[OP-F24] Casting a long shadow <<Floor 25 Boss Meeting>>

[Bahr 0]

As Bahr listened into the other Frontliners chastising a young bew tank for having the audacity to offer her shield to the Frontlines, something stuck out to Bahr. "This boss was capable of delivering powerful attacks that put even our strongest in the danger zone." And with that, Kenny Loggins was stuck in Bahr's head. 

No... Not here...

But it was too late. The rhythm had infected his every pore. 

Shit.

Luckily, the conversation quickly transitioned into addressing Bahr's points, which distracted him from any sort of real music-inspired outburst. He silently tapped his finger to the tempo of Danger Zone as he listened to Baldur explain how darkness influenced the fight, and the special reward they had received to mitigate such quandaries moving forward. Bahr offered a nod of understanding toward Baldur before turning his attention to the man seated beside him. 

"While I was not present for the labyrinth boss battle, if it's deemed appropriate to have extra sources of light, I am more than happy to provide a handful or two of Glow Stones to be distributed among parties." 

Bahr nodded again. "If I remember correctly, a Glow Stone influences the sight if your entire party. Given how few of us there are..." He glanced briefly around the room. "I don't think we'll need many. Getting a Lab Boss participant in each Floor Boss party should do the trick, with Night Vision on our scouts as backup."

Then, they transitioned back to Orgoth. Could the thing actually be freed from the Shadow? Bahr doubted it. At the least, Bahr didn't have any idea how they could pull something like that off. But, if others had any ideas, Bahr wanted to hear them. From what he was gathering, the thing had held off the Shadow while the Frontliners made their escape. That was power they could use. 

"Mmm....but don't lights make shadows...bigger....?" Ah. There it was. But as much as Mari annoyed Bahr, he had a responsibility to represent his guild professionally at an event such as this.

"Indeed. The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes. However, if given the choice between knowing exactly where those shadows lurk, and just having the entire arena blanketed in darkness, I'm going to opt for the former."

But discussions regarding Orgoth and the benefits of illumination were brief, and swiftly overtaken by discussion about team composition and consumables. Bahr sighed and settled back in his seat. Of course, these things were important to keep in mind. But there was not point with bothering with them now, before they'd even surmised an adequate strategy. 

"Hate to sound rude, but..." Realizing his slouched posture, Bahr sat up a bit straighter. "Let's focus on strategy before team composition. It would be really frustrating if we nailed down teams, only to find out that they're all wrong once we have our strat fleshed out. We've agreed on lights, but we haven't all agreed on Orgoth. If we can all come to a consensus on that, maybe then we can focus on team composition."

"... Do you think it might be possible for it to possess a player?"

And interesting contention. Bahr leaned forward and shut his mouth, listening to what NIGHT had to say. 

"Just as easily as it could get in Orgoth, surely it would be able to do so with one of us, perhaps? Do we know how powerful this minotaur is? If he stands stronger than each of us combined, this may not be an issue-- it's likely that Shadow wouldn't dare possess a vessel that's weaker than the one it resides in at the moment. Plus, converting them to our side would be a welcome factor in the fight. ...Still, this is Cardinal we're talking about. It would give me some peace of mind to know there is no spark that may initiate player infighting."

"Additionally, in the worst case scenario, I need to trust our leaders to be capable of ordering a death sentence to an abled player should the need to do so arise."

"Furthermore, I would like to lend support to some of Mari's words. 'Lights make shadows bigger,' wasn't that what you'd said? It's possible that we'll need to find a way to prevent it from casting its darkness around, though I'm not too sure how. The other possibility is to allow Shadow to spread itself thin as much as possible, and pick a battle with it at the height of its power. To be honest, I don't like either of those speculations, but they might be good scenarios to be considered..."

Bahr nodded thoughtfully as he digested NIGHT's input, putting a single pointer finger over his lips while the rest of his fingers cupped his chin. There was no reason to believe that the Shadow couldn't inhabit a player, even though they supposedly hadn't seen that yet. Truthfully, it seemed that the deeper they dug, the more questions they unearthed. Something told Bahr that the Frontliners had only witnessed the tip of the iceberg when it came to the Shadow's utility, and those who hadn't seen the creature up close had only secondhand knowledge to go off of. 

"The idea of Shadow taking over a player as a host doesn't sound too far fetched. However, I think that killing off said host would have to be a last resort. From what the scouting team has said, this thing sounds like a cunning creature. For all we know, that could be exactly what it's planning. So unless we're absolutely sure that killing off one of our own would lead to the defeat of The Shadow, I say we keep brainstorming ideas on how to free Orgoth - since that is most likely how we would free players if The Shadow were to ever possess one. However, that's only if this thing actually has the capability to possess anything else."

"I agree with both of you," Bahr finally chimed in, having noticed a marriage in the potential issues regarding the Shadow's possession ability. "There's no reason to think it wouldn't inhabit any one of us. Should this happen, I can't see any positive outcome unless we are prepared for it. Infighting while the adds continue to file in sounds like an absolute nightmare. Morale degradation would be almost inevitable as we would be turned against our allies. And if Orgoth truly is the Shadow's enemy, who's to say that a freed Orgoth wouldn't attack one of our own indiscriminately should they become possessed?" He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Honestly, it's stressful even just thinking about it. Even if not for the sake of liberating Orgoth and harnessing its power, we should have a contingency for potential purification techniques we can use if it possesses one of our own. That being said, if it does come to a worst case scenario..." He returned his attention to Baldur once more. "Did you see it leave a body it inhabited while that body was still living? Or did it only leave its host after it had died?"

Oppressive, uncomfortable silence filled the room as the gravity of Bahr's words sank in. Nobody wanted to think about dying or being forced to kill one of their allies, but it was a very real possibility that they were going to need to consider if they were serious about clearing this floor. 

"Apologies for the interjection. If you're not familiar with who I am, I'm Calrex, member of Jacob's Ladder, and a regular frontliner tank/off-tank since the eleventh floor boss fight. To add a bit late to this strategy for Orgoth, I would agree that gaining a temporary ally for this fight would prove useful, going from what's been said so far. However, I wouldn't bank too hard on that idea. There has in fact been at least one time to my memory of a similar concept being thrown around for the floor raids. I'm not sure who here was around for the floor thirteen boss boss fight, but Leothiel, an angel that was captured during a quest before the battle against the floor boss Avarious, was strongly hinted at to have been capable of being turned back. Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case, as the Leothiel merely served as a damage sponge for the floor boss. There is the chance that the Cardinal system did decide to go with some way of removing the possession, but going from past knowledge we can't be fully sure that will be what happens."

Bahr pointed at Calrex as he made his point, eyes scanning the room to make sure everyone else was taking what the bluenette said seriously. "There'a also this. We don't know for certain that Orgoth will be a useful force - we only have speculation based on what we know so far. Furthermore, from the way it was described by Baldur's briefing, it seems as though Orgoth was willing to help the players because the Shadow was their shared enemy. Who's to say that once the Shadow had been felled, Orgoth won't turn its aggro against the players?"

[Zajcica 0]

The paladin sat when Shield told her to. Her eyes were buried into the tatami mat as several people voiced they opinions, their concerns and their recommendations for her offer. She just wanted to do what she could to help with the boss raid. It was for this reason that she had powered weeks and weeks worth of grinding and learning to reach this level. She wasn't quite at the level that she felt totally confident but she had met the minimum standard that Baldur had mentioned in his opening.

This conversation was beginning to derail in a way that made her start to feel uncomfortable. Soon, it could devolve into an argument that she refused to listen to. Even after Baldur had kindly asked people to save the topic for later, they continued to try and vouche for her, or to explain further why they believe she shouldn't be on the front lines. This wasn't what this meeting was supposed to be about and she wouldn't let it continue.

