27th February of 2988
"So the time has come, as the prophecy foretold..." Oracle Li muttered, staring at the skies where a ship descended upon a bed of flames, the dwellers within bearing news of strange tides and stranger lies. "These days will bring much change to lands untouched by such grace..." she continued, tapping her staff upon the ground, the rod of well-worn wood sending a clear sound across the open hall in which the four Grandmasters whose Orders won the last Tournament had assembled with their most trusted adherents and students. "Yet, the bones have not-"
"Woman, I will
punch you," Grandmaster Geren growled, his three brethren doing their best to stifle groans of annoyance or smirks of mirth when Oracle Li cackled in response to being called out on her bullshit. There were few things she enjoyed more in her old age than to fuck with the youngins while spouting semi-coherent ramblings. Their discomfort was almost as hilarious as when they took her seriously.
"Oh, lighten up, you old fart," she replied with one last chuckle, slapping the old man with her cane. "Let an old woman have her joys in old age. I won't see the next Tournament at the rate my bones creak, so leave me something to amuse myself by." Geren growled in reply, neither in agreement nor disagreement, but that was enough to call in silence to fill the minutes the large ship required to begin landing.
According to the communications they had with the
'Furina De Fontaine' that had appeared over the planet, and given the communally operated system monitor station's operators three heart attacks, these strangers were here for trade of information, aid, and offers of joining the nation they were constructing from the ruins of the Deep Periphery. That they had three systems already within their ranks spoke of either convincing performers (though Li was confident they could have simply raided them if they desired to do so, so she wasn't sure why they would play an act in the first place) or them speaking the truth of the matter.
Gunhallow was known to Arcanum as a somewhat distant world of free folk versed well in matters of mining and pride, from which they sourced many of the gems they required for their rituals.
Sigar IV was a world of nomads that produced nothing of interest for them but to which they oft sold many bolts of cloth and artifacts of mystic might.
778...she had been unaware that anything on that world existed, but the strangers had said they had set down a colony of a 100-thousand people there to uplift the fallen natives, so she just had to "trust" them in that regard.
Though she
did count their deals with the snake pit of Affati against them, that world had more often than not scammed them of rightful payment, while more than a few insults had been given when what payment was given was far below what had been agreed.
However, they had agreed to show off their martial arts, so she reserved ultimate judgment until they had met in person.
"Now, remember," she said as the small and strange ship of the newcomers began to settle in for its landing, "I don't want any blood feuds started, no fights, and absolutely
no shenanigans. Understood?!"
"Yes, Oracle," all four Grandmasters intoned in the same voice as a moody teenager would after being told something they were annoyed by.
"Bah, you all turned into boring old geezers! Why, back in my day, we'd already have three blood feuds, seven forbidden romances, and eighteen broken bones just between us! The youth of today, no sense of rebellion," she grumbled mockingly, hiding a hidden smile, with a second, gentler, smile underneath.
Her old friends took the bait.
The welcome to Arcanum was as open as it was confusing.
On one side, the local leaders readily accepted the truth of the Furina being from another universe and got quickly accustomed to talking with TAUBENMUTTER as an equal instead of a machine.
On the other side, a third of the Furina's crew was half-convinced that Oracle Li was either the greatest shitposter to grace this system or had genuine mystical powers. They couldn't rule it out entirely due to being in a strange new universe...
Aside from that, talks between each side turned from friendly and curious to focused and sober as the idea of joining the UNSC was floated to Oracle Li and the four attending Grandmasters, the various benefits the Furina De Fontaine alone could provide the people of Arcanum if only permitted to do so, and the benefits of becoming a founding member of a nascent nation-state within the Deep Periphery were not to be discounted in terms of prosperity and cultural enrichment to be gained.
After some deliberation, Oracle Li agreed to open the idea at the next Tournament in three years, provided that the UNSC delivered a boon for Arcanum before that. Either a good faith attempt at re-starting the Crosscut IndustrialMech factory that had lain dormant and mothballed for so long or to gift them new armaments and equipment for their existing Crosscuts to use during the Tournament.
After some thought, it was decided to:
(6-Hour Moratorium)
[] Restore the factory.
(You must re-create the Crosscut with your current technology. You do not have Myomer as of now.)
[] Provide Arms and Armaments.
(You will create 3 Melee Weapons and 3 Melee Equipments for Mechs.)
You can still do the other option should Arcanum decide to join.
