[PP-22] Collating Notes

[Freyd 0]

The die was cast.  All that remained was to see just how far Nisahime's influence had spread throughout the ranks of Firm Anima, and whether enough data could be gleaned to determine whether it was benevolent or not.  There was no telling whether or not her reach extended beyond the guild, but it would be naïve to assume that it was limited to them alone.  

Freyd waited patiently in the main guild hall with Freya, still seated in one of the heavy wooden chairs set against the massive redwood table that dominated the hall.  It had rarely been used for full guild events, but he suspected that it might be about to see many attendants.  More than he would like, at the very least.  The real question was who would respond, and had he just sent up a red flare to declare his awareness to hostile influence.  His gaze remained locked firmly forward, lest he reveal to Freya the extent of his concerns: that he might have just signed their death warrants.

"If anything goes wrong, and I tell you to run, you must not hesitate.  Undersood?"

A bright green teleport crystal slid along the table surface to reach her, and accentuate his point.

This shit just got real.

@Freya @Raidou

***

Freyd | HP: 1040/1040 | EN: 138/138 | DMG: 27 | MIT: 123 | ACC: 7 | EVA: 3 | BH: 57 | LD: 5 | FLN: 16 | HLY: 16 | PARA IMMUNE | REC: 8 Ç DOTE: 3/3

Consumes:

Spoiler

Gugnir’s Shard (Untradeable/Unique/Reusable Consumable): Crème Brûlée Tray | ACC 2 | Feast (6/6)
Liquor of Light (Potion) | Damage 3 [178029-2]
Mega-Duper Anti-Everything Sauce (Salve) | Antidote 3 [179658]
Red Velvet Meringue (Snack) | Evasion 2 [179645] + Filled
Divinity's Wait (Meal)| T3 Mitigation 3 [177116-2]

Yes.  He really did.  Because he's actually that worried.

Full Stats:

Spoiler

Freyd, The Whisper in Shadow
Level: 31
Paragon Level: 95
HP: 1040/1040
EN: 138/138

Stats:
Damage: 24 (+3)
Mitigation: 78 (+45)
Accuracy: 5 (+2)
(Evasion: 2+1)
Battle Healing: 57
Loot Dice: 5
FLN: 16
HLY: 16
PARA IMMUNE
REC: 8
(Antidote 3/3)

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Samael's Pride (T4 MA | Holy 2 | Fallen 2)
Armor: Fallen Angel Garb (T4 LA | Mit 2 | Rec 2)
Misc: The Shadowed Rose (T3 Trinket - ACC 3 | Para Imm)

Custom Skill:


Skills:
Martial Arts R5
Battle Healing R5
Light Armor R5
Searching R4
Charge
Energist
Quick Change

Active Mods:
Night Vision
Tracking
Meticulous
Untraceable

Inactive Mods:

Addons:
Ferocity
Precision
Resolve
Reveal
Stamina

Active Extra Skills:
Survival
Meditation
Forgotten King’s Authority
Hiding R5

Inactive Extra Skills:
Disguise
Brawler
Photosynthesize

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystals x7
Mass HP Rec [Inst] (+30*T HP) x7
Mass HP Rec [Inst] (+30*T HP) x7
Crystal of Divine Light (Reusable) x1
Rhino's Horn (Reusable) x1
Hmr.Pk: The Thing Behind All Lies (T4 Demonic WH, AA, Blight, Static, Para.Ven (Off)) x1

Housing Buffs:
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (Searching): +1 Rank to the Searching skill.
Angler: +1 material gained when fishing
Advanced Training: +10% Exp to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Decor [Potted Tanabata Bamboo Tree]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild:
Kumatetsu Statue: +1 Base Damage for a thread

Wedding Ring:

 

[Raidou 1]

The first flash of light, just outside the field of view. Around the corner of the guild hall, near that glassware that had just been replaced. Something had beckoned his early return, and as he ushers out of the threshold, he adds a bag to the surface of that table. It stunk of plants, ripe and in season. Something herbal, and very pungent. As the nomad removes his robe and finds it to the back of one of the many chairs, he leans forward and removes a pair of lenses from his face. Within this small gesture, he began to walk the path of the past.

Silence broke, as he took on a quiet and yet firm outward aura. "Freyd, Freya." A nod to both players, The needed attention had been paid. Yet the wanderer had dismissed it, the account came breakneck, for neither he nor the whisper were one's to beat around the bush. "At first I didn't believe it's true, I am used to seeing my memories be just a bit too 'real'" emphasis where it mattered, as his tone was honest. His eyes lock with Freyd's, a reflection as true as any other. "I've seen this white haired woman, she invaded my dreams. I thought at first that it may have been someone that I had forgotten, just a rehashed appearance. But, the coincidence is far too great. Is this woman a threat?" Raidou didn't like things he didn't understand, hell, the guild hall table they all sat in front of was littered with the proof. An excessive amount of information poured out onto paper, all an effect of understanding their enemies. Had one slipped right under their purview, without the idea that she was one?