"Please. Stop talking about me. Concerns have been voiced adamantly and Baldur has asked you all to focus on the topic at hand. If my presence becomes a problem of focus, I will leave. We can talk about what I can do to help after this initial meeting." Yuki's voice was a little broken up as she tried to maintain her posture. She hadn't expected so many people to voice their opinions on her, but this wasn't the time. She hoped that her words would be lead people into talking about what was important. She just didn't want to be the center of attention anymore. This whole time, her eyes were glued to the mat under her knees. This was probably one of the most embarrassing things that she has had to endure for awhile.

[Itzal 0]

"Your presence isn't a problem." Itzal said before anyone could reply. No doubt most of everyone would turn to him at this point, but honestly he wanted everyone to be able to move on from this and just let it rest. "No one is questioning your determination, strength or skill, nor your honesty and willpower. However you shouldn't go rushing in like that. Our goal is to escape this game alive. If you die here, not only will you have wasted your only life, but you won't be able to aid the frontlines anymore." Itzal sighed, a bit annoyed with how things had been going lately. Aldion kept it's eyes on @Pinball and Hidden, while Itzal continued to look towards Zajcica. "Take the back seat for now. Come with us and get some experience under your belt. Then get stronger and move forward. You don't have to prove anything to anyone. So just focus on the next step." He looked at @Hidden and @Cordelia. "If you two haven't become aware just yet, there were at least two moments in recent floor and event bosses which the frontliners almost died. In fact, one event managed to kill off one of our more powerful tanks by the end of it. So think twice before you tell someone who only just made it to tier three to feel free and take all the heavy hits from a floor boss." His fist tightened for a moment. "Especially when the scouting party nearly died escaping it."

"Now then. Can we please move on to the discussion of the boss?"

With that, he turned to the rest of the players. "Bhar is right. If the last boss fight proved anything it's that we need a solid strategy more than ever before. We can't just rush in and attack it anymore. Managing energy consumption, timing our attacks right, managing our actions between the different players, will be more important than ever. As for whether or not we can get this Orgoth onto our side or not, I'd say it's a risky gamble. If we really want to go through with that, the best course of action would be to send a team in to test it out, and teleport out with the results. Otherwise, I strongly recommend we avoid taking unnecessary risks during this fight."

@Zajcica@Bahr@Mari@Baldur

[Oscar 0]

What a bunch of pansies, thought Oscar as he entered the room. Both hands perfectly balanced trays piled high with the best Mexican cuisine he could literally bring to the table. While he'd been busy cooking for the first part of the discussion, he figured that through context clues he'd be able to pick up the gist of it all. He did walk in just in time for Yuki to get mobbed by a bunch of people telling her that she wasn't welcome in the boss raid. From the amount of people gathered here, Oscar was of the opinion they'd need all the help they could get. Yuki was no slouch. She'd blazed through the levels so quickly that he didn't even realize she was Tier 3 until he walked in here. And because she was Tier 3, it stood to reason that she would be able to handle herself in the raid. Perhaps not as easily as some of the other players, but she was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Oscar cleared his throat in an effort to disrupt the current string of conversation.

"Excuse the interruption. Food's ready," Oscar said, punctuating his statement by gesturing to the twin four-foot-tall mounds of tacos, burritos, and other assorted meat cylinders wrapped in tortillas. "If anyone feels the needs to continue to dictate whether someone can or cannot join the raid because of their level, despite their being at the planning meeting, I would recommend you shut the hell up and eat a taco. You would literally be more productive shoving food in your face." He said his peace with a smile before giving Baldur an apologetic glance. This was his meeting in his home. Oscar didn't want to be disruptive, but neither was he going to let the bash Yuki crew have their way.

Having said his piece, Oscar found a seat close to Bahr and the rest of his guild members. No sooner had he sat down did some edgy asshole decide to ignore his request and immediately continue the Yuki discussion. If looks could kill, the glare Oscar shot @Itzal would have caused the dude to explode into a thousand tiny particles. At least he made a point though and was willing to help move the conversation back on track. Ooh, you lucky you made a good point. I was about three seconds away from shoving my size fourteen where the sun don't shine. Oscar's discomfort and poorly-contained rage was quite visible. Oscar had spent most of his time in Aincrad considering the Frontliners to be complete elitist jerk-offs. Meeting Baldur and Macradon shifted his opinion somewhat, but this whole discussion about whether they would allow Yuki to participate brought all of those irritations bubbling to the surface. Now, he was in a room with them and - outside of three people other than his guild - he wanted to rip all of them a new asshole.
But for now, he would participate.

"As for whether or not we can get this Orgoth onto our side or not, I'd say it's a risky gamble. If we really want to go through with that, the best course of action would be to send a team in to test it out, and teleport out with the results. Otherwise, I strongly recommend we avoid taking unnecessary risks during this fight."

He turned to Itzal, intent on getting into the conversation somehow. It was rather ironic he was suggesting they don't take unnecessary risks while simultaneously recommending a huge effing risk himself. “I don’t think that’s wise. We don’t even know what Orgoth can do. Personally, I’ve brushed up on the lore of Floor 25. Orgoth is basically a god to the NPCs. I feel like if we send in a party to scout out mechanics, we’ll probably be cutting ourselves short. Anything less than our full fighting force would probably get creamed before they even knew what hit them. We’ve got a god possessing a god situation going on here. Even if we sent our strongest players in to scout, I’m not convinced it’s a risk worth taking.” Oscar paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "All of the lore points to Orgoth being a benevolent force. If we can find a way to get the Shadow out of him, I can almost guarantee we'll have earned an ally. What that means for the fight, I don't know. I do know that having a god on our side, however minor his aid would be, would be a good thing. The priority should be freeing Orgoth."

[Crozeph 0]

A few minutes before reaching the kitchen...

Crozeph felt really bad, he didn't want to be that hard on Yuki. "This is me, and I hate this part of me," he thought. He proceeded to make tacos from the wagon and quickly made his way into the kitchen, as he walked, he went past a girl. She was glaring at him as if he was a disappointment to her, it was just a few seconds but Crozeph felt like at least five minutes has passed. He felt a familiar chill as if he knew her but with her attire and rather innocent-looking face, he would never expect himself to know someone like her. 

Back to the meeting room...

He reached the kitchen and helped Calrex and Cordelia get the tea. The two went ahead while Crozeph tried the arrange the cups and the two tacos he prepared for Yuki and him. Soon he made his way back into the meeting room. He was expecting the players to have moved on to the next topic about the floor boss and was surprised to hear a cloaked guy talk about Yuki again. Whether it be her joining or not, her capabilities or skills, Crozeph's anger was stirred up again. He bit his lip and slowly passed the other cups to the players. There was another player to arrive, the girl he met earlier. She had this attitude that Crozeph was starting to dislike. Whoever this girl was, she's derailing the flow of the meeting. She went on how Yuki was capable like most people who were in the frontlines. Crozeph placed his tray behind him and made his way back to @Zajcica

He placed his hand on her head and gently brushed it "hey I'm here now don't worry" he told Yuki as he hid his tray behind him. Crozeph's teeth were beginning to clench, he could see Yuki getting embarrassed after just volunteering. Yuki wanted to help and while he didn't approve of it, he was not gonna let this put her down even when someone was acting all smug inside a meeting that is going well. Wasn't Shield's words enough? he was on point and now others are just repeating it. He looked at @Baldur, it was a look that was between "I'm sorry" and "allow me to handle disturbances." he was the owner of the house and Crozeph didn't want to act disrespectful, add to that his guild leader Shield as also here. He tried to hold his peace, or was he even at peace when the meeting started. "Yuki? it's fine, I've got a taco for you" he told her as he handed her what he made. "I don't want to make it worse, I'll just hold my anger back," he told himself. Oscar has already said a word of advice and Crozeph liked it, finally someone directly to the point, someone with common sense. 

