[F1-OP] To strike at the sea <<raid meeting>>

[Baldur 0]

When Baldur had received the message for the meeting, he had been in one of the worst places to try and get back to a town to teleport, and he had not yet replaced the crystal he had used in the Labyrinth Guardian fight. The wanna-be samurai had made his way quickly back to the main settlement of the floor, and then to the first floor, then the long trek from the Town of Beginnings to the town near the labyrinth on the first floor, Tolbana.

Always prepared, and almost always dressed the same, Baldur showed up with his trademark blue and white haori, and his two katana at his side. The large man brushed his long, dark hair onto his back, and nodded to the mute cook he had only briefly interacted with on a handful of occasions. His smile to her was warm, but he quickly moved past her to get to the meeting. He saw his kouhei, Calrex, standing at the back, and moved to join the ultramarine knight. Putting a hand on the man's shoulder and giving him a friendly nod, but saying no more as he waited to see what would happen.

[Hestia 0]

Looking around i just nod my head seeing that nobody is saying anything in response towards the info that we have been given meaning that their is really only one course of action to take from this point forward. Alright! Now that i have shared the info that we have been given from a bit of scouting and from what we can try to infer from this chieftan that myself, Zandra, Neo, and Ruby had managed to kill with the aid of Shield, beat, Baldur, and Hirru. lets get to the part now where we can either discuss things that we believe we should be mindful of when entering the battle, preferred methods of attacks, maybe some guess work to how this fight is going to work, and than finally the party formations that people will be having after we get a quick count on who we have for each of the roles on the frontlines. I say towards the gathered group of players with as much confidence and authority that i can try to gather to myself when speaking towards the players. After that i quickly open my menu and start to type a rather quick message towards some players to try and get a quick little agreement going.

Spoiler

@Baldur@Ruby@Shield@Hirru@Zandra

lets try to keep that whole actual things that went wrong during the labyrinth on the down low for the moment. Lets focus more so on just keeping to the topic at hand. We have new faces no need to instill any worry into them.

 

With the message sent i wait patiently to hear if any brainstorming will occur among the, admittedly small, gathering of people compared to the usual raids.

[Shield 0]

Shield was not in a hurry to join the meeting. He could have easily invested another teleportation crystal to make his way to the first floor more expediently, but he needed to take his time. As he walked, he seethed. He had been angry at players before. Never before had that anger persisted beyond the instance where it was incurred, and if so, not with this intensity. He felt it in each step he took down the stony mountains of the eleventh floor. The shock of each footfall carried up into the bones of his legs. In the real world, it would have stung. Here, it was almost comforting in a way. Normally, he waited up for Beat for such important outings, at least if they left from the same location. This time, he had specifically told the younger player not to wait up. Hidden beneath his sleeve, the muscular grip of his serpent familiar, Lilith, clung to his wrist like an ornate bracer. She was strong enough to keep her place despite his jostling gait, though he was sure he'd get plenty of attitude about it when next he called on her.

A new message pinged his inbox, and as he saw who had sent it, his nostrils flared. He almost dismissed it entirely, but if it regarded matters of the front lines, he couldn't afford to miss a vital memo. He read the short missive and stopped in his tracks. "She wants us to-" He read it through again, several more times, his dark eyes darting across the display panel in front of him. "That woman is going to get someone killed." He quickened his step, both his speed and his anger redoubled.

By the time he had arrived in Taft, his temper had fallen off, but his trust in the players in question had remained unchanged. He entered the teleportation plaza, calling out his destination: "Town of Beginnings!" His arrival to the gathering was silent. He was not in the mood to make an entrance nor to start a fight. He had not called the meeting, so it was not his place to derail it as soon as he stepped foot into the stone theatre where it was taking place. He sat towards the back, leaning forward, elbows resting on knees, listening to try to catch up on where they currently were.

Edited March 6, 2019 by Shield

[Zuekin 0]

Zuekin waited patiently for Calrex to respond but before he could another player joined their conversation by giving him a word of warning about the frontlines. While he listened to the frontliners ( @Hikoru ) advice Zuekin sat there arms crossed over his chest 'so this is the floor raid meeting, well that explains why they are all here.' When he finished Zuekin responded "thanks but sadly I won't be participating in this raid I'm just here to see what kind of planning goes into these raids and to give any kind of assistance I can." After Zuekin finished the man walked away towards another player sitting away from them.

Once the other player left @Calrex piped up telling him that this was the floor raid meeting 'i guess he didn't notice the other guy when he told me' he then went on saying this would be a good learning experience for him and he should stay and listen "sounds like a good idea to me like I told the other guy I just plan on giving any help I can offer" he held one hand open and the other in a fist "be it words or action." As soon as he was done speaking the woman on stage called for attention.

As she spoke she mentioned of the area the fight would take place it was on a beach and it had holes in it most likely caused by the boss itself. As he thought about that a distant memory surfaced of him on a beach as a kid with the sun's rays beating down on him and the sand in between his toes while he watched small crabs crawl out of holes on the beach he yelled back at two older people on beach chairs under an umbrella, but as quickly as memory came it faded into black. When he blinked again he was back sitting on the stone stairs at the raid meeting with a small pain in the back of his head 'what the heck was that and who were those people' he wondered while he continued to listen about the floor boss she said that it could supposedly use both fire and ice attacks.