Raidou | HP: 920/920 | EN: 110/110 | DMG: 11 | MIT: 44 | EVA: 4 | ACC: 2 | BH: 50 | LD: 6 | BLGT: 32 | REC: 8 | TAUNT | V.D.: 101 | V.O.: 151

Spoiler

Raidou, Firm Anima Vanguard Captain
Level: 31
Paragon Level: 78
HP: 920/920
EN: 110/110

Stats:
Damage: 11
Mitigation: 44
Evasion: 4
Accuracy: 2
Battle Healing: 50
Loot Dice: 6
BLGT: 32
REC: 8
TAUNT
V.D.: 101
V.O.: 151

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Ebon Star - Vanguard Revenant [T4/Demonic/Straight Sword]: V.O 2, Taunt, Blight 1
Armor: Red Wander's Resolve - Sympathy [T1/Demonic/Cloth] 2 Evasion, 2 Vampiric Defensive
Misc: Vision of Wisdom - Whisper [T4/Demonic/Trinket] Evasion 1, Recovery 2, Accuracy 1

Custom Skill:


Skills:
Straight Sword R5
Cloth Armor R5
Battle Healing R5
Howl
Searching R5
Fighting Spirit

Active Mods:
Detect
Athletics
Vengeful Riposte
Tracking
Justified Riposte

Inactive Mods:

Addons:
Nimble
Ferocity
Precision
Focused Howl
Stamina

Active Extra Skills:
Parry
Survival
Forgotten King’s Authority
Concentration

Inactive Extra Skills:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal x2
Vocal Augmentation - Resonation [Tierless/Perfect/Support/Instant] +15% HP x5
Valiant Decree - Crescendo [T1/Perfect/Debuff/Instant] -10% Final Damage x5
Flash of Rejuvenation [T1/Perfect/Crystal] Mass Heal x5
Flash of Rejuvenation [T1/Perfect/Crystal] Mass Heal x5

Housing Buffs:
Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Col Stash: +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
Advanced Training: +10% Exp to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Decor []: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

 

[Freya 0]

A glare at Freyd, "Seriously? After everything that we have been through, after everything that I said about my family. There is no way in hell that I am just going to up and leave, just to wait by that monument to see if your name pops up. No, I will not be going anywhere Freyd, simply because you are my family too. Family sticks together no matter what..." with not actually realizing what was being said until the words came out. "Wow," after a moment Freyja shakes her head and watches Raidou come through the doors and sit.

"That is what we are trying to figure out. When we track Nisahime, multiple blips pop up. So far those pings have been located in several people from our guild. Myself, Eruda, Freyd, Shiina from what Eruda was saying not confirmed, and possibly Sam or Simmonè but that is not defined yet either." Freyja pauses for a moment as her eyes glow yellow. A blink to readjust her vision as this skill was still sorta new to her. Glancing at her map with a sigh, "It's as we suspected. You are part of that list too Raidou." There was 4 icons on the map... "Wait a fucking second, who is that forth one..." Freyja starts counting on her fingers confused. From what she could tell there was no one else in this guild hall. Freyd and Freyja have been here all morning and half the afternoon, they would know if anyone entered or left. 

Freya Uses Tracking Skill on Nisahime

Spoiler

 

Freya,
Level: 31
Paragon Level: 42
HP: 780/780
EN: 116/116

Stats:
Damage: 23
Mitigation: 20
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 4
Battle Healing: 42
Loot Dice: 6
AA
BLD: 48
PHASE
REC: 4
V.O.: 85

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Final Calamity - Remorse (T4/Demonic/2HBA): Absolute Accuracy, Vampiric Offensive 1, Bleed 1, Phase
Armor: Dark Embrace - Sacrifice (T4/Perfect/Light Armor): Evasion 2, Recovery 1
Misc: Ebon Band - Truth (Tierless/Perfect/Trinket): Accuracy 3

Skills:
Axe R5
Cloth Armor R5
Charge
Energist
Searching R5
Battle Healing R5

Active Mods:
Athletics
Tracking
Night Vision

Addons:
Nimble
Stamina
Precision
Ferocity

Active Extra Skills:
Concentration
Survival

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal x1

Housing Buffs:
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Advanced Training: +10% Exp to a thread. Limit one use per month [1/1]

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Freya

[Freyd 0]

"Heightened passions and changes in personality and behavior.  The difficulty lays in pinning down whether the effect is harmful or benevolent."  Freyd's eyes were mirror-like, indeed, but lacking the intuitive connection that he and Raidou typically shared.  He might as well have been staring at Montjoy.  "Eruda's gone through quite the bit of spontaneous personal growth of late.  She's found her voice, and even connected with an old flame."  He was genuinely glad that the two of them had managed to connect, and sincerely hoped that it was for all the right reasons, but it wasn't the Whisper's nature to assume so.  Not when the stakes were this high.

