2019-04-06: Drifter's Logic
- Log: Drifter's Logic
- Cast: Marivel Armitage, Brad Evans
- Where: The Moonflow
- Date: April 07, 2019
- Summary: Brad and Marivel duck out to the Moonflow to shake off some heat after Brad needed to deploy his ARMs against Oblitzerator. While there, they discuss what they know of Spira's situation, and the intentions of Oblitzerator's pilot...
==============================<* The Moonflow *>============================== The Moonflow is a large river that bisects Spira's largest island into southern and northern halves. Strange flowers called Moonlilies grow on the Moonflow's banks, attracting pyreflies that gather on its surface at night, making the water sparkle. Although a beautiful area, the weather tends to be overcast more often than not, the souls of the dead providing the most reliable source of illumination. The primary method of crossing the Moonflow is aboard a shoopuf - an elephantine creature that can swim across the expansive river. The crossing service is funded by the Temple of Yevon and is free of charge. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wcVnJQ-FN4
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
After Brad shot a gun in public, Marivel thought that maybe it might be a good idea to wait until some heat dies down before heading back into town. There would be a time set aside, no doubt, for communicating with their new? friends? and before that Marivel would rather have another discussion with Brad. Whom she likes. Possibly because he shoots guns and rockets at things that are trying to kill her, yes, but greater friendships have been forged on far more unstable ground.
Marivel's favored location to go and chill out is the Moonflow. It is fairly private if you head down the river someways and you get to see shoopuffs and there is, of course, the fragmented souls of the dead so--really, her kind of place. Not much sun either. In fact, the sun is so meager through the faintly overcast skies that Marivel can get by with some sunblock and not worry so much about wearing her shrouded outfit.
"They call it a shoopuf." She tells Brad as she slows her walk. "In the evening, actual dead spirits start flying around in the air, though this seems to be a natural phenomena in the area. I believe it to be connected to the 'Moonlilies' here."
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.
Having the favor of the only person on the planet who can blow up your head is generally something Brad Evans, a man with that problem, is in favor of.
Brad, for his part, looks across the Moonflow, large hands tucked into his jeans pockets as he watches the beasts in the river, the flickers of pyreflies...
"Dead spirits, huh," he grunts, sounding skeptical. "Wonder how that works."
He probably really does. That seems to be his first thought about just about everything.
Still, he finds himself pacing over to a stone he can lean his weight against, settling in to regard the river and the contemplative, quiet hillsides.
He doesn't speak, though his distant gaze says his head must be rattling with thoughts.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Strangely, Marivel--as fiendish as she is--doesn't really jive with the whole bomb in your head thing but it may be good to know that even Marivel has some things the boss does that she grumbles about just as much as anybody on this team. It doesn't mean she doesn't trust Valeria, but even though she is a monster she has some standards on how to treat people.
She certainly hasn't complained about Brad's occassional backsass anyway.
But Marivel has to admit, "I don't know," to Brad when he asks how it works. "I haven't asked. It might just be how this ecosystem functions and to properly evaluate that--well, it is something I am a little hesitant to bring up until I know whawt the natives know about them. And I don't know what they know about them yet."
Brad gets quiet to lean on the wall. Marivel watches the pyreflies, strangely drawn to them even after seeing them many many times already.
She looks back to Brad. "I think I know who was piloting that ... 'machina'..." She wrinkles her nose faintly at using the native word here.
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.
Brad grunts. He does that a lot. "Magic, maybe," he mutters. "Some ancient Symbol...soul trap? Shouldn't be leaking unless the Symbol's damaged..." He frowns. "Probably."
His head half-turns, glancing over to Marivel. "Yeah?" he prompts. "Seemed like a decent rig. Don't think it was really meant to hurt anyone, though. It might've been big, but you don't arm up a killer weapon with...blitzballs, is it? Even annoying ones."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"I met with one of the Al Bhed earlier," Marivel says. "One that could speak our language." She looks back towards Brad. "She had launched a blitzball at me in error. At the time I thought she was working on a component for the stadium. It wasn't until the 'Oblitzerator' fired them at me that I realized that it was wholly possible that what she was working on was a launcher for that machine." She cups her chin for a moment, considering it. "But I think you're right. She seemed distressed when she thought she had seriously injured me and we ended up talking. She was very outspoken, honestly to the point of naivete, about the local politics."
She looks out towards the river. "She did not care for the Summoner's pilgrimage. She didn't wish to put this burden on a small select group of 'heroes'. At least, that is how I understood her complaints. She hadn't mentioned what her alternative solution would be, so I suspect it may be wishful thinking...but if she is truly commited, it makes sense she would try to kidnap summoners in an attempt to disrupt their pilgrimage. Had she managed to disrupt the operation enough, the Yevon church might have felt forced to consider alternate options...though I consider retaliation far more likely."
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.
"Launcher, huh? You hear about those, sometimes. Think I made one for the SLA, once," Brad says, his tone faraway. "Just once. Armsmeister got pissed." He chuckles, head dipping down. Momentarily allowing something old and fond to take hold of him.
But then Marivel says something that pulls him to the present. "Yeah?" he grunts. "Seems like there's a whole industry of these people. Heroes, manufactured to fight this demon god of theirs..." His eyes narrow. "...can't go well, if they need so many," he says. "But you're right about their response."