When she finished giving everyone the rundown on the raid boss she suggested that they talk about the preparations for the fight. Zuekin was the first to stand and walk up to the stage to speak his mind. When he reached the stage he looked at the other players and took a deep breath before speaking "before I start I would like to introduce myself, my name is Zuekin the future strongest player in Aincrad, and I look forward to working with all of you in the near future, but for now I can only offer my words as assistance to this fight" he waited for about a minute or two before continuing "from what I've heard so far about this boss it would seem that careful preparation is in order especially when this boss might be able to use fire and ice attacks I'd recommend everyone participating in the fight would need to get the snowfrost item drop from the avalanche quest that lets you reduce burn over time damage by half, it might also be a good idea for some of the higher dps's to use weapons with a slot in phase in case the boss has a mitigation boosting ability, and lastly how she described the holes in the ground gives me a sketchy feeling that it may spawn minions so make a contengency plan just in case it does it's better to plan for any surprises beforehand than making one up on the fly." When he finished he just stood there waiting for any responses to his lengthy speech.

@Hestia

[Neopolitan 0]

Neo idly watched the entrance while she waited for others to speak. As she did, she noticed a samurai like player walk through the entrance. She returned his nod to her and let him through without incident. Shortly after, @Shield also made an entrance, and a quiet one at that. She nodded towards him and sent a message letting him know he hadn't missed much, just Hestia relaying the boss arena, of which she had sent him a picture before leaving the area.

One of the players she didn't recognize spoke up. He was quite full of arrogance, though his insight was appreciated. It was quite likely the unnatural holes were for minions rather than the boss itself. However, there was nothing to say that they couldn't also house something to help them out. Neo didn't know much from previous fights though, just the rumors that circled around. Those were also the ones though that painted the front liners in an invincible light, so they were likely too far stretched for her to base conclusions off of.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur, standing next to @Zuekin and @Calrex let out a chuckle at the juniors comments about the boss fight, though he raised a good point about the minions. It would not be the first time for that to happen. The bosses seemed to follow some weird cycle of adds being in style and then not, then coming back into vogue. Taking half a step forward, Baldur projected the full length of the amphitheater down to @Hestia.

"Before we can talk about preparations, I think we need to discuss teams. Then we can discuss how teams can prepare. It would be more efficient for them to be determined in advance, and let the groups prepare together. If you know your party ahead of time, you could prepare feasts, or gather consumables together."

He gave his words a moment to sink in before continuing with his idea.

"Shield, Beat, Myself, and the tier 2 healer Anemone will form the core of one party. We have room for two DPS players to join us. Anemone is still working towards tier 3, so I would appreciate people who will require less of a demand on her energy reserves."

As he was speaking, Baldur suddenly noticed @Shield had come in while the wanna-be samurai had been paying attention elsewhere. He met eyes with the tank, and gave a nod.

"Who will be the other healer-tank pairs? Do we have enough for just two groups, or three?"

[Hestia 0]

Looking towards the new player i smile right away at seeing him speak up when no one else would do so as i give him my full attention to make sure that he knows that i am doing so. As their is only a smile across my face as i do so as i stand in a rather relaxed posture as i just nod my head as i listen to the possible theories that are being had by the player which is definitely useful to give some meaning to what those holes that came from the cliffs could mean.  When hearing the part about the snowfrost i blink slowly and than just grin since i had entirely forgotten about the item even though i have done the quest to get it so many times that it should be ingrained into my memory that i have lots of copies of the thing in question. The player seemingly being rather sharp at the very least mentally if not but a bit arrogant due to his claims as i just nod towards him. I than hear the samurai man speak once more and gazes towards him and just listens patiently to his suggestion for a team composition as i think through the other players that we have and just sake my head towards him. Baldur while i can understand that you want to remain with your friends and guildmates during a floor boss raid i would like to decline your want to be in a team alongside beat as excessive amount of damage. As we know if Macradon does intend to stay away from the frontlines, and possibly if Jomei decides to do so along with his girlfriend Tel. I say as i glance towards Jomei and give a small playful grin and emphasizing girlfriend since the two still haven't decided to put some time into anything beyond that. Than i think we would be better off spreading out the more offensive of our people into other parties so that we don't have a situation of just one party doing no damage compared to yours. With that in mind Baldur i would rather much get a headcount for the fight to begin with before we make some assumptions about who is going and thus who is attending. I say calmly towards the samurai as i than gesture towards the area that we are in.

For example, we don't have Hirru who usually shows up in some part, No Itzal, No morgenstern, no Macradon, no Beat but that might be normal since he seems to show up later rather than earlier, no Ruby, no stryder, do i need to go on to prove my point of what we are lacking in terms of people being present and thus affecting what teams we might actually form instead of what you had suggest for that heavy hitting team. I ask the man calmly not speaking in any hostile sort of tone speaking just calmly as i gaze directly into his eyes. So while i would think that planning with a group might be good for us we are missing to many members and thus missing a lot of possible group ups that could be possible.  We can assume who is coming based on past experiences, but all we know is that Shield, myself, and Calrex are here as usual tanks. That along with that we have Zandra, and Anemone as possible healers. I am confident though if given some time i can get Ruby as well as our third healer. So we know the healer and tank combinations if that was a issue. I say towards the gathered players directing once more to try and focus again.