As Crozeph took a seat next to her the girl shifted closer to his side. She was doing her best not to make a scene out of what was going on, which was easier now that the conversation seemed to be going off her and onto the topic at hand. "Th-Thank you." She softly whispered, taking the taco from him and nibbling into the meat and shell. She had never had a taco, so this was a new experience for her tastebuds. Quietly, she whispered one more thing to her better half, before she would listen to the topic of the meeting again. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in front of Baldur.."

Crozeph looked around him and waited if anyone would open their mouth and cause disturbance again or even bring up Yuki, he'd ask Baldur's permission to escort them out. "Not on my watch, not on my watch," he thought as he placed his hand on her shoulder. The meeting was supposed to gather info, come up with strategies, and lastly make a plan aiming for zero casualties, when did it turn into a question of how capable a player is? also the girl was someone he didn't know yet he felt fear the more he looks at her, if push comes to shove and she runs her mouth again, he'll gladly guide her outside.

[Assassin 0]

Assassin followed Ariel into the estate proper. She was still nerved as they walked in, sticking close to Ariel enough to ensure that she wouldn't lose her in the crowd.

Ariel took her off into the familiar kitchen however to find a man that was nearly two times her own height selling tacos to the mass of participants at this meeting. Ariel took a moment to make her the taco and tamales. She had had tacos every once in a blue-moon, but as far as a tamale? Assassin had never heard of this thing before. She took a bite out of the taco, her minds seemingly off the giant of a man that was Oscar and onto the great Mexican food he had prepared.

The duo headed into the hall where the meeting was happening. Assassin took a seat against the wall as Ariel had, sitting close to her as possible without making her uncomfortable. The girl made a small mess between her legs as she bit into the taco again. Once she finished with that food, she made and attempt to clean up the mess of meat, cheese and lettuce. It seemed at this point, she was in her own mental space, even as Ariel spoke up to tell the paladin how terrifying this boss was.

Next it was time to try the tamale. The girl took a bite into the soft shell of the food, liking it more than the taco since it didn't make such a mess. She scarfed it down rather quickly for her size, but still wasn't satisfied with her hunger. Once Oscar had brought his prepared foods into the room, the girl walked over and grabbed three more of the tortilla wrapped foods. She quickly headed back to Ariel, after thanking the cook, with a napkin this time. She set the tissue in her lap and enjoyed the food at her leisure.

That was about when Hidden dove into the party. Assassin had no idea that it was her until she walked over and stood next to her. She shrunk at first, not realizing the face she saw was a familiar one, since the rogue is normally seen in a hood hiding her face.

"You had me worried there for a bit Ayame."

The girl's ears perked as she looked deeper at the face. No one would call her Ayame, other than, "Nee-chan?" She said to Hidden, only realizing how badly her nicknames were going to clash with Ariel and Hidden. Ariel being Nee-san; Hidden being Nee-chan. She whispered quietly to the woman. "Why would you worry, I'm here with Ariel." The girl raised a finger over to the lioness, to put a face with a name.

@Ariel - The Crowned Lion @Hidden @Oscar

[Shield 0]

Shield knew that taking such a strong opposition to Yuki's offer would not be met with kind remarks. Hard stances tended to be divisive, and taking any sort of hard line would invariably be met with backlash. He was prepared for what came, and he did not shrink away from it. He listened to the words of both Cordeila and the other player with whom he was not particularly familiar, and he let their words percolate in his mind as the meeting continued. Once he felt he had given them time to process, he began to formulate a response. As he was able to find air in the conversation, he spoke. "@Cordelia," he began, making sure he had the katanista's attention before beginning his response. "In general, you're not far from the truth. Players should have a say in the roles that they play, particularly in an RPG. That is at the core of any game. If you're not playing the part you wish to play, then why play at all? I understand the value of choice. However, taking on the role of a tank - especially that of a main tank - is not held in the same regard as other roles on the front lines." His stony, dark brown gaze held steady, unyielding as he spoke. "If a party had a DPS or a support player who was not fully prepared for their role, it would complicate matters for party members, but it would be more or less just that - a complication. An inconvenience.

"Having a main tank who discovers too late that they were unprepared is a death sentence - and not just for them, but for those they are protecting," he added, giving the words the full weight of foreboding they deserved. "The mechanics of SAO are not so fluid that other members can simply splinter off and join other parties at the drop of a hat. Once a tank gets picked off, it is staggering how quickly the players under that person's protection can drop."

He could see both from Yuki's response and from how she held herself that she had been winged. He also saw how the words of those gathered were mounting, and each new response was a stone that was added to her back. He stood properly, taking a step towards Yuki, not to advance on her, but to take up a defensive stance between her and that onslaught of words. Even in the guild hall, he found it difficult to remove himself from the role of a protector. "Being a tank in this fight comes down to much more than just Hate generation and mitigation. We are going to need to pick players whose health pools are as great as possible, since it impacts not only their ability to take the hits but also the speed of their battle healing. That cannot be simulated with a few adjustments of equipment and skills."

I daresay she's had enough unwanted attention by now. I didn't expect this much blood in the water. 

He turned to @Hidden. "You speak of it as a foregone conclusion that the front lines will be waiting at the door as soon as the countdown ends and the doors open. It is far from that. I am well aware of the dire need of both tanks and healers. The guildhall that you sit in was founded with the intent to serve as the ladder between the lower floors and the front lines, helping those who wish to ascend and fill those exact gaps as needed to shore up the front. Do not mistake me. I would never insist on starting a fight we are not properly equipped to handle." His words had moved on from Yuki, but there was an imperceptible quality to his stance that any observer would note was a warning against those who would continue to lean into her. "The solution is not and will not be to throw more bodies at the problem. It is preparation and a healthy dose of caution. If need be, we will wait until we have the players we need."

With that, he turned his attention back to the meeting at large, though he did not relax his protective stance. "I did not have the benefit of having been through the labyrinth boss fight, but speaking from the past, we have seen bosses that could momentarily hijack players, invade their thoughts, and even supposedly capture their souls. I do not think we can rule out anything as a potential limit to what kind of control a boss could have."

The discussion of light was a fascinating one. While it was impossible to say if light behaved the same in the strict context of this fight, there were some thoughts worth bringing up. "Regarding shadows, the best way to dispel them is to have multiple sources of light. There is no true shadow cast with enough ambient light. I cannot say for sure how that would play out in our case though." 

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

spoiler aimed at > @Oscar @Assassin @Hidden

Spoiler

Listening to the different inputs, Ariel settled with taking Oscar's advice, she began nibbling on the tamale she forgot she even had in her hand. Luckily, people didn't seem distracted by it or simply ignored it. Seeing him set several plates around the room, she eyed the one next to her and after gently pressing her palms against each other in front of her chest, she closed her eyes and was thankful for the grub she was about to indulge in. Ever since she had joined SAO, one of the small things she missed was her father's cooking. That unknown itch finally got scratched now after many years, as she tried the impromptu chef's dishes. Any who would see her would notice how she was carefully eating the mexican food with gusto. Even if they weren't native spanish dishes, the cook did a skillful job pinning down the common ancestry. Seemed like Assassin was enjoying it too as she went for seconds.

When the new person arrived, she paid little mind to her opinion regarding Yuki, finding it redundant as she continued to indulge in the new guilty pleasure she never knew she had. The blonde did however stop eating and raised an eyebrow when this new orange player stood next to them and patted Assassin, calling her Ayame? Noticing the initial reaction on the girl beside her, she had several question regarding that action and the words that came with it but decided to coin them for later as the girl seemed to know her and presented Ariel to her. 