Leaning forward again, he placed his elbows on the table and laced the fingers of those black-gloved hands just as he had for her, save that this time a twist of the wrist was added.  Something slim and black slipped out and clinked against the solid surface of the table.  An old trick, learned from a friend, yet also invaluable during crucial interrogations.  The replay command was simple.

"I made him angry amongst other things and he told me that he loved me, that he could not involve me with something of extreme measures, he loved me too much to hurt me like that. That was when I knew that I had to keep pushing, but I saw that transformation of his with Jubilex. I was not scared in the slightest and that is when I touched Raidou's face. It was almost like Jubilex felt that extreme set of emotions and acted without command. The moment that I touched Raidou, Jubilex tried to latch to me, but fell into a pile a black slimed liquid on the floor instead, it reformed into a slime on the ground next to us. Watching, smiling... It left Raidou speechless. I could tell that Raidou was in so much pain, but also full of so many different mixed emotions. After that we had a very long conversation about some things."

"Something's been off with you since that moment in the fight against Shadow, when I had to call you back from the brink.  You've been more on edge.  It was ignorable in the moment and aftermath, but not now.  Not with this."  The multitudes of meaning were clear.  "She wouldn't say what you spoke about, to her credit and detriment alike.  It doesn't go over well when I'm asked to trust blindly and then stonewalled a breath apart."  The mirror faded to transparency once more - an offer to reconnect, out of kinship of spirit and loyalty sworn over an oath that could never be forgotten.  "I can't ignore this now.  Not with everything else that seems to be swirling around Firm Anima as a whole."

Picking up the slender crystal, Freyd looked at it for a moment, weighing his options.  It took only a second for him to decide and crush it in his fist, erasing the memory and the words within, along with any option to repeat his previous deception.  

"What's been going on, Raidou?  I've seen the signs and the odd behavior.  Your patterns are clever but not indecipherable, and you know me well enough to have gleaned my passing interest and concerns."  He pursed his lips, going all in on a bet that might determine his ability to fulfill his past promise, or even remain in the guild at all.  His gaze would convey all that Raidou needed to sense the gravity of this moment.

"What did you reveal to Eruda?  Every.  Word.""

[Raidou 1]

His eyes switch immediately to Freya, and in front of him, as her most recent diagnostic showed. "The guild is finally reaching the heights that I had hoped." The glasses missing, and beneath their absence was honesty. "It's not just Eruda, but the guild as a whole that have experienced explosive growth. All according to plan." He murmurs as he places a hand flat on the table, fishing a black book out of his pocket with his other. "Pardon her, she was just doing what I asked. After all, the account should come directly from me, eventually all of Firm Anima would have heard this. It's only fitting that you would be the first, Freyd. What you hear, Freya, cannot leave this room. Otherwise, you will be condemning yourself and everyone you know."

Flipping open the book, he'd turn it and allow Freyd to take a gander. "Not even Eruda knows the full story, no one does. But that changes today. I can trust you to understand, at least I hope that I can. I am the guild leader to a second guild: The Laughing Coffin. For good reason, and I'll give that a moment to sink in." Sliding out of his clothes from the opposed arm, was Juiblex who begins to take a small shape upon the table. An entirely new addition one to the likes that Freya has seen. A sticky black mess with a pair of eyes, looked adorable, but that was a guise. The thing was a living acid.

[Freya 0]

Her chest starts to pound as she remembers everything that happened, the repeat of that guild name. The Laughing Coffin, the people who put her through that emotional roller coaster of doom. The violent animals that practically got themselves killed on that Sycthe that she now wielded. Raidou was the one that found her, it made so much sense, but why did it take so long... Did he know what they were doing to lower level characters like her and Rin. A hand goes over her mouth now as she tries to even her breath. She could trust Raidou right? All this stuff that has been done for this guild, when did this Guild actually form. Removing her hand from her face slowly. "Rai..." her voice was cracky, "How long did you know I was down there... In that cave... Did you know what was going on down there..." Taking a hard inhale as she went through all those scenarios in her head, but everyone of them could have been wrong...

Edited November 29, 2021 by Freya

[Freyd 0]

He might have flinched, but didn't.  For about 4.3 seconds, Freyd was completely still, absorbing an answer far more candid than he'd been preparing himself to receive.  Leaning into his left palm, the right reached for the turned book, pressing down upon the open spine to ensure that he didn't miss any details. Finding Freya, Lium, even potentially Ruri and others.  Of course he would know where.  A hundred names instantly appearing on the Monument of Life, snuffed out in a single struggle.  So many more reports and coincidences suddenly connected in his head.  It was like a spider suddenly seeing every web in the world come together in unison.  Eyes flicked to Juiblex, ready to smash it in the face if it thought to get frisky with him.  He didn't trust it, nor what it seemed to do to Raidou, but that was a different matter for another time.

