2019-06-24: Act

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  • Log: 2019-06-24: To Act
  • Cast: Jacqueline Barber, Ethius Hesiod
  • Where: Mi'ihen Highroad
  • Date: June 24, 2019
  • Summary: Taking place directly after Trisection, recent events have shaken the seemingly unshakeable, and made among the more neutral-leaning actors take a stand.

=================================================<* Mi'ihen Highroad *>=================================================

Many years ago, a man named Lord Mi'ihen, commander of a mercenary group known as the Crimson Blades, was summoned by the Grand Measter to Bevelle to answer the challenge that his group was a threat to Yevon. Though his followers suspected he would be executed and begged to follow, Mi'ihen ordered them to stay behind and walked along an old path to Bevelle, without stopping to rest. 

Moved by the display of piety, the Grand Maester formally adopted Mi'ihen and his soldiers into Yevon as a defensive force, known now as the Crusaders. In recognition of the momentous moment, the path Mi'ihen walked now bears his name.

...except not really, because the original one was wrecked by Sin a few hundred years ago. You can still see bits of it as you pass along the Highroad, on which the Djose Temple can also be found.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8tfe_H7bzw
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

What happened had come as a surprise to everyone. Most people had expected Althena's Guard to make some movement, but the arrival of a pair of Golems had come as a great shock.

What could they have possibly done against that kind of force?

Jacqueline had responded quickly, organizing the set-up of a refugee camp of sorts in the shadow of one of the larger ruins along the Mi'ihen Highroad, the shape of it curving around it and offering it protection from the direction of Luca.

But, she herself wasn't sticking around - there was something she had to do. She's dressed much differently than usual, as she walks toward her wagon. It's actually rather dashing, or at least what Jacqueline's idea of a dashing hero-type would be, as well as a wide-brimmed hat that helps break up her silhouette and obscure her identity.

Those of her who knew her well would still know who she was, but if she were, say, going somewhere that would be filled with people with a warrant out for her arrest, it would be advantageous.

Her intentions are clear, from the way she occasionally glances Luca-ward. The fires of the city can still be seen, even from this far away.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Abruptly, someone rushes towards the wagon like a bat that was once out of hell but would really like to go back into hell because the light of day is too frightening for their poor little infernal hearts to take. They have a torn, singed shard wrapped around themselves - a stolen market banner. A polearm is to their back, casting a silhouette that Jay will find familiar only a moment or two after a frightful fight-or-flight response might be triggered because they are coming in that fast, that aggressively, blowing past anything in their way--
     "Clothing. Salve." Familiar words not so much in terms of pitch, in this loud and chaotic situation that surrounds them - but the unnatural calm in those words even when their heart must be beating quickly from long stretches of running. The way they obscure themselves in such a ridiculous and - daresay - needless manner...
     It can only be one man.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline recoils quickly as a figure races toward her. She prepares to defend herself, but a brief moment of uncertainty sees her holding back just long enough for the figure to draw closer - and to recognize the silhouette as familiar.

"Ethius?? My goodness, what happened to you?" She reacts with surprise. "...Actually, I think I have a good idea already."

He says only two words. Jacqueline nods, stepping away from her wagon.

"...Right. Follow me." She says. She sends another glance toward Luca. Things would probably still be fine if she took a moment for this, right?

She starts back toward the camp, leading Ethius toward one of the tents she set up, one where they would be able to find what he requested.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius moves with such alacrity that this whole episode might be over in a moment and everyone can get back to what they're doing as regarding this crisis. Ethius lets himself inside of that tent the moment Jay so much as even hints that that's the one she's leading him to--
     "Your cooperation is appreciated," that boilerplate quote of his. Why can't he just say 'thank you,' that's way less words, less breath, faster to say--
     Jay, for her expertise in creating and handling medicines created for travelers, can see plainly that Ethius has suffered no shortage of burn wounds. Kind of like he's been walking through fire, or that fire tried to walk through him. His forearm - the most amount of skin he will typically allow to be seen barring select circumstances - speaks alone that his condition is serious.
     "I will be fine from here," he says as he draws his arm back under the stolen market banner he's wrapped around himself. It is very rare for him to let himself stay in a vulnerable position, in care of others.
     Would Jay leave him to his own devices at a time like this, the way he is?

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Ethius thanks her for her help, in his usual roundabout way. She had to wonder if there was a deeper meaning to those words, or if that was just the sort of person he was.

She leads him to the tent - or, rather, moves briskly in its direction at the same time he does as he heads toward it on his own.

"Will you really?" She questions, as they both step inside. "Let me help you - it won't be easy to do it on your own with those. If you're not careful you'll just make them worse."