"Nee-chan..." he added in a low tone, trying to get only her attention. "It's considered rude towards the rest if you stand up in a room full of seated people." by the tone of her voice, she probably didn't care much about appearing as rude but the fact that she turned to address Assassin, gave the blonde a good opportunity for a segway: "If you don't have anything else to add, please have a sit next to us. You wouldn't want to make all four of us appear rude towards our host, would you?" she said with a small remnant smile after eating. Implying that simply by association, Assassin, Ariel and Raidou would be frowned upon as a result of her actions. Ariel reached out for another serving and presented it to the white clad girl: "Have a taco if you'd like, They're on the house and I can personally attest to their rich flavour." she added with a genuine smile, before taking a bite for herself.

She paid little attention to the talks that followed regarding Yuki's worth as a tank. Most mistaking Shield's words from 'not fight as a main tank' with 'not participate in the fight' or something. As expected, that needless chatter was cut off short so she saw no reason to interject furthermore. She nodded to herself as people were talking about light sources as it would definitely play a crude part in the raid fight as it did in their scouting. For that reason alone she decided to add the Night Vision mod to her scouting kit, a faint green glow in her silver eyes showing that she already aquired it the moment she had the necessary skill point available. 

She watched @Raidou add his input on the current topics and once more offer his help, yet another nod of approval escaping from her direction. Then came Mari that after a brief introduction talked about the importance of the Night Vision mod. She had omitted that the 'one' that listened as the rest of that raid's members were a handful of handpicked individuals from her guild. The blonde understood and could appreciate that it was brought up to emphasize on the importance of the mod and nothing else, so Ariel wouldn't dwell in the past. Now it was the time to look only at the future and plan for the hard fight on the horizon.

"That is why I suggested two tank per team @Mari!" she chimed once again as she had some relevant information. "Most of the time after we defeated the dragon, I was in with lighting the pillars and I took no damage. The boss and adds pretty much ignored me. But when Mac and Zandra, which were in charge of managing the adds hate got overwhelmed, I had to step in and cut some of the pressure off them by using an area attack to kill off a couple. It was only after, that I was 'marked for death' and took a full force blow from the boss almost immediately, despite having the two tanks manage and kill adds long before I stepped in. It looked like if you were in any way involved with the combat, you had a fair chance for the boss to directly target you. We should expect something similar in the raid too."

The next point being brought up regarding Orgoth and having him as a potential foe/ally, was also something that she had a personal interest in. Afterall, 25th floor's local hero gained her respect after refusing to leave with her and sacrificing himself for that the scouts could teleport out. As much as she would love to repay him back she wasn't optimistic about his chances of walking out alive. Multiple players discussed about possession but Ariel replied to @Bahr's last question: "We only saw a couple of instances of Shadow or shadows leaving a body. First one, as Baldur said, when we first entered the boss room, the minotaurs we're fighting a dying dragon and after they finished it, shadows poured of of its body and filled the room. It swallowed, consumed the NPCs, I felt nothing as it washed over us players!" She stopped for a moment and eyed @Baldur, @Macaroon, @Morgenstern and @Zandra seeking confirmation that they also didn't feel a thing.

"Now that I think about it, the NPCs left some orbs behind that it absorbed when it resurrected." her memory vivid, she sharply inhaled as she made some connections. "After we defeated the dragon the second time, darkness poured out again from its body!" She could hear sound of a coin drop in her head... a imaginary light bulb above her head appeared as she made more connections. she was getting excited as she spoke: "but since there were no NPCs around the second time and the boss himself manifested, the dragon couldn't resurrect again!" How did she not think about this earlier!?

She turned towards @Cordelia "That's why I think bringing NPCs to the boss fight would only add fuel to fire, he would turn them to orbs and use them to make himself stronger!" she was basing this only on what they saw at the beginning of the labyrinth fight but her instincts told her she was right. She continued elaborating: "Orgoth is some kind of hero, more powerful than your normal NPC right? Shadow couldn't kill him and feed on his crystal so he possessed him instead. Turned the minotaur's strength into his own in a different way." at this point she wasn't replying to Bahr anymore but saying her own thoughts. "Orgoth sacrificed himself to help us scouts escape. I'm all for trying to save him as I'm in his debt but not even a powerful dragon couldn't escape his grasp. I suggest we go in expecting to kill him too."

Another realization soon dawned on her, the blonde's gaze now downcast and her expression serious; the earlier enthusiasm now gone. She hesitated, grinding her teeth and biting her lower lip for a couple of seconds before delivering her final thoughts in a more somber tone: "The same should apply for players too. Everyone that wants to participate in this fight should be aware and prepared that: if the boss will possess one of us.... the rest of the players would have to remove them from the fight if they can't find any way to purify the possessed...." As much as the blonde hated this thought, they had to account, prepare and accept all possibilities before going in; the 22nd floor's Sage knew she was.

Edited June 29, 2020 by Ariel - The Crowned Lion

[Mari 1]

(I'm working backwards and will finish editing this post after, Sorry fam!)

"... Do you think it might be possible for it to possess a player?"

@NIGHT voice cut through the crowded room, dire and dangerous words that needed to be said, she was the first courageous one to voice them. To mention that death sentence may be the only option. When her eyes darted over to Mari to confirm what she had said about the shadows Mari nodded. "As I said earlier, I've experienced a frontline battle in near darkness before- the only thing I'd be able to suggest to stop that would be flooding the arena with light - or having everyone here obtain Night Vision. And The latter doesn't seem likely. If need be I can, but I understand not everyone is in a position to do that. So our best bet is to have those special stone drops used in each group." Mari turned to @Baldur although she was addressing everyone who had been in that battle. "Do we know exactly how many of those stones we have?"

The room began to go back and forth at that point, some people chiming in on Yuki's place within the battle. During this time Mari shifted her eyes to @Zajcica with a concerned expression. It was a little unfair to have her at the center of attention.

Mari's eyes widened when she saw @Hidden enter the room - she hadn't expected to see her, especially since she looked- well nothing like she normally looked like. Were there potions that cound completely change how you looked? It seemed far-fetched, but then again there was Mr. Mc-Broody Pants sitting in the corner with his weird ass shadow mask. So, Mari supposed a potion that changed how you looked was within the realm of possibility too. In her typical fashion Hidden interjected - having only heard half the conversation. "Hi-" Mari paused, bit her tongue and quickly recovered. "Hi." She said sternly. "You've just arrived, please rather than insult everyone here I'd suggest taking a seat and being a little more civil." Mari paused. "Please." She added emphasis on the word. If Hidden didn't catch on that Mari could easily see through the disguise , since they were on each others friendlist, before - she would have by now. "We're moving on from Yuki's position. Really, it shouldn't need every single person here to interject."

@Bahr spoke up, further giving Mari's earlier suggestion weight - about how they should have each member who had that special glowstone in a party. Mari bit her tongue. He wasn't being rude - but it was hard not to feel like his burning bi-coloured gaze was on her, or that he was trying to telepathically set her on fire. "You're right - but I think it's important we slowly work out what we need in each group as we plan. I can't really comment on Orgoth though."  The shadowy figure, @Itzal said a few words and Mari nodded. Jabbing a finger in his direction. "Creepy mask dude is right - we need to work on balancing energy consumption, and health. But that's kinda. The usual isn't it? Unless things have changed in my absence?"

@Oscar came in, and had given a nice information dump on the group on who Orgoth was, Mari was thankful for that - because she seriously had no idea what the hell the others were talking about, besides him being some minotaur bull type guy.  @Crozeph followed shortly after and gave Yuki much needed support, in the terms of comfort and boyfriend-y goodness. Mari gave a small sigh of relief seeing that.

Mari offered @Ariel - The Crowned Lion a weak smile, at least someone was listening to her; it felt all but everyone dismissed the groups suggestions regarding orgoth and planning in leui of pressing down on Yuki. Mari felt a little bad that she had a part to play in that, but she had kept mostly silent on a matter she'd otherwise have a lot to say about. Since Baldur did ask everyone to move on. Hell - even Shield had to interject again.  