All of this explained some of Eruda's reactions, even her own growth to some extent.  No one who knew this could maintain their innocence's integrity.  It was akin to reality bitch-slapping you into a reality check while simultaneously fondling your backside with the same hand.  Your brain stood no chance of processing it.  You just had to accept.

A sigh.

Freya was not going to take this well, and it added untold layers of complexity to other matters.  It was also one hell of a deflection against the original intent of this probe.  Even he couldn't suppress a curl at the edges of his lips at how a truth bomb could counter other less convenient truths.

Masterfully played, Wanderer.

"Heh."  The supporting hand turned to stroke a slender, pointed chin, even as his eyes lost any semblance of harshness.  "Yeah.  I should probably be acting more surprised, shouldn't I?"

[Raidou 1]

A pause from his tone, he'd known for far too long that given Freyd's intelligence he'd never slip that gaze for long. But he'd allow him to look further, deeper so that he would discover more evidence than speculation. Intentions were hearsay, but results were not so malleable. "Not in the slightest, I always suspected that you would piece it together. I hoped you would, it saves me quite a bit of trouble when it comes to explanations." His attention immediately pivots, he was used to an audience and could address multiples without issue. "Not long Freya, it wasn't until Eruda brought it to my attention that I even had a reason to look. Imagine, if you will, how much do you tell Freyd about your day by day. Player Killers, murder is no different. When I found out, I ended it. Plain and simple."

"Within that book, you'll find not only the methods to destroy anyone, but who they are weakened by proxy. A network of connections so easy to exploit to get what is needed. But it includes the names of those that must be destroyed as well. Within that book is not only our undoing, but the method at which we will succeed. Firm Anima, and those that belong to it, were always being refined to eradicate these animals." Juiblex stirs for a moment, sensing something boiling in his belly. Raidou raises his hand to the thing, as a slow film of red begins to ooze out of his pores. After such a simple conversation, tapped did not mean consumed by. "If we are ever going to survive this, we need to be rid of the worst enemy that we stand to face. Our fellow man. The ones that choose to become one with the monsters of this place."

Just a brief breath, allowing it to roll out in segments. "Firm Anima is the answer, and what it represents. This place requires law, it requires unity, and it requires fear to quench any thoughts of crime. All of these things can be achieved, with such a simple thing. Control. This is why I could not work with Setsuna. I would have been biased."

[Freya 0]

A slight relief, now knowing that Raidou didn't know about it until it was mentioned. "So did you form Firm Anima around this idea." This is what is was sounding like. "Which came first..." All of this was a bit overwhelming, but she would stick to what she told Freyd, to the end. That black book, that slime, that rage that came from him in a red mist. He was pissed, but she had a feeling that it was directed toward those PKer's. She hated the Laughing Coffin with passion that was obviously for different reasons than Rai. She could respect what he was doing, he was making this game a safer place. To make then not be the cause of the diseases around this already horrible place. 

"You said that you saw this White-haired woman. Was it just in your dreams or also in person. What happened exactly." Leaning back in her chair listening...

[Freyd 0]

"If we are ever going to survive this, we need to be rid of the worst enemy that we stand to face. Our fellow man. The ones that choose to become one with the monsters of this place."

I know what it sounds like he's saying.  And I know what he's really saying.  He's including himself among the monsters. Eruda... I'm so sorry.

Staring at the boundlessly lethal knowledge, literally at his fingertips, Freyd found it difficult to resist its allure.  His heart recoiled at its contents, but his hand refused to withdraw.  The potential was... overwhelming.  A flick of his eyes to the red robe, made by the very same woman who might one day provide this man with salvation.  The same robe at the core of a promise that had been gnawing at him since he realized its true implication.  'Give them hope,' Raidou had told him, certain that his own demise was inevitable.  Freyd had never wanted the mantle of leadership, but saw the necessity in Raidou's request.  Without someone to assume the mantle, Firm Anima would suffer the same fate as the Madrigal.  Drawing in a deep, steady breath, Freyd removed his hand from the book, closing and pushing it back towards his friend and fellow captain.

No, Raidou.  Today, I choose to give you hope instead, by denying that temptation.

"The time to deal with Laughing Coffin is coming soon enough."  A voice hoarse with thirst that no liquid could quench, yet refocused on the task at hand streamlined his thoughts back to the razor's edge.  "Nisahime has achieved some form of influence over the guild.  I don't know how, given that I met her..."

Stunned silence.

