[PP - F11] Fifteenth Floor Boss Raid Meeting

[Macradon 0]

Everything was going so hectic, the blame game was also being mentioned. The failure of the recent boss raid and whose fault it was. The majority pointed at Zelrius, the strategist of the recent boss raid that didn't go that well. Dom also mentioned that it was his idea, it was all becoming a big mess. All he was hoping for was for Mack to make a good strategy with his military experience, with the bit of knowledge he had about frontlining, raiding and bosses, he had nothing to say. He would just wait and see for what Mack had to say, probably having the few teams with a healer in each team or in the middle of the rotations, some tanks on the vanguard as well as some minion sweepers like Dom and Macradon.

The boss, as Takao described it, seemed to be a spider like monster with little to no armor, which will mean that its mitigation will be very little, which was great for the ones that were on the job to totally annihilate the boss with their high DPS, Macradon would take the job as the ankle biter sweeper, which he was fine with, as he did the job so well that he was awarded the Demonic weapon from Rohk. Though it wasn't something he was in need of, it was always great having it. Back to the boss, the boss room was a spider's nest theme, cob webs would be scattered around and somewhat reduce either evasion or accuracy, Macradon would not worry too much as his mitigation was already high, as well as having a potion in his inventory for the fight if it was needed. 

[Mack 0]

Mack listened to the rumbled and tumult as players lobbed accusations and argued and fired off thoughts and ideas. With each new voice that spoke up, the ginger behemoth's neck and face muscles twitched just a little bit tighter. Always just a little bit tighter. Finally, he laced his fingers together like a pianist and cracked all of his knuckles in one swift movement. Drawing Invictus, the soldier slammed the steel shod butt cap of the weapon onto the stone flagged floor of the guild hall. Once. Twice. And with the third sharp peel of metal striking stone the rumbling voices fell silent. Re-sheathing his weapon, Mack stepped forward moving from his spot behind Takao to stand next to the scout and rest a hand on his shoulder.

"Enough chatter," he rumbled in a low, even tone. "First issue is first, we will remember the fallen with the proper reverence," he continued, even as Ssendom was exiting from the meeting. "But, pointing fingers and assigning blame will get us nowhere. The last raid did not go smoothly, we are all responsible enough and mature enough players to admit that. Being under-leveled was a major concern and to address this issue, for this floor raid, we will be adopting the policy used by the Knights of the Blood Oath. If you are not at least level twenty-five and kitted out in top tier weapons and armor then you will not be permitted to take part in the raid. If you need top tier weapons, shields, or heavy armor speak to myself or another blacksmith. All Knights who do not meet these requirements, step back from the planning table now, you are here to observe and to see how things are done. Most importantly, you are here to see and know that you are valued parts of the Knights of the Blood Oath and to see that your brother and sister knights need you to get moving and join us on the front lines." Mack waited for a moment as the directed was followed by the white and red clothed members of the guild.

"Second, we need to consider all of Takao's information. In a nutshell, ankle biters spawn at a rate of around two per player. We can expect poison since these are spiders and poison would follow the M.O. of both Shelob and the Acromantulas from popular fiction and we can assume this boss is based off of those fictional monsters. Takao's mention of a lack of armor on the boss itself seems to be worth mentioning as well, likely this means a low mit boss but Takao has also said there are four health bars and around two thousand HP to deal with. Based on the information provided we should also expect some penalties to certain stats. Spiders spin webs, Takao mentioned webs, webs are entanglements. Perhaps this means a drawback in Accuracy and Evasion, perhaps it means that Limbo will attack at a faster rate than the normal bosses do. It might even mean that we get webbed up as a stunning effect, similar to Rohk and the nest," Mack continued, placing his hands on the Guild's planning table and leaning down to look the other front liners in the eye.