"A sacrifice." Mari said, breaking the heavy silence that followed Ariel's words. It had been a thought brewing in her mind ever since NIGHT made the suggestion that it could affect players.  Mari didn't want to bring it up straight away in fear that people would brush her off or think her suggestion heartless but it seemed that it was now the topic of discussion. "If the shadows of the boss can possess a player - " Mari lifted her eyes to address the solemn crowd in front of her. "And there are multiple accounts of bosses affecting a players psyche before, I have to wonder..." Her fingers thrummed nervously against the small wooden table she sat at. She felt cold and alone, in a room full of people - her heart pounded hard against her chest. She never really said things that people liked to hear. "If we can somehow coheres it to possess certain players - as a sacrifice. It'd be easier to control that way. We'd be able to make a plan for detaining the players. But- there are always inherent risks."  Her eyes shifted back to Ariel. "That removal may not just mean teleportation, but death." There were a few nods of acknowledgement from the room - a somber reality that NIGHT had touched on earlier. "I understand the gravitas of such a suggestion - and for making it. I want to be the first one to offer myself as one of those people. But in saying that..."  Mari knew there'd be pushback, that people would probably throw her ideas out the window. Tell her she was wrong or stupid - but...she had to admit she felt a little better voicing them. 

"If we can't control where or who the shadows possess if that is a possibility we'd need a contingency placed in each group. Something like ensuring someone has the ability to paralyse the other. So we'd need to look again -" Mari flashed Bahr a look as she shifted the topic back to groups. "At what kind of groupings we'd have, since that is very much a part of planning. So far we can safely say we want two tanks per group, one to two support - and I want to add an addition of someone who has paralytic or stunning abilities within the group too. Things like Bull Rush would be useful to knock back a possessed player. Finally, we want to have each group to have that unique drop from the lab boss- I think counting those, would be a good way to see how many groups we need and we can work from there."

Edited June 29, 2020 by Mari

[Bahr 0]

Were they still talking about whether or not this tank could aid the Frontlines? Christ.

Bahr did his best to ignore their bickering, focusing instead on the people contributing to discussion regarding strategy for the boss, and subsequent team composition as a result. He waited until everyone was done, thoughtfully following along and taking care not to interrupt - as much as he wanted to. Once it appeared that the floor was open, he seized it once again.

"Ariel raises an interesting point," Bahr mused, giving the oracle a nod. "From the sounds of it, the Shadow only leaves its host once the host has become incapacitated. That being the case, it's probably unlikely that we can actually free Orgoth. We can spitball purification ideas all day - but if we haven't seen a concrete way to remove the Shadow from a host against its will, we may indeed need to slay Floor 25's deity."

"What I find particularly interesting, though, is the tidbit about the 'orbs' left behind by felled NPCs. I don't want to make any assumptions, but it sounds like there's an essence left behind by slain mobs or NPCs that allows it to interact in a possessive fashion. If I were to venture a guess, it probably used the essence it gained from the dragon to take Orgoth." Bahr was really going out on a limb here, but decided to barrel forward anyways on the off-chance that what he was saying made sense to anyone else. "What's even more interesting is that, when given the opportunity, it still chose not to possess a member of the scouting party. This may have been because it saw Orgoth as a more ideal vessel, or because it can't possess players. That being said, if there's precedent set that previous floor bosses have affected players' mental states, we can't rule anything out. We'll still need a contingency in case anything goes awry."

He shifted his sharp gaze back to Mari, nodding to affirm her previous assertion. "Having players in each party with paralytic or stunning capabilities is a good plan. Stuns, preferably, as paralyze enhancements don't always proc as reliably. This could be a good way to keep a player still while we try to figure out how to handle the situation. However, I'm opposed to selecting a sacrifice. Dealing with an infected player should be seen as the worst case scenario. If it turns out that the Shadow can inhabit a player, and that the only way to get it out is to kill the host, this will turn into a bloodbath. It could simply hop from host to host until the remaining Frontliners have been forced to kill scores of us. We can't even force an infected player out of the arena via Teleport Crystals, because then we're potentially releasing the Boss into the overworld. None of these scenarios are even remotely ideal."

Bahr leaned back, allowing a slow, frustrated sigh to seethe from between his lips. "Considering everything we've talked about, it feels like our safest bet is to go with the Glow Stone method. If the Shadow can only inhabit a host through their shadow, the only way we can avoid a worst case scenario is by mitigating its access to us once we've killed Orgoth. Maintaining this while continuing the fight would be tricky, but the alternative is even worse."

"If a player were to become possessed, I'd almost rather wipe the raid and regroup. Reconvene, update our plans based on what we learned during the fight, and go in better equipped to handle the situation. We'd be leaving one of our own behind, but I find that preferable to panicking and killing them. Especially if we later discover a way we could have freed them."

[NIGHT 0]

'Orbs left behind by felled NPCs'? NIGHT traced over her notes once more as the room fell into silence. There had been no mentioning of the minotaurs (plural) that Baldur had first stated sighting of during their discussions of the boss. It had all been focused on two sole entities: Orgoth and Shadow. And on the train of thought following Bahr's statements...

"Is the boss room completely empty right now?" The woman barked up with a sharp gaze towards Baldur and Ariel, before realizing the error of her words. "I mean..." A cough, before NIGHT corrected herself.

"This may be an assumption here, but if Shadow relies on these 'essences' to take over an entity, then isn't it unlikely for a possession to take place at all? We've brought up the fact that there's been a handful of minotaurs in the room." A finger traced down on her jotted interface, scrolling upwards on the pad. "They've been brushed over during our conversation; I'm assuming that they're long gone and absorbed into the dragon's form at first mention. And after the dragon was felled, Shadow proceeded to take over Orgoth, right? --If it had used the dragon's essence to lend it the power to do so, and there was nothing else in the room at that time to feed it this 'orb', and assuming that there are no other entrants into the room... After we've wiped out Orgoth, with no casualties on our side, isn't it possible that we'd be able to beat Shadow cleanly henceforth?"

Talk about a conditional mouthful. The woman took a breather as she brought her fingers to soothe her temples for a moment. "Bear in mind that this relies on the idea that it uses essences to fuel itself into possessing another entity. If we've only seen it take control over a creature once, it's also likely that it's not a full picture as to how his possession rulings work."

With a sigh, she went back to her references. There were a few more points she'd wanted to make out, before handing off the debate to the rest of the room.

"Ariel, you'd said that Shadow wasn't able to kill Orgoth and feed on his crystal, right? This is new information, so I'd like to bring it up. Is this crystal you're referring to an item of the minotaur's, or has it been seen dropped by another entity? --Is the crystal consumption something that Shadow has been known to do during your fight against him?"

"As for Bahr, it sounds entirely possible that Shadow might be able to move and possess a being through the shadows they cast. But can anyone confirm that this is how it takes place?" NIGHT thumbed the bottom of her lip, brows furrowed and eyes still kept on her digital journal. "If such was the case, then having one glow stone user per party might be enough to fend off any possession attempts. At worst, we'd all need to take one and sacrifice an inventory slot, each of us pulling it out for use whenever Shadow goes on the hunt for targets to possess. Since we have no certain recovery measures regarding a possession at the moment and no sources of information to follow up on that train of thought, it's likely that prevention is our best defense against that ability of the Shadow's, so we'll need to go in best prepared for that scenario."

"--I like what Oscar's saying." There was something satisfactory in bouncing ideas off of other players, but it came intriguing to her that they had mostly been from her guild mates, if not from Bahr alone. "That Orgoth has a backstory on the twenty-fifth's settlement itself. I haven't been there personally myself, so I wouldn't know too much about the location. I understand that Baldur's mentioned a statue of him in that floor's city, correct? Is it possible that we'd be able to gleam any further information about his historical nature within the confines of the floor? What about Shadow's?"