Now than to focus back on planning and possible things we can try to gather as a whole for preparedness for anybody that needs cook buffs please send your requests towards our cook neo and she can get things rolling. Any alchemists can get into contact with Zandra, or even Morgenstern since i know that those two are alchemists last i had checked. If we need debuffs i can make them myself. Though to thank our new member Zuekin opinion i do have 4 extra snowfrost drops for people who don't have it themselves to prepare for any burn effects. For freeze however i don't know if we have something against that. I say calmly towards the gathered players staying within the center of the stage part of the gathering point of this theater.  If we do have minions to deal with though we should have one group that is ready to deal with any extra minions that could try to distract us from the boss, and if we're assuming some minions i think we should try to focus any we find if they are anything like the shaman minions of the labyrinth fight.

@Baldur@Shield@Zandra@Itzal@Domarus@Neopolitan@Hikoru@Hazado@Zuekin@Calrex@Jomei@Anemone@Hirru@Morgenstern

[Jomei 0]

It worried Jomei a bit that the meeting started without many members in attendance. A lot of the usual faces he would see at the fight were not around, especially many of the heavy hitters. Most of the healers and tanks were present, which was a bit of a relief.. but those focusing on damage, like himself, there were not many. Olive eyes scanned the seating to see if he had missed anyone. It only made Jomei feel even more guilty when Hestia mentioned that Telrenya and himself may not be attending the fight either. The man gnawed on his lower lip, eyes focusing on Hesita as she continued to explain everything she knew, and what they could plan so far. "If the possibility of minions is there, then there should be a sub group formed to handle them. It should mainly consist of players able to deal top area of effect damage to multiple enemies, and if we can spare one, a tank to draw their attention away from those focused on fighting the boss. Anyone in that group, if they don't have the armor to do it, should stock up on items to buff your mitigation levels, since you could be taking hits from multiple directions." 

Jomei did not realize that as he spoke, he slowly rose to his feet to be heard a bit better, he only noticed as he took a quick look around at the other players listening to him. "Of course, the tanks who can handle taking much harder of a hit should be paired off with the single hitters, those who can't produce AoE damage. Those DPS players should really boost their damage if possible with any Damage boosting items anyone can supply." A small sigh escaped his lips, his face settling into a much more serious expression as he crossed his arms, looking to all the players around him again. "I know we seem low in numbers, and we can really thank the shite show put on during the last boss fight. But we need to come together this time and fight. We all know whats at stake, and being at eachother's throats will only get more people killed..." his eyes returned to Hestia, "I know you had doubts of me coming to this fight, but it sounds like you'll need as many blades as you can get.. So I'll be there." With his speech coming to an end, the man sat back down. 

[Neopolitan 0]

Neo could tell that therewas contention, but that was no reason to not be trying to help out as best as she could. Nodding as Hestia pointed her out for getting cook buffs, she started to draft up a message to send to her for announcements. She didn't know the people who had left the front lines, but there was a very good chance that there would still be a few people showing up at the last minute. With her message written up, she sent it to @Hestia to view. After that, she sat back and soaked up information. Her form of communication did not work terribly well when addressing large groups.

Quote

TO: Hestia

    I'll be having packs of items available in my shop specifically for the raid. Though I'll also be providing items at the raid itself if I have spares, those that get in a request I'll make sure have their items. I'll also be fighting more than likely. If there is enough time between this meeting and the fight, I might hit the next tier of levels but I don't tihnk I quite will. As for damage, I am entirely single target due to my rapier. Put me where you see fit, as I don't think Hazado is planning on fighting. I do have my own snowfrost already, but am willing to take people through that quest if they want someone to go with.

 

[Shield 0]

Shield sat back, listening and skimming the little that had been discussed from Neo's message. The conversation had begun shifting slowly to preparations for the fight, and that made him extremely uncomfortable. He took a moment, thinking through how he wanted to phrase what he was going to say. Hestia had her reasons to keep parts of the last few raids under wraps, but to gloss over the danger they all faced would be even more dangerous. Slowly, he stood, his eyes forward. "We're getting ahead of ourselves," he said, giving little glances to those who had thus far been discussion item distributions and the like. "While I appreciate the urge to move the front lines quickly, we need to take great caution moving forward." He gave Hestia one last look and half a nod before continuing, confirming that he was at least going to try to follow her wishes, but only so far. "The last two raids have been beyond what we players have faced, and not by a small degree. Without proper planning and coordination, we could not have succeeded. As I look around now, I do not see the proper number of sheer bodies needed to mount our next offensive." His features were grim and his dark eyes held a foreboding behind them as he looked around the small gathering.

"Artemiel had the capability to put a party down that was not properly defended," he explained, careful to not to divulge more information than necessary - at least not yet. He still wanted to give the benefit of the doubt. "The sahagins in the labyrinth were specifically designed so that if you didn't bring enough firepower, you could never win. We have some very powerful players gathered here, and if those gathered decide to go forward, then I'm not going to abandon the cause. That being said," he gave one last look around, assessing the players he saw and making guesses about who else might be likely to attend aside from those present, before returning to his thesis. "We're not ready. If we push on in the state we're in now, judging by how the last floor boss went, I wouldn't be surprised to see players start to die."