"I like speed as much as everyone else does, but I like safety more and our strategy is going to be conservative but powerful. I will also be assuming overall battlefield command and appointing team leaders, I expect people to follow the orders of their team leaders and, as Heathcliff points out, we will need a reserve squad. Beyond that, you can expect that I will lead from the front, just as the Azure Commandants do. That style of combat leadership is admirable and it is one that I respect. I will also not give any orders I would not, myself, carry out. Our lead team, Alpha, will consist of Tristan, myself, Heathcliff, Macradon, and Zelrius... assuming that Zelrius is still with us since I don't see him. Our job is two fold. Tristan, Heathcliff, Macradon, and I will focus on clearing the minions. Zelrius will focus only on the boss, he is the hardest hitting player in the game. It's cold to say it, but he is a weapon and I intend to let him do what he does best against Limbo. He's going in early to get in before the room fills with minions. In military terms, the five of us are a tank and Zelrius is the cannon. Assuming there are twenty to twenty-five players in the raid party that means there will be forty to fifty minions. Let that sink in for a moment. With the regen abilities that Macradon and I have we will step in as sub-tanks for Group One as needed and use our weapons to efficiently clearing minions with AoE attacks."

"Group Two, Bravo, will be led by Opal," Mack rumbled, nodding in the woman's direction. "I also want Ssendom, Takao, Manta, and Ebony in that group. Ssendom can tank for you, with his Berserker skill and he will be the first one through. Ebony will focus on healing whoever has the greatest need. Manta, Takao, and Opal you're all on Boss duty unless reassigned to minions if if team one is getting overrun." Mack paused for a moment and pulled up his inventory, he scrolled through his items and selected a ring that had been forged for him long ago by Vasth. When the simple gold band with its inset ruby appeared he flipped it to Lowenthal.

"Lowenthal will lead group three, Charlie. He's run a guild in the past and I trust that he will follow orders. I want Shizuka, Ariel, Hikoru, and Brax in that group. Brax, I'm asking you to function as a tank for the group, though I don't honestly know your build. If you get into trouble, shout and one of the reserves will help you. But, with your weapon you should have the AoE to handle any minions that come your way. Lowenthal, Ariel, and Hikrou are all on Boss Duty and Shizuka, you'll be doing the same thing as Ebony, lobbing in first aid as needed. If you pull minions, Brax will deal with them." Mack continued.

"Oikawa, you were until recently Azure's Brigadier, the only one they've ever had. Or at least the only one I've ever seen. I want you to lead group four, which will be our reserve unit," Mack said, indicating the blonde man and knowing that it would ruffle some feathers, possibly even Oikawa's. Not that the gruff smith cared. "I know it's not a glamorous task, but I believe you both have the knowledge necessary to know when, and how, to deploy reserves when needed if I'm occupied with what I expect will be a spider swarm. You'll take Zandra, Baldur, and Calrex, plus most anyone else that shows up. We can reshuffle when we meet for the raid, if needed and If Baldur and Calrex are no shows for the Raid then I want Zandra in Alpha and you in Charlie. Both of you will be on Boss duty in that event." Mack stood up from the table and held up his hands.

"This strategy is conservative, I admit that, but it's also safe. We can't afford to lose more players and when the Minions spawn in those kinds of numbers we're going to need tanks on the front lines to hold them. With the recent re-balance of game mechanics, according to the info brokers, that prevents parry and thorns from being used on more than four mobs the main blockers will have to be supported by players that are acceptable tanks in their own right even though Macradon and myself aren't, strictly speaking, tanks. Bravo, you're in the role of infantry. You roll in behind the tanks and go to work while we block. Charlie, you're the artillery. I really don't expect there to be a ton of minions that make it past both Alpha and Bravo, so rain down hell on the boss. If this Raid goes sideways, you can all blame me and me alone."