"That I met her before the raid against Shadow.  Shit. It's me, or rather... these."  He turned both palms upright realizing the significance.  "Samael's fucking Pride.  I'm a goddamned fool.  She even called me her Messenger.  I'm the frigging infection vector." 

Cunning.

Not now, Montjoy.

Think about it.  If she's played you so thoroughly, she could have torn this group apart by now.  But she hasn't.  She's made them stronger.

"You said that she invaded your dreams, Raidou, in a forgotten form that seemed familiar.  Whose form?"

[Raidou 1]

Raidou twists his gaze to set it upon Juiblex, which was winding and trying so desperately to cling on. To protect the raw emotion oozing out of his shoulders. But the familiar couldn't. It needed allowance, whereas before it would just happen. The book spinning back to him, to neutral and to its bearer. Stopping it with a hand, they'd gotten off topic. But this had been peeling away at his thoughts for some time, Eruda had gained some insight and despite it chose to remain at his side. It offered confidence, that before he simply could not muster. "Sooner than most might expect." His vision shifts to Freya. "Almost ready, to do what must be done. But what is important is how it is done. Easy to simply obliterate them, what we need is to create unity. Trust. There are a few player killers that are not cut from the same cloth: Mari, Hidden. They can clear their own names, if we can convince them to kill again. Use them as scapegoats, It's hard to deny if a killer is killing monsters, that they are all bad."

Leaning down and fiddling with those lenses, and yet he refused to put them back on. "Back to the point, to what is important. This woman visited me in my dreams, wearing my mother's face. At first, I simply believed that it was just my mind playing tricks, it's something I am used to. I've ridden the border between sanity for quite some time, so it wasn't unusual. Before dismissed, but now relevant. For how long? How deep does this influence exist? I don't enjoy that which I do not understand. Her methods are unorthodox, strange and not easy to decipher. What do we have?" Raidou seemed perplexed with a mix of concern, there was no way he was going to allow this rogue element to undermine everything they had all worked so hard to achieve.

[Freya 0]

Pushing him the notes that have been made. "Eruda has formed a contract with Morrighan, a lily was given and that is when we began to see major change in her. Tuatha is inside, was inside of me, that is why I was leveling so quickly and coming up with all that unknown power, this was my current Scythe that I wield. Freyd, who had Samual's Pride,  and Eruda are called messengers to Morrighan in her eyes, I guess, and Shiina may or may not be contracted too. Her hair shifts when she plays her music, Anna our sister, which is much more powerful I have noticed within time, but given that Tuatha was with me and I am not contracted, it is an unknown fact. Made no sense to pay much attention until now. Tuatha seems to be Simmonè's dead brother. This makes me think that souls or fragments of whatever they are, have been residing within Nisa. This still makes no fucking sense."

Thinking for a moment before continuing, "Morrighan seems to be connecting upon contact through us, with a weapon, or a simple object. She calls herself Fate, and that only the people with the strongest courage and hearts will be able to contain this power that everyone seems to be receiving from her. She wants to help us get out of this unjust game when she gains enough power I guess, which I can only assume at this point is those contracts that she is trying to form with us. Her main target I guess in the Cardinal system... This is was she told Eruda, which has interacted with her in both dream and person. In the grand scheme of things, no hostile action has been toward us, but that could change at any moment, given that Freyd and I think that she is a virus in this game and possibly not actually a player? When we track Nisahime, multiple blimps show up, but when only tracking Morrighan, on ping shows. This makes me think that Morrighan is her true form." Turning to Freyd, "Am I missing anything?"

Edited November 30, 2021 by Freya

[Freyd 0]

Freyd just blinked at the plot of word barf laid bare before him, trying to process all the dots in need of connecting.

"What the what?!  You.. can't just ralph it up like that."  Screwing his eyes tight with squinting didn't seem to help.  "I'm not even sure I followed everything you just said, but sure.  Let's go with 'you got it all' and move on."  Turning back to Raidou, Freyd's eyes held a 'wtf was that', without having to utter a word.  

"Morrighan seems to be the person, or the player.  Nisahime is her persona.  They coexist in this world, but I haven't quite figured..." Brows furrowed as Freyd fell prey to the intrusion of memory.

"Her gemini.  Morrighan must be the gemini, which is how and why I saw her features change so long ago.  She'd even told me that she'd absorbed it, somehow.  I couldn't quite figure out what that meant before, and I won't even say that I fully understand it now, but she has some version of the powers of the gemini at her disposal.  I've also seen gemini pull a lot of weird shit, like they got special hall passes from Cardinal, or something.  That could also partially explain how and why you saw your mother.  She's gained their prowess for illusion."

Freyd's brain-hamster was spinning his wheel at full speed now, trying to remember what other details might fit a slowly filling picture puzzle.  Spider-like fingers rapped the wooden table, until he caught himself and stilled the fidget with a glare at his own hand.