NIGHT leaned back to straighten her back, shifting about on her seat. "The labyrinth that hides away the boss room seems to be ever changing; is it just as likely that there's information tucked away in its hold that we haven't caught sight of yet? I'd like to defer that to the scouting party." The player didn't know who the rest of the participants were for the labyrinth journey, but she did turn to Baldur and Ariel with a cautious look. "If there's anything that may have been out the ordinary during your expedition, please let us know."

@Baldur @Ariel - The Crowned Lion @Bahr @Oscar # to read, if not to respond. definitely asking clarification from ariel and baldur though.

Spoiler

# just to be concise, i'm just gonna shoehorn everything i've got into this segment now. let me know if i've left anything out.

[notes]

Spoiler

baldur:

• boss is multi-phase, form changing enemy
• lab boss fight: black dragon @ war w/ minotaurs, ballista, orgoth leader; killed dragon, absorbed npcs and resurrected itself; shoot ballista to bring down dragon, standard fight
• shadow true form: magic shield, spawn minions that debuff for shadow, mark of death debuff for boss target, activate beacons of light; shield breaks, shadow unleashed
• shadow possess Orgoth's body
• JL commissioned 100 mass rec crystals?

itzal:

• skill checks: add management while torch lighting

bahr:

• night vision, glowstones might help against shadow
• illuminate arena affects fight completion
• orgoth may be good ally; shadow can possess enemies? can possess players? feed glow stone? to chase out shadow?

ariel:

• 25th is in perpetual darkness now after boss fight
• shadow can destroy light pillars with a snap of his fingers
• adds explode and deal damage; ariel nearly died

mari:

• team comp: 2 tank 2 healers 2 dps?
• lights make shadows bigger

night:

• bringing up possess players idea
• strength of orgoth? stronger / weaker than players?
• let shadow envelop room or squander shade opportunities?

calrex:

• temporary ally possible but unlikely; in 13th floor boss fight served as damage sponge for main floor boss. should we investigate possession?

cord:

• what happened to rest of minotaurs? (dead?)
• possession possible; but player death as last resort, no guarantee will kill shadow

bahr:

• orgoth could attack us after defeating shadow
• should try and research purification in case possession occurs
• shadow leaves body when host is alive or dead?

itzal

• test skirmish to see if can purify orgoth

oscar:

• orgoth lore on f25: gods to npcs; god vs god situation
• orgoth guaranteed ally if purified

shield:

• ambient light best way to chase away shadows

ariel:

• lighting pillars -> takes no damage
• tanks overwhelmed with adds
• marked for death applied upon player killing adds and made available for boss to target. 
• shadow possession: when dragon possessed, waves of darkness pooled through room
• not possible to possess players?
• npcs left behind orbs (npcs? minotaurs? npcs as detriment to boss fight)
• when dragon killed, shadow manifested
• shadow has true form, dragon can't resurrect
• 'shadow feed on his crystal' there was a crystal when dragon died?

mari:

• sacrificial player upon player possession?
• teleport boss out of boss room?
• stunning/paralyze to stop possessed players
• pillar fragment on each squad

bahr:

• shadow only leaves host once host is incapacitated: unlikely to free orgoth, might need to kill orgoth
• orbs left behind by felled npcs: essence of some sort? can use to possess other vessels
• might not be able to possess players, but past floor bosses have affected player states, need plan for that scenario
• shadow possessing players: dangerous. could hop from player to player until front lines is demolished. teleport crystals also dangerous to use to unleash boss into overworld
• glow stone method to try and mitigate access to players once orgoth is defeated
• player to become possessed, wipe raid/withdraw and regroup and find purification method first vs killing them outright

[this post's tl;dr]

Spoiler

night

• verifying how possession mechanics work w/ ariel, baldur by running off 'essence orb' mechanic from fallen/killed npcs and possessing-by-shadow theory from bahr
• verifying 'feeding on crystal' mechanic w/ ariel
• verifying no traces left of information unchecked in twenty-fifth settlement + labyrinth areas w/ scouting party

 

[Macradon 0]

People slowly began to get seated in the meeting room and it did not take too long before the meeting properly commenced. Macradon sighed and sat down at one of the tables and tried to relax, hoping that this would just be an easy meeting with healthy debate. He would sit up straight on his shins and looked around at the people at the meeting, the one person he had spotted before was still looking quite strange, smoke covering his face for some odd reason.

Mac just stayed put while sipping at his tea that had been presented on his table, it was nice, fragrant and subtle, not too strong or bitter. He would listen to Baldur slowly beginning to describe the events that went on, how they went through the maze and how they began to fight the labyrinth boss. 

Everyone had begun their discussions and Macradon merely sat and nodded passively, trying not to barge in to the strategising since that really was not his strongest suit. He would take in a deep breath and put down his cup of tea and stand up “Macradon, level 88, frontliner, been here for a while, most of you know me. One thing that stood out to me was what happened with each activation of the light pillars. Every time a pillar was ignited, the boss unleashed some kind of ability. It’s pretty hazy for me because all I remember was the near to actual pain I felt when I was chained down to the ground.

It unleashed glowing hot chains hogging down a player, dealing damage over time. This was a huge blow to a fight where we needed everyone able to do something, be it holding the ads away or lighting the pillars. We might have to take that into consideration as well.” he said and began to sit down again.

“But regarding possession of players, I have no clue.” he commented while sitting down and taking another sip of his tea.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur let conversation wash over the room, and then finally Macradon spoke. He remembered vividly Macradon's low health, chained to the ground when they needed to move.  Constantly the Shadow was interrupting their plans. Slowing them down. Diverting their attention. Whittling away at their health and resources. They couldn't have last much longer, especially after Hestia had been ejected from the battle. His frustration was growing, but why? What was he frustrated about? Why was he bothered? He was frustrated at people dogpiling on Yuki, but that was not enough. The putrescent girl and the mask man... he wished he could throw them out, but that wasn't the purpose here. He had called everyone here as a call to arms. They each had their own battles, and their own stake in getting them all out. He was only here to convey knowledge and provide a place for discussion. This was not his fight, this was all of theirs.

"Bahr is right." He called out, settling his feelings about the room.

"But we cannot play chess with an enemy without knowing what pieces we have. We can't plan on having 2 tanks per party, without knowing how many tanks we have. And we can't know how many parties we can field, until we know how many tanks and healers we have. I agree with the sentiment that if we can save Orgoth and turn him into an ally, that is the preferable course of action. I don't believe that he can possess players. That is a bridge too far. However, until we start the fight proper, we won't know what opportunities we have. We must start with what we can control. And that is ourselves."

Baldur played idly with the tea cup in his hand as he returned his gaze upon the assembled players.

"We know who our tanks and off tanks are. What about healers? Who here has Rank 5 healing, and Field Medic? The other mods are a plus, but this is the minimum for a healer."

He knew Zandra, he knew Mari was ranking it up. Crow would be following in their footsteps as well. Shield had first aid, but not Field Medic, and he would be main tanking.

"I know the number of our healers are limited, which is why we have the healing crystals commissioned. Ideally they will supplement our healing options, not replace them."

[Mari 1]

Mari sighed, Baldur hadn't noticed - or if he had - he chose not to address it. Oikawa's absence. He had been absent from a lot of things lately - he and Mari...they used to share many conversations. In person and in messages, she hadn't realized how much she enjoyed those lighthearted talks till they were gone. Where are you? She thought as she shifted her gaze down to her table - eyes watching the trembling liquid in her untouched cup of tea. Mari had to push down that concern though. Push down her feelings because right now, they weren't what mattered.

