was already a third across the way from the opposite corner. Each time he jumped one of the shelves, Wesley’s feet activated two haste glyphs, which had increased his movements by four times and had allowed him to cover more ground in less time. When the corner of the vast room produced nothing, Wesley went to another. And then another and another. He must’ve backtracked across the entire room until he was high above and got a view of the entire library. It was faint, but right dead in the center, he had spotted some kind of gathering. It wasn’t until he focused all of his mist on that one location that he had sensed Grant.

And now he went forth.

Wesley jumped up to the ceiling, sticking his feet on the top. As one moment passed, he pushed off of it, using his magick to actually send him propelling down. He had gone so fast that Wesley’s whole body shone brightly with white and lavender dancing along his dark clothing. The entirety of this protective veil had a masterful showing of white magick as he had nonverbally cast shellga, protectga, faith, and bravery not only around himself but around Grant. They would no doubt feel the sensation pass through them. And whilst Grant shot at what looked like a woman as Wesley came into view, he had his sword in his hand that had white mist surrounding it.

And in the moment his presence would be known, Wesley added to Grant’s onslaught by slicing down right after his body had flipped and his feet landed on the ground, landing next to Grant. The slash produced a wave of mist.

---

Wait what did they say? “Hey, I am not going to be left behind!” Jaakuna yelled out, offended at Nadeline’s suggestion.

Savayna had ignored Jaakuna and looked to Nadeline. She was actually really considering her suggestions. Considering how much easier it would be to disarm the trap and take the spear, leaving Jaakuna behind wouldn’t be the worst idea. This was his mess, so why should they have to clean it up. Clearly, the trap is focused on him and him alone. Ideally, one would back the other up while they went to grab the spear. Even if there was a second trap, having a spotter made the job a lot easier.

But, of course, they couldn’t. It was bad enough that Emiri and Shion were fighting. The last thing Savayana and Nadeline needed was her to direct that pettiness at either of them because they opted to leave Jaakuna to die. Though, Savayna still hadn’t forgiven him for the stunt he pulled in Archadia when they were doing the treaty negotiations.

“You know I would love to, but we are a team.” She gagged sourly, “regardless of how bothersome he is, Emiri would kill us if we left him to the trap’s mercy.” the blonde let out a sigh, looking to her fellow golden-haired maiden as she gestured her neck towards where Jaakuna was.

Taking but a moment to look at where the tentacles were coming from, it was likely they would attack if they physically got near the spear. And Savayna knew not if there was another trap waiting to be activated. There needed to be an experiment conducted.

“Say no more,” Mateus’s glyph appeared next to Savayna, his form towering almost a full foot above hers. “I will be the guinea pig.”

Without so much of waiting for a reply, Matus had floated up, no time being wasted as he had reached where Jaakuna was, who had given Mateus a simple nod of acknowledgment, though the ice esper didn’t do anything. Instead, he examined the spear. “This spear has caused so many humes to violently attack each other. Such a pity.” Mateus said.

He sighed and his hand reached out to grab it. At first, nothing significant happened. The first thing that did, however, was that Mateus did feel a sudden surge of the spear’s mist flow through him and because they were connected, Savayna felt it as well. This sudden feeling sent a wave of both excitement and fear through her body. It was so sudden that she found herself overwhelmed, causing her to fall to her knees and breathe in deeply..and then it became frequent, short breathes.

Meanwhile, Mateus had remained unaffected. He did look down at Savayna and then over to Jaakuna--wait, where did he go? The tentacles of mist were gone too. Only by looking down at the floor did Mateus see what happened. The moment he had touched the spear and activated whatever that was, the trap that had been active was deactivated, causing whatever hold it had over Jaakuna’s body to cease. And in doing so, Jaakuna had earned himself a one-way ticket to the ground. Mateus would ignore Jaakuna’s current situation and instead remained focus on the spear. He lifted it up and as he did, he heard Savayna cry out in excruciating pain, feeling overtaken by the mist. This caused her to become paralyzed where she was.

Memorable Things of Discord

<Snipped quote by HaleyTheRandom>

@Grimhildr

Get fucked, Grim.

Memorable Things of Discord

Why we didn't do this from the beginning is beyond me. Regardless, as a member of the Chat Staff, I approve this. And that matters because I haz ze authoritah!

Kidding btw. I wouldn't throw my weight around like that.

Music Appreciation Thread

@Heat The drums were easily the highlight of the song for me. Everything else was good, but I definitely preferred the rhythm the drummer had. The vocalist was good too. The video itself, however, portrayed a touchy subject of rioting against injustice (at least that's what I gathered from it). Suffice to say it relates to what's going today with all of corruption and conpsiracies across the world. But that aside, a good showing of thrash. 8/10

My song is not at all close to the same genre as yours was, though, I hope you guys will enjoy it. Personally, it's a pretty chill track with a good vibe throughout.

Naruto: Revival

^{Konohagakure | Chunin | NinTai-nin}

---

^{TIME: Present Day - Morning | LOCATION: Kohonagakure - Training Field | INTERACTION: Hokage Clone, Cloudy Eyes: The Sequel @Ladyinink, Light the Way @Grey Sama Gonna Build that Wall @BladeX Little Miss Impatichiha @Eis Busty Blonde-sensei @Olira Yui-a bitch @GlitchyBugger}

With all of them running at an above-average pace, the team that came from Konoha had swiftly arrived at Kumo. All they had to do was make it through the Rice Country and cross the border that separated it and the Land of Lightning. From there, it was only a few hours at most that had separated them from the village hidden in the clouds. As they came to the gate, the sounds of what sounded like fighting could be heard. Hell, Jaakuna had heard them a few miles back. Whatever was happening and whatever trouble that the village faced, one thing was known: the Konoha team would have to help in any way they could.

The team had been met by someone claiming to be a representative of the Raikage. Or at least it was someone who knew exactly what was happening. Jaakuna had no reason to second-guess this person. Odd as it was sending someone to meet with them especially in light of what had obviously been happening around them, the team unanimously agreed to follow.

They were led straight through the village. Jaakuna couldn’t help but notice all of the non-shinobi citizens of the village looking at not only him but all of his teammates with suspicious eyes, almost as if they saw them to be the bad guys. He shrugged it off. Reacting how he normally did in these kinds of situations wouldn't do anybody any good. At the very least, Jaakuna would grind his teeth as to let his mumbling obscenities only be heard by his squad mates. Of course, what they heard wasn’t flattering to Jaakuna: those fucking chocolate cuntbags is what he said.

And then, right as they came to a small cafe that was towered over by where the Raikage had usually resided in(Jaakuna remembered it from his world history lessons), he felt something that felt like an earthquake. Must’ve been an intense battle. Of course, Jaakuna was in no position to help there nor were any of them, so he turned his head and walked with the rest inside the cafe. But as they did, it only took Jaakuna one moment - a moment that proved to be too late - that this was all a trap.

After explaining what exactly was to happen, Jaakuna, much like those in the group, wanted nothing more than to kill the bitch that was threatening the innocent villagers. But, of course, this wasn’t a likely scenario in which the Konoha team would get what they wanted. But if they thought they weren’t going to take defensive countermeasures just in case, then this bitch really was crazy. However, now was the time to listen, which prompted Jaakuna to glance over to Nadia. “Don’t do anything.” He said. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she had the typical Uchiha arrogance and need to show off their power, but that wouldn’t be a wise decision.