Mirandae

The Spirits Within/Aeon

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FLASHBACK — FARHAVEN [Train Station Platforms] — 07:??AM — @DeadDrop There it was again. No matter where she went or whom she spoke to, his name would eventually be spoken or implied. Emilia did not blame Robert for anything, though. She had chosen not to speak about it to anyone or ever really explain what happened. It was unclear whether or not Emilia herself understood why things played out the way it did—everything happened so fast, and in such a blur worthy of being dissected by anthropologists forever. The girl shrugged at the moment. There was nothing to be said, anyway. "It's just my hair that someone said looks like wings when I jump or fall—I don't know which—but I wish I had actual wings." She sighed. The two waited patiently for commuters to clear out of the train and move away from the platform. "At least you get to fly for real, huh? I should've joined Nav. I guess I didn't care much about the divisions or what they meant back when everything began. Everything felt so innocent during those days. Now, everything just feels dirty and corrupted. I don't know, maybe I'm just starting to lose it, finally." Emilia smiled back at the man, as they were able to board the train, though with a hint of despair from delving too deep into her heart and mind, too early in the morning. EMILIA "GARUDA" LANGE — FARHAVEN [Inside Train] — 07:40AM — @DeadDrop@Salsa Verde The somewhat-stranger was no stranger anymore. Upon hearing her name, Emilia could instantly remember it on the list of names for the Group she had read. The pretty face and mesmerizing smile were, indeed, familiar, but Emilia gave up on trying to place them. ResDiv, huh? Explains the excitement... Emilia thought to herself, as the chipper words and introductions sprouted from Amanita. Perhaps it was not the infamous Research Division lack of socializing that made this girl so eager with energy, but rather the company she was currently with. Emilia was not exactly an unknown face, neither was her code name 'Garuda'. As reflected upon several times throughout her life, whether or not it was a wise decision, Emilia had been a sort of 'pinup girl' for the Warfare Division on more than one occasion. Much of that happened during the early days and during her time with him. "Votara, indeed." Emilia smirked, keeping eye contact with the girl until the sudden break for decorum. "Emilia Lange." They exchanged a slightly damp and nervous handshake, but all in good spirit. "Oh, don't mention it. I'm not big on formalities, anyway." Emilia said, although led right back into conversation by Eun-Ji's question about Robert, which he answered himself and followed up with a gift—if one could call it that. "No, Robert, she doesn't need one of your death-sticks—nobody does. Let's just find somewhere to sit." Emilia spoke with a slightly sarcastic tone, just to lighten the mood of the moment. They found themselves a decent six-seat space in the train. The composition was three seats that faced each other with a narrow table between. A huge window shielded them from the wind and rain outside. The conductor of the train arrived shortly after they had settled in, asking for tickets. After it had all been settled, they could finally find a bit of quiet and peace. The car was not awfully crowded, but many of the other seats were occupied. They had four hours of cozy train ride ahead of them with lots of scenery and a few stops along the way. The train had a restaurant/food car as well, which would be serving either breakfast or lunch. Emilia was definitely set on getting breakfast at some point for her few remaining credits. "So, Eun-Ji, have you been in the the Group before? I know it's my first time. Not sure if Robert has been in it before—have you?" Emilia asked, catching a glimpse of their eyes, both of them one after another yet at the same time. Quest Steps Flashbacks and this kind of interaction could go on forever, but the easiest way to close them is to simply indicate in a "note" like this at the end of the post that you feel satisfied and won't reply further. I'm cool with it, everyone will be cool with it, so there's no need to be 'polite'.

The Spirits Within/Aeon

@Rockette
I'd totally bang you if we ever met in person, you know. Better get used to that thought.
Get into that world map and mark those locations wherever you want them, then get this well put together sheet into the character tab.

I think this is everyone right now, except for @metanoia. Should we wait more or how are things coming along there? We can continue the Prelude for a bit longer or start Chapter 1—it depends a little bit on where you are at.

The Spirits Within/Aeon

@Krash
That post of yours made me hungry! I wouldn't call that post rusty for a come back.
I added the locations you mentioned on the local map. Hopefully I interpreted it correctly.

Also, you don't need to do the "quest steps". It's just something that I'll do as GM to easily communicate and make clear how everyone can respond and move forward. You could rename it to "summary", though. We've used post summaries in my games before to make reading things back a bit easier.

The character image in your post leads to someone else's character sheet, though. Go to the character tab, check the character cast banners at the top, click the "raw"-button the in top right corner, and then you'll find yours there. Might have to test a little to find your banner code there. My explanation here is a bit wonky, hope it made sense.

The Spirits Within/Aeon

@Salsa Verde
Oh yeah, big time. I log out, too, so there's no trail.

The Spirits Within/Aeon

@Siber
Glad you're still with us! You seem to be a busy bee all over the forum in different games. That's nice to see.

The Spirits Within/Aeon

@Salsa Verde
Hehe, 'google', huh? It's a real world reference, so we'll have to change it somehow. It can still be a famous search engine and I'll put into the lore, but what should it be called? It doesn't have to be super different from 'google'—Moogle?

The Spirits Within/Aeon

@Krash
One step at a time, love. A little bit of writing today, a little bit tomorrow, and then you'll have a nice post ready in no time. You'll be ripped and shredded out of your mind coming back to it all with this, no worries.