"In the meantime, I'm asking Alchemists to focus on antidotes. I'd like every raid member to have at least one, if not two. Also, damage pots for those on boss duty, mit pots for the tanks, and safeguards. Also, for the love of God those of you that don't have teleport crystals please try and get one," Mack said, glaring around the table at everyone. "Chef's, if you can craft feasts now is the time. I'm asking chefs and artisans to focus on overhealth items. Those will go to primary tanks first, and then to everyone else. As for tailors and blacksmiths, please do what you can to equip people. Anyone needing something a blacksmith can make, if it's for the raid it's free."

"I'd like to launch this raid, unless Takao says otherwise in two weeks to give our crafters time to work, and a few who are close to being front liners a chance to get to level twenty-five, but I'm willing to listen to suggestions on time frame. Does anyone have any questions?"

-1 Grandmaster's Honor - Given to Lowenthal

[Opal 0]

Opal had sat patiently watching the events unfold before her eyes. The arguments, the constant slander of the ones who passed, the true heroes of the last battle seemed to come and go and she sat there. Her thoughts were mixed ones of the bunch, her crystalline white eyes sank low as the players came and went from the tower distracted by the others from their verbal or physical abuse. She sighed lightly, this was not what she was expecting as their Christening into the fifteenth floor battle raid, but with three sharp blunt sounds ringing from the floor to echo in the mighty guild meeting hall, her eyes snapped wide open to look at Mack who took charge of the presentation as Takao had suggested for him to do. 

As Vice Commander, she knew what her place was among the guild. She was there for a reason, but Mack had the experience in real life and she could not compete with that. She felt somewhat jealous of the person, but oddly enough it didn't affect her to the point where she couldn't admire his strength. She wished she had that, the best she could do now is learn from him and perhaps use that in the future should anything ever happen to her Blades' Captain. When the planning was dished out, Opal raised her eyes to Mack as he gave her the orders he wanted carried out as well giving her a team of players to lead into battle. She gulped, two of them were from the Azure Brigade. Would they follow her orders in battle or would they stick to their guns and ignore her due to their guild colors? The Vice Commander looked to those who were left, Manta and Takao, she would do everything she could to protect them in this upcoming boss fight. She would need to prepare herself to be a strong and unwilting flower to see this to the end. She nodded to Mack in recognition of the plans. She had nothing else to say that would add support to what was already established, hopefully after this they could move on and start to focus on the true task at hand. 

"At the end of this meeting, I would like those of you in the Azure Knights to join me, Mack and Heathcliff for another meeting. I would like to talk to your members in private when you get the chance." 

Edited March 28, 2016 by Opal

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan was a bit disappointed about having no drink left, but didn't dwell on it since there were more important matters in discussion here. The players were briefed on the situation further and they talked, squabbled over matters and Dom walked out, to which Tristan nodded in reply to Dom of essentially representing Azure Brigade. He looked across the various players to measure their reactions as the plans were announced, thinking already of how to approach it all.

"I'd say a week. I can guarantee some players here or other frontliners already have a stockpile of potions like safeguard and while we should prepare, there is no good in waiting twiddling our thumbs either. I can accept those team rotas with effectively I leading the Vanguard, Dom leading second group, Lowe three and Oikawa four. I will as always try to be the focus for the damage absorption, though I can't guarantee safety from crowd control so healers are paramount, to which I'd almost say reshuffle the groups so there is one in each, with a somewhat damage dealing one in the first to avoid them sitting around first phase of the fight. As for the info broker information, I've confirmed with several brokers the one on Parry is true, but the one on Thorns is a false rumour. With that, I don't think there is much more to say.". Tristan waited to see if anyone would reply, though he doubted it. He did raise an eyebrow to what Opal had mentioned. Was she trying to yank the Knights out to join them? After the Knights of Blood broke their alliance with the now Azure Knights, this seemed a bit of an odd move. Not that he was a Knight, but as a commandant he still raised concern.