Edited March 7, 2019 by Shield

[Baldur 0]

Baldur gave Hestia a sad smile, disappointed by what she was trying to do. He felt some part of his optimism die at her words. Now the choice came to him which backup plan he should take, but he had to fight the heartbreak he felt. The gaijin samurai took slowly put away his disappointment, and began to consider the options, and to try and push away the emotions that he did not want to let color his logic. They needed a plan, and they needed to have a productive boss planning meeting. Not attending the meetings could potentially be a mistake that gets people killed, or people could show up without a spot.

"With all due respect, we can't talk about having an AoE group to deal with adds, if we're only going to have two parties. Knowing if Ruby-chan is going to show up as a healer is critical to being able to do any sort of planning at all. My gut is that we can count on her, but the difference becomes too stark. If we only have two teams, then people who don't have damage potential lose seats on the raid. But whether we have 2 parties or 3, and if we want to consider an AoE party, then that would mean we should pair Zandra-san, and Cal-kun. Since Calrex will need less healing, and has great AoE damage, then Zandra would be able to heal less, and concentrate on AoE damage more, which she is her natural proclivity anyways. That would team you" Baldur indicated Hestia, "And Ruby, giving your party two potential applications of Field Medic, which would be ideal for any players which may need a higher safety net, which tends to be your modus operandi."

Baldur gestured to the relatively small part gathered around them. 

"The intention of these meetings is to plan for the raid to come, but we cannot do that if our number one resource, people, is the biggest unknown. Had we guilds, I would ask the guild leaders who they can account for on their roster to bring, but we have a lack of those at the moment."

Baldur took a deep breath before he player another card he had in his sleeve, though he was unsure of the wisdom of it.

"We have been working with Hirru-kun after what happened. He is remorseful, repentant, and understands what he did wrong. We have worked with him in his desire to make right what he did wrong. If the raid in general would allow it, Hirru would come back to the raid and help out. He has been working to reinvent himself, and to try and become a bigger contributor to the raids. However, if his presence would cause more discord than accord, he is prepared to stay away."

For once, Baldur was unsure of what to say next. He knew what he wanted to say, but not how to get the meaning across.

"I think only perhaps Macradon-san and Hidden-shi were more angry with Hirru for what he did, but I now understand what caused Hirru to choose the action he chose, even though I would not have done the same in his shoes. If Hirru is to be summoned to this meeting or the raid, then I want commitment from those here that he will be not attacked as he was at the raid. And if more time is needed for that wound to begin to heal, then so be it. But I want to hear a verbal, 'Yes', he's welcome,' before I ask him to join in."

@Zandra @Ruby @Calrex @Zandra @Hirru @Hestia

Edited March 8, 2019 by Baldur

[Hestia 0]

I smile towards Jomei when he starts talking and even mentioning that he'll be attending the floor boss as i give him a grateful look and a nod of my head. Glancing down towards the bottom right i see the message from neo and give it a quick glance over for the information while keeping an ear out for what Baldur is talking about trying to divide my attention as evenly as possible to keep up with what is being handed to me. In the sense of either to speak on the topics being presented, or to hand out any information or try to just be as good of a leader as i can for this setting. Thank you Jomei for giving us your confidence in attending, and i also hope that Tel would be their as well to join us. I say and pause a little bit as i think on what i just said and chuckles a bit nervously as i rub the back of my neck. Even if we kinda. you know. didn't really give a stellar performance for her very first raid and seeing what we're like and such. I say towards the man with a apologetic look within my eyes before i turn my head towards the audience as a whole. To continue. Neo as i mentioned is our cook for this raid and is offering a bundle of items to help those attending the raid, and if they're anything like bundles back in real life that means they're probably cheaper as well if you tried getting them separately. I say as i than glance towards Baldur and Shield and just nod to do my best to acknowledge that i heard them and have no plans on ignoring any words shared.

To speak on what Baldur and Shield have said. I would be fine with Hirru attending the raids and see no reason for him to be removed. Though that might be a bias since i did support his actions within the raid when he had enacted them seeing as how it did work out in the end for us in a favorable manner. Also, Baldur you had read my mind really when i was thinking of the tank and healer pairing since those are the only pairs that really make sense to me if i am being honest with you. However, assuming that Ruby remains absent for the raid i would still push for three groups despite that factor with myself playing my own tank and healer since i can take care of myself just fine with the battle healing i can do, and with the fact if things go belly up like Artamiel i can field medic like i did to save my life back then. I say towards the man and than thinks on his words to see if i did miss anything when it comes to what has been spoken from the group. Also, yes of course my objective in the raid is to deal with the boss while also making sure our weakest members of the raid our entirely safe from any killing blows since as we all know. Our goal in this game is to escape, but what is the point in escaping if we leave a trail of corpses that could've been protected with the right preparation. WHich is why i always fight for the safest route for those in the most danger of being lost. I say as i than turn to all who are present. With that in mind! Bring a teleport crystal to use within the fight if you want to attend this floor boss! We have grown way to comfortable with only a few exceptions of always remaining fine while within fights seemingly. If you don't have a teleport crystal than buy one, if you can't buy one i'll buy one for you to make sure i don't need to see your name on that monument scratched out! I say towards the group with a dead seriously look within my eyes as i look from one person to the next slowly. You are all friends whether my actions or words could say otherwise i view you all as allies and i would cry if even one of you fell because of some stupid collection of ones and zeroes.