Mari lifted her eyes to glance at @Macradon who had come in. She gave him a small smile, happy to see a familiar face. One that didn't want her head. Her smile faded slightly when he made mention of how he was held down. It seemed the frontliners - or at least the scouting party had a great deal of trouble with this boss. "From Ariel and Macradon's account...it sounds like the scouting party barely made it." Mari said absently as she tapped her finger on the wooden table. That could be a problem. Mari bit her tongue. Things seemed to be going well on the surface. They were all talking, most were amicable - but she could see the tension beneath the surface. The unrest. If things weren't pulled together they'd continue talking in circles. Mari knew she couldn't be the one to do that...she didn't have the authority, nor the respect to do that. All she could do was chime in when she could, and try to make things a little easier on her guild members. 

"So, should we go around the room and have everyone list what their roles are?" Mari bought up her HUD, making notes as she bounced off of what Baldur asked. "That way we can know what we need for teams. So far I have this listed..." Mari enlarged her display as much as possible.  "Whilst I know a few of the roles you all have here...I am not going to assume things. So have left it blank. For those who can't see the current tank I have listed is Shield, Off Tank - Yuki. DPS , myself... and Off healer myself."

 

TANKS -Shield OFF TANKS -Yuki DPS -Mari HEALER OFF HEALER -Mari

 

Edited July 14, 2020 by Mari

[Morgenstern 1]

Jonathan sat idly, listening into the conversation that others brought forward. Each and every single one of them brought things to the table, including whether some tank couldn't take and yada yada. The thing that interest Jonathan the most is the talk about possessing a player and possessing Orgoth. 

Finally deciding to speak up, he would speak in a low tone at first. "There is one slight detail that is being missed here." 

He stepped forward to the table and looked at the frontliners across from him. "You see, I doubt there would be something that allows for him to possess 'alive' players. Dead players are a bit of a different story. Now however, that isn't my point for speaking up. The shadow did possess the Dragon, but while he was possessing it he didn't have the use of his own powers. Instead, he just controlled the carcass of the dragon and made it fight. I believe he can't really fight when he is possessing something."

"This could be taken in two different ways. It could make him harder if he just goes around throwing a bunch of dead weight at us. However, perhaps we could trap him while he is in a weaker form. This is a game, and if its any fair at all it at least takes some energy to make it work. So he's weaker when possessing something, but he might not take actual damage from it. Though, he seemed pretty confident in his ability, so I doubt he would possess much. To him, we are ants that have assembled against him. It took a bit for him to take us seriously at all."

"I say we pay less attention to the possibilities and more instead on his actual abilities that have been displayed. He can throw up a shield that only Orgoth was strong enough to shatter. He also can create chains to damage and trap players. He can teleport around the area. Finally, he has the ability to summon a bunch of shadows. Pretty weak individually, but they provide the boss with extra damage and he can explode them on will to do quite a lot of damage. He also may be able to explode and kill all o us but thats a long shot and more of a story specific event where they were trying to get us players out of there." 

 

 

TANKS -Shield -Morgenstern                                                                                                                                  OFF TANKS -Yuki DPS -Mari HEALER OFF HEALER -Mari

 

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

She would've hoped that everyone would understand where she was going for without Mari having to clarify what removal meant. Nonetheless, while she continued listening to the rest, the blonde noted that someone she wasn't familiar with seemed to ask more details about the scouts' encounter. She was happy to provide answers for @NIGHT to the best of her abilities when prompted: "Empty.. so to speak, except for Orgoth and Shadow... yes. Last thing I saw was Orgoth engaging the shadow and aiding our escape." They shouldn't need to fear the orbs since no more NPCs would be present when  the raid happens, the shadow minions didn't drop any when she personally killed a couple.

She nodded at the question asked to her and added: "We only saw the minotaurs fighting the dragon drop it, that's all. Also I'd like to mention that he never attempted to possess any of the scouts, at any time." As Mac and Morgestern chimed in, she had to agree with the latter which provided on point boss abilities they had witnessed, so she would nod in agreement with her eyes closed.

As the list was being passed on, she took a moment before signing in her place. It felt a little weird for her to put her name in the tanks slot but it was a necessity she would adapt to now that her DPS was maxed out.

TANKS -Shield -Morgenstern -Ariel                                                                                                                                  OFF TANKS -Yuki DPS -Mari HEALER OFF HEALER -Mari

[Zandra 0]

Zandra had up until now standing closer to the wall of the room, not pulling any attention to herself as she had entered a state of her own thougths, still listening to the conversation with one ear. Some ideas poped up in her head. Some of them she immediately chased away, some she worked on before dropping them. Some stayed to be there for the future if it would be necessary. She had been staying silent for awhile, letting the conversation go on. She gnawed on her lower lip a bit before taking a few steps forward. In her hand she held the broken fragment she had got from the labyrinth boss fight. She placed it in the middle of the room.

‘’Here, this we got from boss fight. Ive tried to keep up so not sure if it is explained. Ive tried it out a bit and it seems to work like a glow-crystal, but I could still use my 2-handed axe when equipping it. I don’t know if it do effect the whole party or just the one carrying it since had only tried it solo. Anyone is free to take and use it’’ She had stepped back beside the ones sitting down. She gulped as she was going to tell something that only one other player in the room knew about. Her eyes quickly glanced at Macradon for a second. ‘’During one of the first weeks after we entered the game, I was, not sure if calling it possessed. But I couldn’t control my own body and that day I almost stabbed someone. When I got back to myself, I had such a headache. For a long time I tried to find a way to get rid of it, since it returned several time and I always had that annoying feeling back in my head, but most of the time I had it under control. Then one day, after an update, that feeling was gone. From one day to another. After that I also never herd any other player with some kind of similar effect on them. What I wanna say is that I don’t think we should worry about players being possessed. But with NPC’s and mobs that is very much possible. I may look like possession to us, but it can be the game creator just making the mob changing behavior, attacks and stuffs.’’ Then her focus turned Baldur. ‘’That is fine, ATP can supply you with 100 mass heal crystals.’’

Zandra paused a bit before she continued. ‘’Then when going for classes I have some things I would like to share. Tanks, I know you are here for defence. But I suggest you still buffing your damage with at least a damage potion. Even a little damage is better then none if your other abilities wont have any effect anyway. And if you having dot’s and status effects on your weapon, that you can get from consumables, you have as much chance to trigger those on the enemy as dedicated dps’s. DPS’players. I know you are here for damage mainly, but you can still be hit, so I suggest you still using all defensive buffs you can use, like over-health and mitigation for example. As well as the immolation potion. Imagine the damage the enemy will take if striking with aoe the whole squad equipped with immolation. To support players. Go for damage, but also value your defence. If you are the only healer in your party, you will be healing others, but others wont heal you. Except with mass heal crystals ofcourse. There is also two quest item that everyone should have. Vial of bane of blood that gives you 15 HP recovery every turn. And Terra Firma scale that adds 27 to your mitigation. If you can afford the consumbales yourself, contact ATP and we will fix it for you.’’

‘’Then compesition I think we should go with per party 1 tank, 1 support and 2 dps. The fifth spot for a tanky dps or tank that can hit hard. And the last spot a dps with access to first aid. The two last spots if we have, otherwise fill them with dps’s players. More damage means fewer hits to tank and fewer hits to heal.’’