[Mack 0]

Mack nodded his head in affirmation, recognition, and response to Opal's directive asking for him to remain after the Raid Meeting to meet with members of the Azure Knights. When Tristan began to speak, Mack turned his attention to the tank and he listened to the suggestions and weighed what Tristan said carefully before responding. "I can agree to moving the timetable up to a week from now. I had initially only planned the two week delay to try and bolster our numbers and give crafters a bit more time. But, with the info we have on the Boss, I think you're assessment is not a bad one. I do want to be clear on one thing though," Mack rumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "I want to make sure everyone is on the same page. The first people on each team through the doors will be yourself with Alpha, Ssendom with Bravo, Lowenthal with Charlie, and Oikawa with the reserves, assuming we have any. I believe that's what you meant when you said 'team leaders'," Mack continued, his tone and his locked gaze on Tristan making it very clear that the hulking axe man really did believe that and that he wasn't accusing Tristan of anything. "However, the team commanders will be myself, Opal, Lowenthal, and Oikawa with overall command of the operation being in my hands and the blood of any players we may lose being upon my hands and mine alone."

[Oikawa 1]

Oikawa sat back as Mack brought the meeting to a silence. The crimson haired mammoth of a player made his voice heard over all the incessant chatter. Explaining the teams and how it was to work. His composition of players, as well as his tactics regarding those players, were sound. The teams actually seemed fit for raiding unlike that of the previous fight. At the mention of his name, The blonde raised a gloved hand slightly into the air, so those unfamiliar with his name and appearance would know who was leading the reserve team. Dropping his hood, he nodded to Mack, acknowledging the duty he was set to head.

Letting the man finish, Oikawa thought about the preparations he would need. Taking note of the raid date, which was roughly a week from now, he thought about the best way to equip himself and his team. Thoughts only began to surface, when he heard Mack's declaration of offering his smith services for free. No sooner than he ad finished, Oikawa took the floor with a message of his own. "The plan is sound Mack, and despite what some may think, I am perfectly fine with running the Reserve Team. In tandem with your own service, I will also be offering my services as a Blacksmith to equip those who are still unprepared or unequipped. As far as my personal team goes, it is mandatory that you are willing to sacrifice personal glory for the greater good. If you can't bother to get off your self ego high horse, you are not doing anything but making it harder for the raid team as a whole. This is for everyone else: We have a week to make the best possible version of ourselves prepared for this fight, don't procrastinate and don't be dumb. Be prepared to fight and win or be prepared to die. Those have always been our two options. Don't succumb to the latter."

Having said his peace, Oikawa placed himself back up against the wall and thought on preparations in regards to the given information.

[Jomei 0]

As Jomei approached Zandra, greeting her with a smile and wave, she merely gave him a nod, her eyes not breaking contact from the ones who were speaking. Oh.. guess she's really focused then.. Without another word, and a slight frown on his face, Jomei crossed his arms and turned to bring his focus to the meeting. Not much had started yet, some conversation between players here and there. Eventually Takao, who was leading the meeting, spoke up to give them the information about the boss. Jomei had yet to explore Floor Fifteen, but from what he heard, it was like the shadowlands of a deep forest.. large creatures lurking within the darkness. This boss being no exception; a giant spider. A giant. Goddamn. Spider. Jomei grit his teeth and shuddered, "Of course its a [censored] spider.." he said under his breath. He listened the the rest of Takao's information, which made him consider not showing up even more.. but he knew he was needed in the fight. 

Again, without many words, Zandra dismissed herself to speak to Manta about something, "Oh.. Okay." Jomei said softly. She didn't even say hi.. hethought to himself, looking at the ground for a moment. Takao passed the torch on to Mack, who was coming up with the strategy for the fight. As usual, the raid group would be split into smaller groups, a handful of quite capable players taking the helm of each. Jomei listened as he read off the names for group Alpha, Beta, Charlie, and the reserves. The irishman's brow furrowed and he straightened out his back. Something had quite ticked him off. "..Good plan Mack... and I hate to sound like a selfish one when I say this.. but I didn't hear my name there.. I'm hoping you were not planning on leaving me out." Jomei spoke in a low tone that showed he was not too happy at the moment. He was not happy about a lot of things going on, and of course they were reflecting in his overall attitude. But to be left out in the roster of a boss fight, when he had been present for the past 4 or 5 bosses did not tickle his fancy. He almost considered walking out. Letting them handle this one on their own. But he decided against it.. not now. 