Now if i may give a headcount for those who we know are attending just so we can work with the correct framework of who is here and who isn't as a unknown factor. We know that for the tanks we have myself, Calrex, and Shield which has our grounds covered. We than have Anemone, Zandra, and Ruby as our healers which has our grounds covered once more. Which leaves our DPS which are Jomei, Baldur, maybe Beat if Shield is able to confirm that for us, Macradon, Domarus, Neo, Hikoru, and Hirru if we can have him back. Anybody else we can't be sure of their status of coming from my understanding. With Morgenstern being unavailable to attend this meeting due to his status of being an orange player, and the same could be said for Aereth due to this being a safe zone, and Itzal having entirely just decided to disappear.  I say listing off the players in question as i than wait to see if their is any kind of initial response.

@Zandra@Neopolitan@Jomei@Baldur@Shield@Beat@Itzal@Domarus@Zuekin@Calrex@Stryder@Hikoru@Ruby@Anemone

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru listened quietly as things continued onward. He listened to the planning of the groups and nodded, writing down the notes of what the boss room looked like and the roster, as to add it to his library for the History of Aincrad, which he hoped to take with him to the real world, he cleared his throat and stood. "If I may give some insight as to where to put me. I know I may not have the biggest AoE, but I am the only person here who does not receive hate when I attack unless I get a critical, but even then it's very few. With the giant damage spikes that I deal per opponent, something such as crowd control would be good, as I am a Burst DPS." He said. "So, if it's okay with everyone, I'd be asked to be put next to Calex and Zandra. They gain enough hate that I wouldn't have to worry about anything except AoE attacks, but even then my evasion is high enough to help avoid it," he spoke, then looked at Zandra "I do hope me being on your team would not be a problem." He said sincerely, almost apologetically. He then put his attention back to the group. "If anyone has anything against this with proper evidence, I am all ears, but this is what I would ask." He said, then he sat back down and resumed his notes, patting the back of Jomei. "It's good to have you back, and yes, maybe after this we could go to a pub, or to my house. It's been a while since I've had a good drink." He said with a laugh.

[Itzal 0]

Itzal was listening but felt like things could have gone better.  He was a bit frustrated that Hestia outwardly announced she supported what Hirru had done even though it was outright treason.  And especially since they were witnessing bosses becoming far stronger.  What's worse, he found out that Hestia was trying to keep the once in a lifetime revival a secret, as well as the dangers of Adrian.  She was trying to cover things up to make the frontlines look strong when they weren't.  It was a facade that would fall very quickly.  It frustrated him...  He didn't know if it was fear, or an attempt to keep everything going as far as they could, but this wasn't going to work.  In fact it would just make everything collapse at some point in the future when the truth was revealed.  Itzal wanted to get that bandaid off immediately rather than later.  When he heard Baldur suggest Zandra to be partnered with Calrex his eyes almost lit up.  Calrex!  Domarus, Zandra, Calrex and himself.  That wasn't a bad party.  He pulled up his message and sent it to Zandra.

Quote

Zandra

The proposed team I'd suggest for us if you're willing, is Calrex, you, myself and Domarus.  I've already spoken with him and will speak more after this meeting, but I want to know if you're ok with this before I suggest it.

After he sent the message he chose to speak up.  "Before we get too far into this discussion there are three things I would like to announce to everyone."  When Itzal spoke he used his American accent and a different pitch of his voice, disguising himself almost perfectly.  He didn't move, simply stood there with his hood up.  The shadow programmed to block his face working perfectly.  No one would be able to identify him.  "Some of this information I attained myself, and others I found through conversing with others.  The first: There is a young child named Adrian loose in Aincrad.  He is a serial killer and is extremely powerful.  Probably among the level seventy players.  Frontliners, when you aren't fighting the boss I suggest you either seek him out or be around lower leveled players as often as possible for their own protection.  If you want more detail on Adrian, speak with Domarus."  Domarus, who wasn't expecting the attention and was a bit shocked, looked away from Itzal.  Not from anger or surprise, but from the shame.  Itzal continued.  "Secondly.  For those of you who don't know, a young man named Pinball was arrested around Christmas.  I've located a prison we can use where players cannot teleport out, and Hestia declared she would handle the rest.  And thirdly,"  he said, not looking at Hestia when he said this, but the crowd.  "For reasons unknown, the Fallen Angel and Demon event chose to keep players alive by resurrecting them immediately after they perished, keeping them in the courtyard until the event ended.  Regardless of what that meant, the bottom line is it's doubtful it will happen again.  Frontline players were destroyed during that fight.  Players originally thought invincible.  This is a reminder to everyone that you are putting your lives on the line here.  If you join the front lines, you could very much die.  If you want to fight, you should know the risks as well."  And with that, he fell silent.  The truth out.