"We need to speak to the others and hear their own tales and encounters.  It's all we have that can be gathered together before hunting her down and confronting her.  If Eruda's right, she could be a very powerful ally against Cardinal and Kayaba.  But we've all known that systems and players can lie."  A passing glace caught Raidou's eye, making no judgement but confirming the statement with silence.

"What concerns me most greatly is how much she knows about each of us.  A mere player couldn't know all of these things.  Even that black book of yours, doesn't have some of these details, which makes me wonder if she's even human or something closer to Cardinal itself.  Making false or wrong assumptions, even with the best of intentions, could get a lot of people... of friends, killed."

Returning his gaze to Freya, he felt like he'd untangled most of the knotted ideas she'd just tried to get out, nodding his thanks at her strangely effective summary.  It had just needed to be parsed.

"I'm not sure that we can be certain that her goal is to target the Cardinal system.  Even if we take her at her word, saying so doesn't mean that her goals are benign." Maybe the others can shed some light.

[Sam 0]

Sitting in her bed, blanket pulled up to her face, Sam hasn't slept in days. That boy, she couldn't get that dream out of her head. It all felt so real though, the way that she felt after, that alone almost proved that it could have very much been real. The female, one that she had never seen before. How did she even know about that. Sam made a giant fool out of herself in the guild hall the other day. A huge blabbering mess is really what it was. She was scared and didn't know what else to do...

A chime of her HUD causes her skin to crawl, opening her HUD it was from Freyd. "White-Haired female, dreams..." was other people seeing this person. Everything was so confusing and she hated what she didn't understand. Sam always had the facts, the true ideals and the complete calculations of everything she knew about. With this though, she had nothing... She was terrified of that factor alone. Should she even go back to the guild hall, would they even believe her this time. Sam was haunted by her past, the more she thought about this dream thing and what that boy said, the more freaked out she became. How was it even there, he was dead. She saw that boy with her own eyes through a crowd, she was at his funeral. He was dead, so by the slim chance that he was there... Closing her eyes tight as her eyes began to swell with tears.

After a bit of time she gets out of bed, she had decided to give this one more chance. If Freyd knew anything about this female, why this man showed his face when he was suppose to be dead... Walking out her door, locking the bolt. She had that robe of hers back on. She had not worn it for some time now. Walking next door, she opens the large door slowly. Eyeing the people in here, Freya and Freyd, Raidou... She goes straight to a corner chair, sits and pulls her legs to her chest, as her heels sat on the edge of her chair. Her hands were placed on her knees as her nails were digging into the caps of her shins. Raidou was at the weird outburst the other day and she didn't say much more after that. She had just walked out, trying to forget about what happened, but it was obvious that she couldn't. Digging her nails deeper, small amounts of data could be seen... Sam sits there in silence, watching the rest of the group.

Spoiler

Sam,
Level: 31
Paragon Level: 36
HP: 760/760
EN: 94/94

Stats:
Damage: 23
Mitigation: 20
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 4
Loot Dice: 4
AA
PHASE
REC: 8

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Oracle's Watch - Inquiry (THBA-T4-Demonic): Absolute Accuracy, Accuracy 2, Phase
Armor: Acolyte's Light (T4-Perfect-Cloth Armor): Evasion 1, Recovery 2
Misc: Gold Promise - Din's Flame (T1/Perfect):Accuracy 1, Evasion 2

Skills:
Axe R5
Cloth Armor R5
Searching R4
Quick Change

Active Mods:
Vanish
Surprise Attack (Trickster)
Tracking
Athletics
Blindside

Addons:
Ferocity
Stamina
Precision

Active Extra Skills:
Hiding R5
Concentration

Battle Ready Inventory:
Analyst's Harvester - Lethargy (THBA-T4-Demonic): Envenom 1, Bleed 1, Frostbite 1, Static 1 x1

Housing Buffs:
Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (-): +1 Rank to the - skill.
Angler: +1 material gained when fishing
Advanced Training: +10% Exp to a thread. Limit one use per month [1/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Decor [(Potted Tanabata)]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Edited January 25, 2022 by Sam

[Freya 0]

Sam walks in as they were speaking to Raidou. From the way that Sam was acting, she must of seen that message. Seeing those nails carving deep, Freya sighs. Getting up from her seat, she walks to Sam and takes a chair next to hers. Placing a soft hand on hers, "You have heard my 10 times of weirdness, no matter what you say here, we will believe you Samantha. You can trust us," removing Sams claws from her flesh. She saw that Sam was starting to cry, Freya simply pulls her friend into a hug. They were friends, Freya had been trying to go with with each bond that made a stance. This conversation was starting to bring some light to what the girl represented to everyone. Closing her eyes as she holds the bundle of Sam, with a deep breath, "You are not alone in this, tell us, and we will listen." Pulling her closer for that comfort, Freyja feels a pair of arms wrap around her with a sniffle. She was now wondering what Sam had seen to make her this spooked. Freyja would just hold her quietly until she was ready to speak. 