[Mack 0]

OOC: Sorry Jomei. I had the teams all written up and then the dynamic changed and I had to rebalance and reshuffle. Didn't mean to not mention you, totally my bad!

The man who had stepped into the command strategist role for the upcoming boss fight on fifteen glanced around at the words of Oikawa and he nodded his thanks to the blonde, both for the man's willingness to offer up his smithing services gratis for those that needed it and for his willingness to accept a place commanding the reserves without complaint. It was good to see that Mack's initial read on the blonde player's willingness to be a team player and sacrifice glory in favor of safety and clearing the room was not incorrect. When Jomei spoke up, Mack shot a look in the other red-head's direction and did a mental head slap. He hadn't intended to leave Jomei out.

"Apologies Jomei, you were omitted as an accident and not deliberately. I would like you to join Oikawa with the reserves. The truth of the matter is that I except Charlie team to rain down their heaviest hitting attacks until they're energy depleted, so having other heavy hitters like you and Oikawa there to switch out with them so they can replenish their energy will be very beneficial," Mack said, inclining his head in Jomei's direction to make it very clear that there had been no slight intended to the other player, even given their recent run in at the hot springs that had landed Mack in hot water with Opal and Piera.

[Zandra 0]

Zandra listened to Mack as he started to tell them about the groups. She was surprised when she didnt herd her name in the first group. But what surprised her more was that neither Ebony or Shizuka was there as well. Was he gonna go with healer free first group? At least there was one in second, Ebony and third, Shizuka. So Zandras place was with the reserves? The smallest group that maybe was only her and Oikawa. But then ahe realised, Jomei wasnt mentioned in any group. She was getting realy confused. Tristan gave his opinion and Mack answered. She decided to mention her boyfriend didnt got a group. But she havent even opened her mouth when he did it himself. It seemed he was placed in reserves as well. Maybe it wouldnt be that bad to be in the reserves after all she thougth and gave Jomei a smile.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

As the planning progressed, new players came to the meeting. This was starting to look a lot like the hot springs event that the blonde stumbled on a while back, hosted by the same prominent guild. At least the blonde was safe in Hikoru's arms and began to calm down .. that was until the boy in question decided to have his turn on an emotional outburst. She watched as Hikoru went to Ssendom and grabbed him by the shirt, despite being left behind the blonde's left hand instinctively went towards her rapier. With her right hand she reached for Hikoru "Nighto-kun you don't have to..." 'do this for me.' was what she wanted to say but remained silent as he apparently woke up from his frenzy and a slight apology went towards the exit. Her eyes then darted towards the Berserker as he excused himself and went towards the exit as her man-to-be. The blonde wasn't about to let her future husband face him alone so she made a couple of hasted steps towards them, her heart racing out of her chest with each one. She came to a stop and Ssendom simply brushed by Hikoru and let out a sigh of relief. After wiping the remaining tears from her eyes, she turned back towards the planning table. She'd trust Hikoru would keep himself safe.

Soon enough the appointed leader by Takao made a gesture to get the crowd's attention. Despite the intended effect, she calmed even more as the whole room reverberated to the sounds of his weapon hitting the stone floor. She slowly made her way towards her initial place, behind Zero's seat as he was one of the two who out ranked her inside the guild. Showing that she was behind his words 100%. More importantly she trusted him a bit more than the majority of people here... for his sincere attitude. She once again opened the fan that she almost forgot she had in her hand and began fanning herself almost like a authentic geisha. She was a bit hurt that nobody, not even Hikoru noticed her attire for the meeting. As she continued to listen the blonde let out a small snort that she covered beneath her fan as she heard Mack point the details for 'team Charlie'. She wouldn't expect Mack to know as he is a more recent addition to the front lines and had no desire to tell him that Lowe was a 'pin' in her guild before Velvet Room. She continued to listen until he ended then after all others spoke she closed the fan with a loud snap, to make sure she got people's attention. People were giving free items and she couldn't pass on the occasion to do so too. Things at the shop had been, slow lately and she needed a change of pace, plus she had a few things to add to the planning.