@Zandra@Neopolitan@Jomei@Baldur@Shield@Beat@Itzal@Domarus@Zuekin@Calrex@Stryder@Hikoru@Ruby@Anemone@Hestia

[Baldur 0]

Baldur listened as things carried on in the meeting, trying to respond in kind to each of the proposals that were made. With Hestia announcing that Neo would be selling bundles of enhancements provided for each role.

"I strongly recommend that everyone go and get a suite of consumables. It can, and often does, make the difference between only doing a little bit of damage over the mitigation of the boss, and actually doing good, sustainable damage. Especially if the boss has a mitigation boosting ability like the Field Boss did, or if they are going to play with hate mechanics, then you want to be able to survive a hit. Don't overlook Overhealth and mitigation enhancements."

When Hestia decided that she would tank a floor boss without a healer though, Baldur felt his hackles rise.

"I understand your courage in wanting to tank a boss without a healer, @Hestia-chan, and having high confidence in your ability, but the only way that would be feasible would be if everyone in your party carried at least 1 full stack of party heal crystals. Even though, it would not be a good idea. You wouldn't just be putting your life in jeopardy, but your party's as well. There will come a time when you may have to choose between healing and taunting, and no matter what you choose, someone may lose. Even with a stacked party, it may not be enough..." Baldur didn't mention what happened at the event boss, since it was Hestia's desire to keep it secret, but that didn't mean they could ignore the lessons they had learned.

At this point, Baldur turned to address @Hikoru's comment, even though he felt a bit pedantic.

"Hikoru-san, that actually is an argument as to why you shouldn't be in Calrex-kun and Zandra-san's group. You generate less hate than anyone else, so it makes more sense to put you into a group that generates less hate, which would be Hestia's group, if she does not have a healer. If she does, then it doesn't really matter. I doubt we will have 6 strong AoE types to stack into a single party, and then if we are wrong about adds, then we have hamstrung one group with a lot of energy consumption and no way to balance it."

It was then, that some emo-edge lord (@Itzal)who wanted to hide his face behind some kind of black particle effect spoke up, speaking up about things he either had no business talking about, or was so ashamed of who he was, he wanted to deceive his friends and allies. The thought of it disgusted Baldur to his very core. What was this business about cereal killers, and prisons? It had no place here.

"I don't know what your goal is here, Chuunibyou-shi, but this is for planning a boss raid, not playing cops and robbers. If you can't be bothered to show your face, and let people know your name, and begin spouting off about things that have no pertenece to his meeting, then you need to sit down." Baldur, uncharacteristically, fumed. "You don't get to come in here and tell people to risk there life, and then dangle a possible chance at revival. Did you even think before you spoke? Do you understand the deaths that could be caused because of Kayaba's sick joke of an event fight? The fact that if we die in game, we die out there is one of the most fundamental struggles of the frontlines, and now you want to tease people that maybe, just maybe, Kayaba might make a sick joke, a mockery, of the sacrifices by others?

"Don't take the death of those who came before so lightly!" Baldur's voice only grew in fury and in volume the further his tirade went on.

Baldur had whole-hearted disagreed with Hestia about keeping what happened at the event boss secret, but this irreverent, egotistical, chuuni, sure picked the worst possible way, and worst possible forum, and worst possible time to try and make himself sound self important.

But Baldur could feel the storm clouds in his eyes, and the fury, so completely at odds with his normal composure, radiating form his form. In truth, he was almost surprised the game didn't have some way of visualising the emotions he felt.

He grit his teeth and glared down at the stage where Hestia stood.

"My party is not changing. Our 4 will take two more with us, or else we will show up as 4 on our own."

With that, the Samurai whirled and stormed out of the amphitheater. 

(Baldur has left the area, but not the thread, in case someone chases after)

[Itzal 0]

Itzal didn't expect the reaction he received.  Though it seemed that there was some miscommunication, hence the reaction.  Baldur was assuming that he was mocking people and taking this all as if it were a joke.  Itzal made a silent sigh and waited for Baldur to finish.  When he did, the samurai left before he could reply to him.  So he spoke to the rest of the group.  "To clear up his misunderstanding.  I am not mocking the dead, far from it.  I've paid my own respects to the dead already, and I do not seek to dishonor them.  I only seek to make a point:  I am not telling people to risk their lives.  I am not telling any of you to do anything.  I am only revealing what has yet to be laid on the table:  You.  Can.  Die.  Mock me all you want, this is a fact of life.  Believe me or not, it's my intention to protect people.  Just keep an eye and ear out for what I'll be doing in the future if you want proof.  In edition, I already declared that I believe it very doubtful that anyone will be revived a second time.  In fact I'm certain of it.  If they want to fight on the front lines they have a right to know the risks."  He let his hands drop to his sides but didn't move other than that.  His hand resting against his sword's pommel in a resting fashion, not in hostility or defense.  "Kayaba is a sick bas***d and he will pay for what he's done and is doing.  Hanging false hope above us being included.  So instead of accusing me of doing the same, recognize I am only showing the dangers in the frontlines.  Especially since the bosses are becoming even stronger.  So as to protect players who are not yet ready to train more, and to collect the consumables required to ensure a fair chance of survival.  If any of you wish to 'lecture' me more, do so after this meeting.  I've shared my warning."  Velnia stared at Baldur but did nothing.  It was clear she was sensing hostility from him and was in a position ready to protect him if he was attacked.  Once the man left she seemed to settle down some more.