TANKS -Shield -Morgenstern -Ariel                                                                                                                                  OFF TANKS -Yuki DPS -Mari HEALER -Zandra OFF HEALER -Mari

Tl:dr

-The drop from boss works like glowing crystal but can have equipped with 2-handed weapon.
-Have a past with being possessed(ish) but it disappeared with an update as well as fewer herd cases from other player being mind-controlled so don’t think possession of players will be a thing in fight. But possession of NPC or mobs maybe.
-[ATP] can supply the fight with 100 mass heal crystals.
-Suggested consumables and focuses for tank, dps and support.
-[ATP] can get you consumables if you dont have.
-Build party of 1 tank, 2 dps, 1 support and the other with dps-focused tank/support

OOC: not gonna lie, I haven’t kept up with the thread so this post is based on the notes in NIGHT’s latest post. If you see something is wrong or so I apologise and I am glad if you let me know on site or on discord and I can change it.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Zandra

[Itzal 0]

There really wasn't anything Itzal could say or add at this point that other people haven't already said. He agreed with what Zandra said in the sense that while Mari was correct and people had heard many rumors of possession, there hadn't been any proof of it happening after a specific day. Ironically that was the same day Ulises had vanished from Itzal's mind. After that day, all accounts of npcs or monsters and bosses possessing players, or potions forcing them to do things they normally wouldn't, had come to a grinding halt. They didn't need to worry about being possessed in this fight, Itzal was pretty sure of that. But he wasn't going to reinforce Zandra's point because she put enough detail and explanation into it that it just didn't need him adding anything new. He supposed he could point out that their strategies on defeating the boss will only really appear in the actual fight, but that was something the veterans already knew, and it wasn't like anyone here would actually listen to him. Or at least, the newbies wouldn't for sure. He knew people didn't like him by default. He could tell that one of the players (@Oscar) probably hated him for bringing up Yuki, but he only brought that conversation up so that he could shut the two players trying to send her to her death up. He did give Oscar a silent nod, acknowledging that the man was furious with him and accepting that hate like he did with everyone who hated 'Are' since he first took on the persona... He really was getting used to it. All the same, he could see how people may have been afraid it would reopen the conversation, so he should probably talk to Baldur about it afterwards. He was the one who invited everyone after all.

Then he realized something he could bring up that the others weren't: "I suppose it's my turn. Level eighty three, DPS, Rogue sub-class. If there's no other choice I can play evasion tank for a bit via the switch mechanics." He then went on to bring up debuffs. "Speaking of consumables, there's something else we should consider. What debuffs should we use on this boss? It's likely to be immune or resistant to some debuffs, so I doubt we can use every one. If we're planning to make DoTs a prime weapon against this boss, I recommend we bring Incarceration and Perpetuate, which increase the duration of DoTs and increase their effectiveness. Additionally there are the Evasion and Accuracy debuffs we could use. And finally there's one that decreases the final damage of a boss after mitigation by ten percent, albeit rounded down. If we're planning to utilize DoTs as a main focus in this fight I recommend Incarceration, Perpetuate and Misperception. If not, I recommend Hypnosis, Lullaby and Misperception again."

 

TANKS -Shield -Morgenstern -Ariel                                                                                                                                  OFF TANKS -Yuki DPS -Mari -Are (Itzal) HEALER -Zandra OFF HEALER -Mari

 

[Macradon 0]

Listening to everyone come with their qualified comments about parties, their composition and what roles were actually present and could be counted as being present at the raid as well. Macradon sighed and wrote his name in three spots and looked around “These are probably the roles I can comfortably fill out, I can always spend my hoard of Skill Points to spec into either effectively … that also means that I will be able to spec into healing, but as most of you might know, healing isn’t really what I excel at, nor is it something I should be taking care of, it would be waste.” he said and kept his name at Tank, Off-Tank, and DPS. “We lack healers, and it’s not the first time we have this debacle, not that many players like being the supporter, I’m one of them. I like to get my hands dirty from fighting and don’t really feel like being a mostly backline player that keeps the party alive, even though I know that role is essential for survival against stronger foes, something I really got to experience against the Shadow in its Labyrinth Boss form.”

TANKS -Shield -Morgenstern -Ariel  -Macradon                                                                                                            OFF TANKS -Yuki -Macradon DPS -Mari -Are (Itzal) -Macradon HEALER -Zandra OFF HEALER -Mari

[Baldur 0]

Baldur looked down at the list after he had given everyone time to speak up about their chosen roles. He was really only interested in tanks and healers. He wasn't interested in discussing party compositions at this time, but you couldn't play chess unless you knew what pieces you had on the board. They were in dire straights, but that was exactly the landscape he had expected. Still, the conversation seemed to be moving forward, rather than languishing in unproductive tangents. He listened as everyone said their piece. It was good that everyone seemed engaged in the challenges of the fight rather than the drama that had swirled around for a moment.

"It appears we will only have 2 players with Field Medic and maxed first aid. Zandra and Mari. I know Shield can heal in a pinch, but it doesn't look like we will be able to count on Hestia for this fight as either tank or healer." He wanted to frown at the list, but the time had moved on.

"It looks like we'll want to spread the healers and the off tank around. Whichever party doesn't get a healer, will get an off tank, so that they can switch out and recover healing through passive means and through the coordinated use of group heal crystals. Because of this, it is more important than any boss fight before that everyone come prepared and decked out with as many consumables as you can. I would also recommend if your primary weapon specializes in a certain effect, like mine does paralyze. That you bring a second weapon with a different effect. We have had fights where both bleed and paralyze had positive, buffing effects for the boss fight. It's not a necessity, but having a backup weapon in case yours is neutralized, is a good idea."

His steel blue eyes glanced down at the list once more.

"It looks like we have the ability to field 3 groups of players, 18 in total. There is a possibility for a high risk 4th group we could field if we had the DPS numbers, and all the consumables prepared. I for one would rather take 3 strong safe teams than 4 moderate, riskier teams, but I won't tell people not to risk their lives. Do take this fight seriously. The odds are if you're trying to DPS as Tier 2,  you may contribute more risk than you benefit the party. This is going to be a challenging floor and a challenging boss fight, but we need to move forward. We need to save these lives. We can't stop here any longer."

"With all of this as the case, I think Bahr makes a very prudent suggestion. We can have one of the special lights stones in every party, but I would recommend everyone bring their own just in case, even though this may limit your battle ready inventory."

Team 1	Team 2	Team 3	Team 4?
Tank: Shield	Tank: Ariel*	Tank: Macradon*	Tank: Morgenstern*
Off Tank: Baldur*	Healer: Zandra*	Healer: Mari	Off Tank: Yuki
DPS:	DPS:	DPS:	DPS:
DPS:	DPS:	DPS:	DPS:
DPS:	DPS:	DPS:	DPS:
AoE:	AoE:	AoE:	AoE:

Denotes Lightstone

"With this, we'll need 120 total group heal crystals to ensure everyone can hold a stack of five. The idea being that you can use these crystals without stopping the attack, and if every one of the DPS in a party did this at the same time, it would almost equal a heal from one of our healers. I recommend at least having one AoE in each party, since the shadow waves were something that needed to be held in check, and I would not be surprised to see them show up again. The parties without healers get off tanks. Morgenstern and Yuki should be able to work well together as both are relatively strong and experienced tanks. Plus, Morgentern will be an invaluable DPS addition when Yuki takes her turn tanking. This should give us the largest field with the most versatility and strength."

Baldur shared the information so that everyone could see what he did.

"I do like the idea of trying to purge Orgoth, but we don't know what scene we'll be walking into, and have no idea what mechanics could work on it. Perhaps a <<Purify>> would work on him, perhaps a space light stone from the labyrinth fight would do the trick. If we want to try these, we need to do them right away. Lead with a Purify, if that doesn't work, follow up with a spare Light stone. If that doesn't work, and the fight itself doesn't prompt anything, then we'll have to assume its a phased fight. Orgoth first, then Shadow. I don't think PC possession is a mechanic that's in the cards for this fight or he would have tried to snag Macradon already."

He looked around the room.

"The only other step is getting the general sign up of DPS, but that always seems to very right up until we see who shows up the morning of the fight. I usually suggest getting together as teams to coordinate consumables, equipment, and division of labor. So filling DPS slots aside, does anyone have any final concerns or strategy they would like the larger group to consider?"

Edited August 27, 2020 by Baldur