[Sam 0]

After a few minutes those wounds that she caused long healed. Pulling from Freya, wiping her eyes with this sleeve that went over her hands. She would share it all, every time she thought about it,,, She only became more confused by how this was even possible. "I don't know names," she reposition herself, setting a leg down to the floor. Glancing to Freyd, "When I was about 3, a young blond boy saved me from a moving car, where he died on the spot." She glances to Freya whose eyes grew wide and was looking to Freyd as well now. Did they know something that she didn't. Taking a deep breath, "It really did start out as a dream, but then it got weird."  Glancing to her hands now as she flips them to stare at her palms. "I was staring at that coffin that held this boy and then a shadow like thing just grabs me." Closing her eyes now taking another deep inhale. "This white-haired female grabs this black hand and pulls it from my clothing." That feeling, it felt so real, a hand goes to where he held her. "A weird sinister laugh from the kid," remembering what he said right after that was nothing but a calming voice. "He told me that it wasn't my fault, and that he did what he thought was right." Keeping those eyes closed as she felt wetness against her cheek again. "That boy knew what would have happened if he messed with fate." Those words flowed off her tongue like it was meant to be said. 

A few moments of silence before her brain began to run its own course of understanding. If she was meant to share, she was going to share everything, it was time to open up...

"An unrelated event happened with me and Shiina." Sam paused, trying to figure out exactly what took place on that sledding trip. Skipping the weird fun details, "Shiina hugged me and started to hum a song. Out of nowhere as the ground began to vibrate, Shiina shifts into that same blond boy." A smile peers on her face as she recalled what was said about her being a beautiful young lady and the crush thing. "He told me that he was proud of the way that I turned out and that he regretted nothing of what transpired that day." Another deep breath, it was a very weird day for her.

This was when she started getting no sleep. So much was rushing around randomly in her noggin. Glancing to Freya then to Freyd, eyes shifting to Raidou and locking eyes with him. "How is this happening... She told me to find her before that dream thing ended," pulling her fingers into fist now, "I don't think it was a dream at all, my hands were dusty and black from grabbing that coffin that boy was in..." Words fall silent to let everything sink it...

[Freyd 0]

"The blonde boy's name is... was Tuatha Dé Danann Escheté.  He was Simmoné's real life brother."  The girl deserved to know the truth, no matter how utterly bizarre.  Something akin to sympathy crossed the Whisper's carefully guarded face.  "I can't explain it.  Whatever this strange series of events represents, or how Nisahime is bound up in all of it is still too convoluted to make clear.  But you have basically been haunted by the twisted guilt and sorrow of her loss, which was also the very same spirit that somehow saved Freya's life here in SAO."

Lifting his hands, palms open, Freyd was at a loss to explain the cascade of coincidences, or what their interconnections could possibly mean.  Even he was forced to pause and consider that he'd just engaged the very tools that supposedly bound him to the mysterious beauty.  Palms closed to fists.  He didn't much appreciate the notion that he was made to work for her benefit, but that reckoning was still some time away.

"As to Shiina, she seems connected by song to the soul of Anna - the sister of Freya and Eruda. You incestuous lot all have fate-driven ties getting busy with each other in the background, or so Nisahima would have us believe.  Personally, I'm a fan of seeing the big picture unfold, but the sheer extent of woven connection involved here is stretching credulity."  He'd used a bunch of fancy words, but the simple truth was that Freyd was struggling to accept so many intertwined layers as less than some grand intentional design.  However much that might have nudged the needle closer to Eruda's blind belief, Nisahime's motives remained obscured.  That had always been the root of his hesitation, and remained firmly grounded.  Even if the girl actually was Fate, that didn't mean she could be trusted.

His sigh was evidence of fatigue, but they still had a lot of ground to cover.  Reinforcement was needed, which manifest a moment later in the form of a cup and saucer with a slight scent of vanilla that wafted around the room.

"You're both alive because of a confluence of quirk and circumstances.  Is it Fate?"  He shrugged.  The very notion that such a force could be real was offensive to his sense of absolute pragmatism.  "It's something.  But I'd sooner consider it to be just more pieces to a very large and complicated puzzle that we need to continue pulling together."

[Sam 0]

Sitting up into her chair and then standing when Freyd had commented on them effecting more that just what she had already. This female... Who the hell was she. "The question I would love to know is how the hell did she get into my dreams. I have never in my life seen her in person or any form of it." She could feel tears swelling in her eyes again. Thinking about this blonde boy and what possibly she could have to do with anything relevant to that man that died that day. The fact that Tuatha was a long gone brother of a grand friend of hers make this even more confusing. 