@Baldur

[Hestia 0]

I just watch the display in disbelief in multiple realms of what i just had to witness before me without having any room to try and intervene and interject myself into the conversation to try and settle things down to a point of at least not where it ended up. I glance around at the remaining players and feel some small amount of anxiety form within me at having to deal with whoever this little black cloaked *****hole was that Domarus felt so inclined to try and bring along. Than have to think of some manner to get he gaijin samurai to get back towards the meeting so that people can actually coordinate. With a sigh as my shoulders visibly slump ever so slightly i take a deep breathe and just try to keep up the act of total professionalism and confidence about what is going on within this moment. Casting my gaze slightly towards the ground in but a brief moment of thought i than look back up and towards Shield. Shield i am not backing down about my idea of having Baldur on my team when it comes to this. We need actual damage oriented people spread out like we had during the Artamiel event. If you are going to agree with baldur and have your group leave because of my idea of what could be beneficial to the whole i'd be disappointed. I say towards the man as i just look him in the eyes as i say that before looking towards the whole group of players gathered that remain which is low as is. Now than after this meeting i'd say we give ourselves a week or twos time to prepare depending on how fast we can get those buffs rolling out for the whole of the raid. Crafters lets assume that about 20 people are in attendance to this raid. With that we'd need the usual stuff. Teleport Crystals, Damage buffs, mitigation buffs, evasion, accuracy and protein. I'll get crafting up one of each kind of debuff for the raid that way we'd be at least prepared for whatever this boss is going to be that we're facing. I say towards the gathered people as i quickly go through my mind the players that are present.

Now than the teams that i am suggesting for this raid. Team 1 is Calrex, Zandra, Hikoru, Jomei, and whoever mister black cloak over there isi!  Team 2 is Shield, Beat, Anemone, Macradon, Hirru!  Team 3 is myself, Ruby, Domarus, neo, Baldur. If stryder shows up he will be apart of my team as well. My group is focusing on primarily Tier 2 coverage to make sure they don't die and the addition of Baldur to have some power to our punch. Team one led by calrex i see as the most evasive group with Calrex as the tank making him a good initial scout for the attacks the boss could throw our way. With Shield's group being generally a rather well hard hitting team with their members. However, if Macradon does not show up i'd like for Jomei to switch over to Shield's group to cover that missing individual. I say towards the players as  look towards them to see whatever reaction as i send a message out towards Macradon to let him know of what is going on from a possible team composition if he wished to join. Along with the discussions in terms of buffs, boss room design, and what we suspect of the boss.

Team 1 (scout/evasion)	(hard hit, can sustain)	(protection squad)
@Calrex	@Shield	@Hestia
@Zandra	@Anemone	@Ruby
@Hikoru	@Beat	@Baldur
@Jomei	@Macradon	@Domarus
black coat ( @Itzal	@Hirru	@Neopolitan
		@Stryder

 

[Calrex 0]

"Other guy? Geeze I must have been more zoned out that I thought."

As Calrex's senses became a bit more alert his memory reminded him of seeing Hikoru talking to Zuekin a few moments before he himself had spoke, "Man I really really to get back into the groove of things. It almost feels like I'm going on autopilot now more than ever. Probably not the best thing with the frontlines in the current state that they are in."

His mind was still partially in this tuned out state, but he was able to boil down what was being discussed, as most of it was going to be the division of teams and their composition. Most of the discussion relating to his own spot was being placed alongside Zandra, Hikoru, Jomei, and the seemingly masked person that had joined in as well, "That guy seems fairly familiar, but it's been a while, so even if I did know them maybe they had changed their appearance from when I last saw them. Nonetheless, it looks like the team is going to be composed of regular veterans.."

It was at this point his attention was fully grabbed when he heard a raised voice, from someone he was not expecting. The volume was one that caught him off guard for a second because of how close in proximity it was, as well as who it was coming from. Baldur seemed to snap at whatever the cloaked player had said previously before storming out of the gathering, "That...rather unusual for Baldur. For the man that trained me so much on the idea of mushin, that outburst seemed out in left field. Maybe I'll need to catch up to him later, but right now he probably needs a bit of time to cool off."

His eyes moved over onto the figure once again as the young man, at least from the tone of their voice, clarified what they had said, "Well I guess there was some miscommunication there, at least from what I can gather. Geeze I really need to start paying more attention to these meetings. At least that last thing's got my full attention now."

With that the teams appeared to be laid out for everyone to review and discuss. The last thing Hestia had thrown in was that Jomei was in a bit of a flexible position at the moment, with his team placement being determined by Macradon's capability in participating in the raid. With that the bluenette gave a small sigh as he let his mind think of their composition, "Zandra I know for sure specializes in AoE damage, while Hikoru with his skill can basically be consistently be dealing focused target damage without having to worry about gaining more Hate due to his unique skill. The young man over there seemingly appears to specialize in straight sword, so he would be a bit of a flex role. So the question at that point would be whether I start out with single target to focus the boss as well, or use AoE to potentially gain Hate on multiple enemies that appear. The other question will be if I can get the new Skypiercer commissioned from Oikawa in time, because if so then at least I can start with that before changing out."