He glances to Marivel, piercing. "If Yevon's relying on this, they won't just 'give up' if she makes a hassle. They'll get serious."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Oh? You weren't the Armsmeister? You're pretty technically inclined, so I was considering you may have had multiple roles--" Marivel say, pausing before standing herself up and turning all the way around to face Brad. "An industry." She says, thinking about it like that. "...An industry. Hmm.... A guild and religion both, you could say. I suppose during the calm summoners and guardians can be used to fend off fiends, train, and so forth..." She nods once to herself. "But you're right. I wonder how they manage the actual fighting? The pilgrimage itself is very dangerous from what I hear of it, that's why they need the guardians. Perhaps all those that complete the training end up joining the veterans from the last period and attack it. It certainly seems like they have a stable method here. Otherwise there wouldn't be quite so many blitzball games."
She nods again. "Yes, they would probably retaliate fiercely. Tis lucky for her that we stopped her before she could succeed. As it is, perhaps they can play it off as some fringe element, though I worry if they get frenzied enough... this climate does not suggest moderate responses."
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.
"Guess I could do the work," Brad replies with a shrug. "But I wasn't the one responsible for all the gear, no. They needed me in the field too much for that."
"Summoners' Guild," Brad says, and chuckles. What a strange thought. "Guess on Filgaia you'd just call that a priesthood anyway? But something doesn't add up..."
He tips his head down, thumb coming up and rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. "Stable, sure. Seems to work somehow. But...this isn't how you make an army. And it'd need to be an army. Training up a trickle of small groups? That's not how you...do...anything?" He grimaces. "That's Drifter logic, sure, and it worked against Mother alright. But that was...unique, strange. Build the army, fight the god, but you want the army in your recruits before they run off, not after they have the power..."
He shakes his head. "We'll find out," he says, with grim certainty. Not a question of looking. If they stay involved long enough, the reasons will become clear. He already suspects he'll hate them. "For now I'm more worried about this girl of yours." His eyes again wander, distance in his thoughts. "I know all about what harsh men will do to people who bother them."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Reasonable," Marivel admits.
The land is pretty strange enough as it is, but Marivel thinks she is starting to push the pieces more into place. The one confusing thing is--how are these people even here so far from the other lands on the moon."
Brad brings up a good point. He is good at bringing up good points. And yet, Marivel has found, sometimes those good points often fly in the face of the stranger reality. This may seem like a flaw, but it actually reveals that there is an inconsistency, a strangeness that they have yet to understand or uncover.
This is why she really needs to talk to an expert. An expert that won't lie. Good luck with that, Marivel, she thinks to herself. Even the 'legendary auron' doesn't seem very talkative on the subject and she can tell he has beef.
"Sin and Mother are two different beasts. Sin... It's hard to tell its capacity for intellect, but it feels more akin to a force of nature than an invading alien god. Drifters work well against Mother because her true power was in small groups of elite units rather than strictly speaking any particular Metal Beast. Small forces that can slip past and survive her elites were a winning strategy." She wasn't at the last 'war' but perhaps some experience with prior ones.
"And of course, we don't 'train' Drifters. But you're right. By our very nature, we are essentially like the Hyadeans here. An alien force. Whether it be by our acts or another's, the truth will out itself."
She smiles faintly when Brad expresses concern for the kid. For such a gruff guy, he is--
--best not to think about it. "I may not be able to find her now. But if I do, I promise she'll receive quite the tonguelashing."
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.
Brad's real skill may not be anti-Gear combat or brute strength at all; that mind of his has a thirst to pick apart mysteries, and a knack for taking processes apart. Magic, technical, or societal, as long as the rules themselves don't elude him, Brad Evans has a mind fit to solve problems. And if they do, he quickly finds the point that he doesn't understand...
"Guess we'd have to see it to evaluate it," Brad says. "They have a whole religion about it. I don't know that we'd get useful intel even from local 'experts.' Faith would inform any question. We may not be able to rely on any eyes but our own."
He grimaces, his eyes shifting up to lock on the distant Blue Star. Home. Where Vinsfeld is. "...See if you can," he says, shifting tracks suddenly. "If we're going to have a prayer of getting home, we're going to need tools I don't have to whittle from sticks. Whoever made that boat - they have more. They'll have tools. Materials. We might need their support. Besides..."
He lifts his hand, sausage-thick fingers curling. "I'm getting anxious without anything to tinker with."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
<poem>"Mm. Perhaps our friend Auron has been burned by the faith before." Marivel says. "Tis typical, even if you are adherent, to have some mixed feelings about an organization you've spent a long time serving. And that's if you are wholly faithful." She laughs a little, glancing to the side. "Even if you are a legend as he seems to be. He seems to disagree with the label, but that doesn't mean much. Most legends do. In the end, he is just an ordinary--"
She pauses for a moment, taking in a deep breath and exhaling it out. Slowly.
"It may be prudent to talk, then, with the summoner and her guardians--the one we've rescued. If we are in luck, we may be able to learn from them indirectly, rather than in a book or meeting."
Her gaze inevitably ends up following Brad's up to the Blue Star. Home. Even Marivel sees herself as a foreigner here. Even Marivel is at a loss here. And if she can be at a loss, one must imagine how the average drifter is managing.
"I made a good first impression I think. Pity my second impression was...less so."
She understates it so hard that it's buried in the center of Lunar.
"She already lent me one of her tools... If only I can get one more conversation alone, I think we can get the aid we need."
She grins a little. "I understand how you feel. But if she's willing to go to the Thunder Plains, perhaps we'll have an extra hand on deck as well. If she is anything like me, she'd revel in the opportunity."
Yeah it may be a little tough to get Rikku to go to the THUNDER PLAINS for some reason.