Wiping those tears away, she would not shed another tear for this man. He shows up somehow in some way, shape or form in Freya, appears in front of her like it would fix anything and appears through Shiina to make the act final or something. Why does this Tuatha ghost dude get to play musical chairs with her friends. "I say she is just a coward," Sam glances to Freya. "Why does she not just walk to us like a normal person and just explain herself." Sam's eyes shift to Freyd now. "From the sound of it all you guys have is questions with more question. I think that we need to get actual answers, instead of just sitting here, fiddling out thumbs and talking about it. I think that we need to find her and deal with it up from." Sam turns toward the door and starts to walk toward it.

Sam was tired of feeling hopeless, that one day she might find out where she truly belonged. Having issues with this for a very long time now, she was going to find answers. Walking around on egg shells was doing nothing for anyone. "I am going to get answers." Sam refused to have another sleepless night. It was exhausting to say the least and she was unable to focus on anything but those dreams that poked through in her cat naps. Sam walks out the door without another word and closes her eyes. A name is all she needed to track this person down. Whoever this person was, she was going to figure it out. In the mean time, hopefully get some answers that have been lingering in her head for what seemed like her entire life.

Sam uses tracking on Morrighan

 

[Freya 0]

Raising from her seat with an out reached hand, "Sam wait we... Fuck..." Sam runs out the door. "Well shit, that went from 0 to 100 really fast." Glancing to Freyd, with a sigh. Freyja sits back down and places her elbow on the table, leaning her chin on her hand. Letting everything sink in, Tuatha saved Sam, it was how he had died in the first place. Then when coming into the game, he somehow finds his way to Nisa... Then saved Freyja from her own doom with the laughing coffin, which Raidou is guild leader of... Both hands go to her face to rub her eyes. "This is so much..." saying quietly with a sigh. It was all starting to make some resemblance of sense though. "The one thing that confuses me the most is how Tuatha and Anna are here. Tuatha is dead so how is he here and that would mean that Anna is gone too." Sitting up in her seat now. "What the hell is Nisa, to allow her to take these souls into herself..." She says this in almost a question. 

She grunts almost angrily and confusion began to fill her mind again. "What if Sam is right. What if we go right to the source and demand answers. The fact that she was right about more questions than answers. At this point... Maybe we should. That and Sam seemed to decide on her own to go after Nisa. Regardless if this woman is a danger or not, we have to make sure that Sam doesn't do something stupid." Freyja gets up from her chair. Picking up her coffee and chugging the rest of it, she started to think that this was not normal for Sam. Freyja would normally be the one needing saving from herself, but this time, it was the other way around. It was a nice change of pace. "What do you say Freyd, you up for some adventure?" Starting to walk toward the door. Glancing back toward Freyd with a small smile and a hint of exhaustion.    

[Freyd 0]

"If this gets any more complicated," Freyd grumbled, "we're gonna need flowcharts or something."  His ire was roused on Sam's impulsiveness, not her zeal.  Teaching agents to temper one while fostering the other might bring him to drink, and that didn't even account for the @Blueberryfactor.  

"Cardinal, through the NerveGear, could have gathered an unprecedented quantity of metrics on its incoming player base.  And who knows what other lengths Kayaba might have gone to while laying the groundwork for his trap?  Hacking government records and private databases is small potatoes when you're prepared to put ten thousand necks on a digital chopping block."  

Freyd's candor was nearly as disturbing as his spoken words, but these were disturbing topics.  In truth, he was simply awed by the scale of events swirling around them, the likes of which dwarfed the relative peril of a floor raid - supposedly the scariest things in the game.  The same detachment that made him seem cold also gave him a rare and invaluable perspective.  Only Raidou, in his experience, could see through the same lens.  While the more impulsive like Sam and Freya rushed in same vein as Icarus towards the sun, they watched, connected and eventually understood.  Freyd wasn't done watching Nisa-Morri-whoever-she-was.  His mind wasn't made up, yet.

"Yeah.  Alright."  He finally replied.  "Let's go keep her from making herself dead.  Because that would really suck."

*** 

Thread Summary:

6432 words / 30 = 215*5= 1075*Tier

Freyd receives:

13975 EXP (Word Count [1075*13])
2196 col (100 [1 page/4] + 2096 [Laurel, +15% of EXP as col])

Freya receives:

8600 EXP (Word Count [1075*8])
1390 col (100 [1 page/4]] + 1290 [Laurel, +15% of EXP as col])

Sam receives:

7525 EXP (Word Count [1075*7])
1228 col (100 [1 page/4] + 1128 [Laurel, +15% of EXP as col])

Raidou receives:

11825 EXP (Word Count [1075*11])
1873 col (100 [1 page/4] + 1773 [Laurel, +15% of EXP as col])