The Spirits Within/Aeon

Added @Aeolian's lore notes to a new hider next to the Codex. I'll add more from all players whenever you want something specific to be recorded there.

The Spirits Within/Aeon

@nodogs
Oh yeah, triple it up next time.

Very nice character composition. Clear cut, to the point, easy to read-and-understand concept. Please check the world map and put all your created locations where you imagine them to be, so that I can add them proper.

Here is your character image edited for the character tab: i.imgur.com/ZBJHkSV.png
Put it up there whenever you're ready.

The Spirits Within/Aeon

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EMILIA "GARUDA" LANGE — FARHAVEN [Train Station] — 07:15AM — @DeadDrop @Salsa Verde Emilia became distracted by her musings, yet again. The world around her became slightly blurred out, as if the wellness of her eyes had begun to fail already. The only way forward was to ignore his stupid message. For a brief moment, Emilia regretted tossing her phone away—it was no longer possible to wallow in pity and taste her own tears late at night. It sounded poetic in her head, but the reality of it was utmost pathetic. The regret quickly turned into anger, and then apathy. He, that old flame, was the only one who could put her off balance like this. Surely, it was a product of youth that had caught mold after all these years, yet refused to go away when she scraped at it. Emilia audibly scuffed at it all, almost chuckled at how dumb she felt. A change of heart came when familiarity approached. Never in a million years would Emilia have expected to meet the Navigation Division's poster boy in this humble place. Nav-Command were certainly in love with this guy, and for good reason. Being a Jet Fighter was as heavy duty and 'cool' as one could get in the UDF. Aeons barely measured up to these men and women in the sky that rained death from above. And then, there was this guy, Robert Hernandez, who had managed to be part of both things that resulted in fame—a jet fighter Aeon. It was quite insane when one thought about it, even Emilia could not help herself but to feel like a fan. The nature of it all was that some Aeon were simply more 'famous' than others, even if all of them were somewhat known. Emilia herself had dedicated plenty of time to Warfare Division PR campaigns and, well, 'commercials', which she was not entirely proud of, but it certainly paid well. "No fucking way," Emilia smiled, stood up from her seat and gave the man a hug. She was a bit taken back by the surprise. Everything he did, lighting that cigarette with that jacket around his shoulders, was vividly cinematic. She had met Robert a couple of times before. It was not a super intricate friendship, but well beyond the typical acquaintance you would meet once a year at someone's house party. And, of course, they knew each other by being in some manner of limelight all the time—sometimes it was almost impossible to not know someone. "Yeah, sure, absolutely—I'm guessing you're on for the Group? I saw your name on the list earlier. Half didn't expect you to show up, though," Emilia said while the arriving train was being announced in the train station speakers. She grabbed her backpack and rifle that were resting on the bench were she had taken a moment. The two began to walk towards the train platforms, but not in an awful hurry, as the train would remain at the station for about fifteen minutes. "You know, I think I saw you at the Watford base a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't get a chance to say hello. They were shipping us out to the Eastern Front so fast that everything sort of happened in a hurry." The two conversed while stepping onto the train that had just cleared out of the passengers that were due Farhaven. The train would continue on for a few stops, the UDF eastern command included, and finally arrive at Embergate as its final stop. More people boarded the train alongside Emilia and Robert. They were most likely commuters that worked a stop or two outside of Farhaven, perhaps even in the big city—quite a distance for commuting. That is how things were, though. One had to break a sweat and go outside the comfort zone to earn a living in this world, even if it meant sacrificing several hours a day to traveling to and from work. This was the case for Emilia and most Aeon, as well. She figured that she spent more time on traveling than actually fighting the 'stiggies', as she called them—the monsters that resulted from Stigma infection. What a sad life it was, yet necessary. The train car that they boarded was one of them with fancy booths. A narrow corridor led them towards the regular cars with two or three seats per row. They did not get far before someone's phone came tumbling across the hardened floor between their feet. "Oh," Emilia exhaled and was caught by the attention of that moment. She did not hesitate to pick the device up and turn around to look for whomever had dropped it—and there the girl was. She looked like someone from one of the western neighbors to Emilia's home country. It was not entirely uncommon to see people from Goryeo farming or selling things in Votara, enough to warrant Emilia knowing some of their words. "Is this yours?" Emilia said with a smirk while taking a few hesitant steps towards the somewhat-stranger. That was the issue, somewhat. It felt as if Emilia had met this person before or maybe seen her somewhere, but when and where was completely elusive. The girl had a wonderful, yet subtle expression of excitement, elation, or perhaps even expectation. There was a brief silence, as they kept staring at each other. Emilia's smile grew as she waited for an answer—"Have we met?" She asked. The train ruffled and rumbled as it slowly began to take off. The doors hissed shut and a loud whistle could be heard from outside the train. The morning drizzled had moved on to proper rain. Things began to move forward, just as whatever this whole adventure would be. Emilia felt a bit anxious or maybe timorous about taking on the Group. An ominous divination kept making itself known in her head, and it had something to do with that last message from him. Quest Steps Interaction between Emilia, Robert, and Eun-Ji on the train bound for UDF: Cetra East Command—this is where Chapter 1 will begin when everyone is ready. Those who want to participate in this Prelude can be anywhere they want on the local map, even at the UDF command center, where Isolde already is present.