She was concerned, of course. She knew he was the type that he wouldn't stop unless he was physically unable to keep going - she wanted to be sure that he'd at least receive proper medical attention first.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Jay is more than in the right to question - she may well know better than himself. He tugs the banner around him more tightly as if in a defensive gesture as Jay comes in with him and makes the kindly offer to see to his well-being.
     "Miss Jay," his tone of voice finds an uncommon raise - discordant with the stiffly genial way he refers to just about everyone as 'Miss' or 'Mister.' His profile shrinks. He doesn't even look towards her. Not even with that famed unrelenting stare of his.
     The distress appears to go beyond the physical.
     "...There are... others present that I would surmise are more in immediate need of your expertise and time." He struggles to say those words, as if he were trying to find the correct part of a scripted response.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline folds her arms in front of herself as he addresses her. She can't miss that change in the tone of his voice - it's unusual for him.

"It's alright, I have other people taking care of it. I'm suppossed to be heading toward Luca right now." Jacqueline replies. "...If you really don't want me treating you, that's fine. I won't force it on you. But..."

Jacqueline hesitates for a moment.

"...What's really bothering you? You can talk to me. I promise, you'll have my complete discretion on the matter." She asks.

That was what he was always requesting of them, after all. And besides, it was part of the job of treating people.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    He really should accept her help. Based on the motions of his arms as he takes and applies medicinal salve, there are some places about his upper back he will need help reaching if it needs it. "I will not keep you," he says as she concedes she won't force it on him.
     'But...'
     She's not leaving. A grunt of exertion as he presses his right hand up against his left shoulder, underneath that banner. Jay offers to listen to him - to have the complete discretion on the matter. Those specific words he always says, like he had a limited set of statements and responses for a given situation.
     Ethius has never been very open. Even as regards his very body, that time with the football game he seemed to act as though he were taken by a fey spirit when he decided to remove his shirt. The only exception to his unwillingness to disrobe, because... why?
     A spotlight is put instead on the mental, the emotional. Areas in which the man has previously appeared almost completely impentrenable aside from specific circumstances. The very first time Jay had seen him disturbed, was the idea that they were traveling with someone at the Sacred Grounds of Linga who was acting to obscure Riesenlied's presence.
     This is much like that.
     "I did not anticipate this scenario." What scenario? The scenario of the Guard attacking Luca? The writing was on the wall with the White Knight's retort to the Grand Maester's decree. Surely, Ethius is not that ignora--
     "Althena's Guard is fully under the sway of the Veruni."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline can tell he'll have some difficulty applying it. But, he seems to have made his decision on the matter, so she hangs back.

"...Just ask if you need my help." She says...and then listens, as he admits that he hadn't expected this to happen - specifically, the extent of the Veruni's infiltration into the Guard.

Jacqueline frowns a little as she considers this.

"...We knew they had some connection, thanks to Catenna's run-in with Kaguya." She comments. "I can't say I expected them to bring out golems, either."

She shakes her head, then.

"...But I don't know if I'd say 'fully'. I think they would've done this even without their help - the golems just make everything so much worse." She says.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The adrenaline that kept this man together as he faced down statistically certain death before a weapon that he should not have survived - and indeed, were it not for Rikku pulling things apart he would not be here now - has since faded. He is left feeling the exertions and the pains of what he just went through.
     If it doesn't show, and he's good at not showing, it is being heard. The composure of his voice is eroding, even with the unnatural pause as if he has to consciously take hold of himself in order to speak.
     "Hyland, with its advantages, did not overcome Rolance." Rolance used much of these same advantages.... but this seems to be the focal point of his argument. "Kaguya was instrumental towards supplying Hyland with the impetus and means to make decisive gains. I would have surmised her ability to attain and maintain status hinged entirely upon this."
     Beat.
     "It has survived Hyland's failure to overcome Rolance. It has survived beyond the events that have transpired since Azado." His body language goes still, as if to hold himself from doing much more as he leans elbows against the pant legs. A pained sensation ensures he has to lift his left forearm off as to not excaberate the pain, this freed hand now drawing the banner closer as if to try and cut off Jay from being able to look through any opening at him.
     Even his head. It's like he's hiding in a blanket.
     "Their influence is as such, Miss Jay... that they did not field these weapons against Sin in the Operation." The strange Symbologist... a show of thought, of logic, that he has kept to himself. "I had spied about Kilika prior to confirm the existence of unknown, unidentified cargo that came with the Guard. Such required no small amount of manpower nor coordination to bring across the seas."
     More silence. Another beat.
     "Enough sway, to make a call as to the application of what might have been a decisive weapon."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline can hear the change in composure of his voice. It seems like he's trying very hard to maintain it, but losing the battle. And the way he draws in on himself...it hurts to look at. She's never seen him like this before.

In the end, it might have to do with what he's saying, as he reveals what he had spied. How thoroughly Kaguya had infiltrated the Guard... Jacqueline frowns slightly.

