paixaorpg | Not quite dead [Active]

Character(s): Rasler, Gabranth?, others?
Content: Obligatory entrance post.
Setting: Muspelheim Gate
Time: Afternoonish
Warnings: Possible tl;dr on my part

Almost before he'd awoken, Rasler noticed the quiet. The clash of steel, the whirring of glossair rings, shouts and falling stone - all had stopped, replaced by only a breeze. Had the battle ended?

With some difficulty, he pulled himself upright, taking stock of his surroundings. To all sides but one lay nothing but a dusty wasteland, accented by the skeletal remains of buildings long destroyed; at the last stood an enormous dome the likes of which he'd never seen before, with a line of people gathered outside the fiery ornamental gate. His eyes narrowed in confusion. There was no place like this anywhere near Nalbina - nor anywhere at all, to the best of his knowledge.

He closed his eyes, trying to recall what had happened. The fortress had been overrun, and the paling fallen, leaving it open to attack by air as well as land, and... he had been shot, hadn't he? But he was in no pain beyond general soreness, and had there been an arrow, it was gone now.

That was the last he remembered; certainly he hadn't left Nalbina out of any desire on his part to do so. The fortress was Dalmasca's final line of defense; he would have died rather than let it fall.

With no other immediately visible options, he approached the gate; the last of the queue had entered by then, and the young attendant grinned toothily and beckoned him over. "Hi! Can I get your name?" she said when he was close enough.

"What is this place?" Rasler asked first.

The girl blinked, as if it were taking her a moment to realize that wasn't his name. "Oh! Why, it's Paixao, of course, sir. If you'll just give me your name, I can set up your journal and you can head right on in."

Perplexed, Rasler finally did, and received a small device and a pamphlet in exchange. He didn't further resist the girl's efforts to usher him through the gate; it seemed more likely that he would find more information within that city than without, at least, but he would have to be cautious. If he'd been captured, where were his captors? If he'd been removed by his allies, where were they? Whatever the case, he was determined to find out.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

After managing to find both somewhere to temporarily store his armor as well as a tolerable facsimile of the clothes his brother tended to wear, Gabranth had taken to exploring the town. Even if he had no intention of staying here any longer than he had to, it would serve him well to at least know something of the city.

Eventually, his wanderings led him back to the gate that he'd come in by. After all, what better place than this to begin his search for a way out of this city?

However, his search was quite abruptly canceled as he spotted a man wearing a set of clothes that would not looked at all out of place in Ivalice. And a very familiar man at that - and one who, by rights, shouldn't have been standing there. The siege on Nalbina had seen to that. This... could be a bit awkward, and even more so if he learned the true identity of who had been behind the death of King Raminas that night.

And so it was that he simply stood there, staring in amazement at the man he knew had died, temporarily forgetting the fact that for all intents and purposes he was his brother at the moment.

Rasler, of course, was oblivious to there being any cause for amazement. He was, however, glad to spot the face of an ally amidst a crowd of strangers, and he nodded in acknowledgment and strode towards him. After all, there wasn't anything to immediately suggest this wasn't the Dalmascan captain he'd fought alongside not a day before. If his sense of time wasn't off, at least. It seemed a bit odd for Basch to be already unarmored unless they were well away from Archadian pursuit, so perhaps it had been somewhat longer.

"Captain," he said, once he was near enough. "Where are we?" It wasn't meant to be blunt, merely direct; of anyone, Basch was likeliest to know what had happened.

The use of the term 'Captain' caught Gabranth off guard for a few moments until he remembered that he was acting as his brother. Which changed things a little. True, there'd be some risk if anyone else showed up later but the benefits outweighed the risks at this point.

"The place is called Paixao," he answered. "Beyond that, I know little, save that it is no part of Ivalice that I have seen before."

"I see." So, nothing he had not already found out for himself, little though it was... which, in turn, raised its own set of questions. "Then have you any idea how we came here?" He did not greatly expect him to, if his suspicions were correct; Basch could not have been in the city much longer than he had.

He shook his head at that. And how could he have - he'd one just arrived.

"I do not."

And if he had any idea, he'd have already been out the door.

Rasler frowned, thinking. This was severely disconcerting. He could understand how he might have missed being brought here, at least, but for Basch to be at an equal loss... then some third party was necessarily responsible. Given the present circumstances, it made little sense for Archadia to be involved, but he could think of few other possibilities. Nothing could be ruled out just yet, unfortunately.

After a second, he sighed. "This does not bode well..." He briefly eyed the journal still in his hand, making a mental note to examine it more closely in a moment. "But I doubt we are the only ones brought here. We must hasten to find any others." It was unlikely that any other of the soldiers would know more, but at least then they would be in one place, and better able to determine their next move.

Hasten to find others, was it? A dangerous proposition, given the game he was playing. He could imitate his brother quite well, but even the slightest mistake could give the game away if he wasn't careful. One person was easy enough to fool, but bring in more and things become harder still. But that was of little concern now.

A nod at Rasler's words. "Indeed. There is some strength in numbers, after all." Usually, he added to himself.

Rasler returned his nod, then faced down the street, thinking. There was a great deal of ground they'd have to cover if they were to search on foot. His mind turned again to the device he'd been given at the gate, and he finally flipped it open. It was surprising once he realized what it was, though.

"A communications device," he murmured. "Were you given one of these as well?" he added more clearly, to Basch.

Another nod at that, although he hadn't done much in the way of exploring what it could and couldn't do quite yet. Not that one could exactly blame him of course - he'd been busy taking care of other, more important things first. But he wouldn't deny the fact that such a thing would certainly be useful.

"I was. It seems they may be something of a ... requirement in this place, perhaps."

After all, he couldn't think of any other reason the gate-keepers would be handing them out freely.

A requirement? He'd heard of people having strange customs abroad, but this was a new one. Still, if it would help him locate his men...

"That should quicken things," he said, stepping aside to remove himself from the general flow of traffic. "See whom you can find. And be cautious," he added firmly, noticing a particular post near the top of the message board, addressing "soldiers of the Empire" - which Empire, was the question. "It's still possible the enemy also has some presence here."

Still, he would have to confirm it. If this General Chere turned out to be Rozarrian, they could be in luck.

Be cautious? He was already being so, to make sure his words and mannerisms matched those of his brother. But that wouldn't be what Rasler would have been expecting to hear.

"I shall."

He couldn't help but be mildly amused about the remark regarding enemy presence, although he made sure to keep it off his face - technically speaking 'the enemy' did have a presence in the city, and closer than Rasler may have thought to look for it.

Not quite dead [Active]

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