[Shield 0]

"Don't count on Macradon," Shield said plainly. "He made it fairly clear that he's retired indefinitely from the lines." He watched Baldur exit the arena out of the corner of his eye. Apparently, he was not the only one who had shown up to the meeting with frustrations. It was everything he could do to bite his tongue. "Hestia," he began, he took in air, pausing on his held breath as he tried to find more subtle ways to start, but as long as people were ripping of band-aids, this was one that needed to be removed. "You aren't in any special position of authority. You don't get to dictate what other players do, especially when you have been openly uncooperative in our recent dealings. You're preaching unity in the open forum, but behind closed doors, both on the battlefield and in smaller gatherings, you dig in your heels and refuse to play nice." His eyes pointed at the direction Baldur had stormed off. "Are you really surprised people are starting to get testy?"

He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, his dark eyes still focused coolly on the woman on the stage before them all. "I stand by my resolution from before. The front lines are not prepared for what's to come. You can have all of the consumables and temporary buffs in the world. With the new breed of bosses we've been facing, they demand more than just stats and bodies. They demand strategy. They demand discipline. Those are two things that we lack as a whole."

He sat forward again, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands on his knees. "When the early arrivals in that last fight ignored our words, we compromised. Even though the lot of you snubbed us, we joined in and tried to help, even though it was not in our best interest to do so." He left the last few thoughts unfinished. Hestia had requested that those who had been present not say what had happened after that. However, they all certainly could remember retreating from the labyrinth at some point or another. The word 'disaster' danced on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it back and proceeded. "Don't try to make me pick sides, because you won't like my answer. I have seen Baldur's strategies and their potency, and I trust him implicitly. Don't make me choose between the plan of the player I trust and the plan of the player who has refused to trust us.  Besides," he went on, conjuring up Hestia's own words so that only those who had been present to hear them the first time would notice the venom behind them now, "you won't stop people from just continuing forward and doing what they want at the end of the day."

[Hazado 0]

Haz was still sitting on his shield a bit looking at all the commotion around him, it was getting a bit too hot for some friendly strategy talk. True whatever this Shield guy said was true the rumors were out there, People have lost quite a bit of hope that they ever will be getting out here, And now seeing it first hand as well it was kind of sad to see. Knowing Hestia she was going to act as leader as long as she cant be proven otherwise, but this shield guy had a point as well, we DON'T know what they gonna have to fight, even tho Haz was not strong to join as tank yet, He knew that at least this was just a big black hole that keeps taking people into it.

Standing up from his shield Haz towered over everyone here standing tall at around 6'4" feet tall. It was here that Haz spoke up and not even lightly, "Ok, I think I see what is going on here, First of the pleasantries out of the way, I'm Hazado, Most call me Haz, Sure some of you know me, but I'm a Tank in training." he paused a bit for a second or so, "Now that is out of the way, Hestia, I know you want to push and get out, And Shield I know you want to keep people save, But both can't be done. A strategy is needed I agree there, But how will you get this, what do we know about the boss, what do we know about our new enemy. Nobody here Knows how the boss works, and if you want a scene like the last raid and make the rumors about the frontliners losing numbers and never getting to floor 100 THEN GO AHEAD, start augmenting here. But I can say one thing because I have now seen it with my both eyes, this is just a Sh** hole, so get it together, It's still a game and game mechanics, so use your gamer knowledge and makeup teams that can do something." He paused again, looking at Hestia signing her to calm down as she seemed like she was about to explode anytime soon.

"So listen to me and hear me out for once, If it's true we have not many tanks than me need to make sure every party has ONE tank, Next up to that Every Tank needs its healer, If we put people who can heal next to the once who Tank we will have a good starting point. Next up We need to place the DPS players, we can move them over the different groups, My best suggestion is to Put a Hard hitting DPS in every Party, Katana users would be handy here," He says looking at @Baldur Knowing he is a Katana user, "If we have anyone with MA can be in a party as well. So meaning in every party out best option is to put 3 for sure people in, A tank, A healer and a Strong DPS.For those who dual class here they can be very useful if their stats are standing good to it." He said and looks around again nodding again.

"Most of you don't know each other's stats at all, And if we look at the stats from every player that will join we can start putting people in parties, Sure being with friend would be good but it would mean you are focused on your friend and protection them, But most part of the frontliners is... That you protect everyone and not just the one you care about." He looks at Neo as he says this before nodding again, "I know you won't take my advice because I'm still a newbie here, but just think about it, My vision is the current vision of the other players from lower floors and this here is just a mess so take some advice from the son of a military officer and get to know your teammates." He said before crossing his arms, Never knew He could go after his father here a bit and just say what needs to be said as the current groups here was really not in order.

@Hestia @Neopolitan @Shield @Itzal @Calrex @Hikoru @Jomei @Zuekin @Zandra @Domarus @Anemone