"The Lion's Den offers its services as well, during the preparation period for the boss fight, I will once again accept custom orders for tailor-made items. It isn't much but that's all I can offer profession-wise." she let out a sigh and continued eyeing all that were present at the table. 
"Team distribution... seems ok, fine." she said as she put her left elbow on the top rail of Zero's seat and rested her cheek on her left hand, slightly tilting her head as she continued on a high enough tone so that all can hear. "You all talk about items that you apply on yourself. How about talking about some offensive items?" she left a small pause so that the rest would at least take a second to start thinking about what she was referring too:

"I'm talking about debuff songs... specifically those who work against groups of mobs. It's true they offer a minor debuff on enemy Evasion or Accuracy but I thought it was worth mentioning since we will be facing enemies literally two times our numbers. If 'they' take' away our Accuracy or Evasion, shouldn't we return them the favor?. I suggest the non-combat members of each team carry one or two."  She then tapped the top of the chair, again with her closed fan... wooden sounds echoing through the hall before she spoke once more.

"Besides aren't you forgetting someone again?" she asked with a smile while stealing a glance towards Jomei and giggled, regaining the happy facade she had before. "I didn't hear my little sister's name on that battle plan... I think you should take into account at least all the unique skills possessors that participated in the previous fight." she then tapped again twice to let them make a mental roundup of who participated in the last fight and take a mental guess as the only ones that knew of their sisterly relation were Calrex and Hikoru....and Azide. "I'm talking about Teayre, the crimson maiden with the frickin 'dekai* ' katana for those of you who weren't there." she said as she turned towards those who the appointed raid leader told to stand back from the planning table. She took a moment to consider her attitude until now 'When did I become such a drama queen?', hiding a small laugh behind her fan as she snapped it open again.

At last she looked at Opal, offering her a small bow with her eyes closed as a gesture of acceptance then went and wrote a quick PM.
"Hikoru, take your time to cool off until the planning ends. After that we have a meeting with the KotB to attend to. I want you to be by my side then... even now." she ended it there and press 'Send' as she felt her happy facade begin to crack again.

'dekkai' - jap. "huge" Translation bubble. system..thingy.

Edited March 28, 2016 by Ariel - The Crowned Lion

[Mack 0]

"Thank you for offering your tailoring services, Ariel," Mack said, turning to the blonde woman and acknowledging her generous offer with a nod of his head. "It's greatly appreciated, and your insight on debuff songs is also valuable. I know the Knights have a performer in our ranks, but I don't know if any of the performers in all of Aincrad are capable of crafting the necessary songs. I admit, I'm not particularly well-versed in that craft. Perhaps you'd be willing to look into it, or if you know a performer or two that definitely have the ability to craft what we need. I'm certainly all ears on the proposition," the gigantic man rumbled, standing up straight and resting one massive hand on the back of Takao's chair.

"As for Teayre, I don't recall seeing her in the last clearing operation and I don't believe she's here right now either. Of course, I also know that she would be a very valuable team member. If she does show up for the fight, she will be rolled into Oikawa's reserves and if we have a significant number of players show up for the Raid who haven't yet arrived then the plan will be to re-organize some of the teams with Oikawa taking command of a Delta team with a focus on killing Limbo and, in that scenario, I would be placing you in command of the reserves, Ariel. If there's nothing else, I think we can adjourn this meeting for now. Thank you all for coming and please let those front liners that weren't in attendance know when the next raid is."

REWARDS:

+1 SP for all participants
+800 Col to KoB Guild Coffers