"You mean...they had them all along?" Jacqueline replies, increduously. Operation Mi'ihen had been a large event - they fielded even the Dragonmaster, their Goddess's own champion. To risk him, but to not bring everything they had to bear...

"That's...insane. Did she really keep them held back just for conquest...?" Jacqueline says increduously, shaking her head. She exhales. This was a lot to take in.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius doesn't answer as Jay comes to that conclusion - they had these Golems all along, plural. They seemed to be held back specifically for this very purpose, even at risk of losing the Dragonmaster.
     They did lose the Dragonmaster - the highest authority in Meribus and Glenwood just shy of the Goddess Althena, Herself.
     Ethius doesn't speak back up.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Ethius doesn't speak. Jacqueline doesn't either, as she tries to grasp what exactly was going on. It's a lot to take in, and she seems wracked with disbelief. Eventually, quietly, she leaves the room...

...But not for long. She returns with a large blanket. It's soft - it won't scrape against the burns.

"...Here. This'll probably be more comfortable to cover yourself up with than that ratty old banner in your current condition. Try not to force yourself to move too much, alright?" She says, offering it to him.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    In that period of time where Jay leaves, Ethius starts to work in the medicinal salve again. The physical limitations of human anatomy continue to apply the expected difficulties, but it is the lack of Jay's presence that seems to embolden him to move again by expectation. He closes his eyes and exhales audibl--
     She's back. The movement of the tent flap all but makes him jump, noisily tugging the ratty banner as if to shield against a prospective assassin or other interloper - as if the idea of Jay coming back this way when she already has other matters that need to be tended to were simply inconceivable.
     It almost seems hostile... until he turns his gaze enough to confirm who that is.
     It's Jay, with a large blanket. The way his head has turned, she can see one of his eyes bearing down upon her re-entry and - if she tilts her head just right - she might be able to make out the emerging white beard hairs otherwise visible in the shadow-covered face.
     "..."
     It puts him in the difficult position of needing to extend his reach beyond what the market banner can cover in order to take the blanket. One he knows Jay wouldn't do on purpose - it seems to be against her nature to ever act out of spite or hold any sort of grudge, for all the trouble he puts her through.
     For all the outright terrible things he has done under her nose, under constant protest. For everything he has almost never gave any sort of apology about.
     "...Appreciated." He seems to settle on the tail end of a more verbose statement, settling on reaching out to expose what of his forearms he did back on the Ignas continent, and faces away from Jay again.
     "...Concern yourself no further with the logistics," says the man who introduced himself in times of antiquity as one who only had interest in lost or out of place technology and helped himself along on expeditions whether people didn't want it, or really didn't want it.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"S-sorry, it's just me again." Jacqueline says, as Ethius all but jumps. She hands over the blanket, averting her eyes in hopes of making him feel at least a little more comfortable with it.

She nods when he says he appreciates it, and when he says not to concern herself any further.

"...Alright." It's noncomittal - she was certainly concerned, of course, but right now she did have something to attend to. "I'm heading back to Luca - there are still people who need help out there. If anyone asks."

With that said, she turns away, though she pauses at the tent flap to look back.

"I hope those burns heal up soon." She offers...and then she's gone.

===================================<* Caravan Kinship GBS - Happenings *>===================================

Message: 1/5 (12w 6d) Posted Author Going to Help Jun 24 2019 Jacqueline Barber


(A message goes up on the Caravan Kinship's board, shortly after the invasion of Luca begins.)

As you all likely already know, Luca was just attacked by Althena's Guard, using a pair of Veruni golems to open the way for a greater invasion.

I know we decided to stay out of it, but considering the change in circumstances I don't think I can sit by anymore. So, I think we should set up a camp to accept refugees. I've picked out a good spot - it's protected within one of the structures littered throughout the Highroad and offers a good view in the direction of Luca in case we need to escape. I can coordinate the set-up if needed, but I think your expertise, Catenna, will be crucial in ensuring everything is ready as quickly as possible - as long as you're okay with that, that is.

I'll be heading into the city on my own once everything is ready to go to try and evacuate the civilians where I can, as well as point them toward us. I think most of us should stay at the camp, but I won't stop anyone who wants to head up their own evacuation efforts. If you do, however, I suggest going in disguise - especially those of us who are already on their radar. And, most importantly, try to avoid conflict and /stay safe/ if you can. I don't want any of you getting seriously hurt out there if it can be helped.

Anyway, I don't have much to add here. I hope this is the last of it, but somehow I feel this is only the beginning.

Good luck, everyone.

- Jacqueline

(OOC: So, as the note suggests, Jay wants to mobilize everyone to get a camp set up to take in refugees from Luca! This is largely a way to give us context for what we're doing during the on-going events, while giving room for folks to say they did something even if they weren't able to get involved directly for one reason or another - feel free to do as much or as little with it as you like!)

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