There's no point dancing around it, if you don't tell him he may grow suspicious on why you know so little about anything and everything, and those would only cause further problems in the future. Better to rip the bandaid off, quick and painful. "I haven't told you my name as I do not know it myself." You continue walking for a bit, him beside you, looking at you straight faced. "You're messing with me, right?" he says after a pause. "Because I appreciate the attempt to lighten the mood and all but it's a weird joke."
"It isn't a joke. I cant remember anything beyond a few days ago, the day after these creatures attacked, so I have no name to give you." you try to ignore the look Medy is giving you, like he's trying to peer into your head to determine whether your words are true or not. Eventually he comes to some answer of his own ,as he next says. "So, were you hit on the head or something? Got any welts or bumps there?" you hadn't actually checked before, but running a hand over your head finds no wounds. "No, I don't believe so, at least I can't find anything." Medy once again gives you that look, judging your sincerity.
"Okay, so if it wasn't a blow to the head what could it have been? Really wish I had paid more attention in class right now." The second part of that question is hushed, said more to himself than to you. you ponder it a second yourself. "Maybe one of these creatures knows magic of some sort? A spell that can lock a persons mind?" at that Medy just waves his hand through the air. "Nah, that's not likely. If these things do know magic that would be some custom stuff, more of a curse than a spell and I doubt they're smart enough to pull something like that together."
The two of you continue walking, leading the survivors further towards you destination, thankful they aren't listening to the two of you right now. Both of you seem to be pondering how this might've happened, but Medy breaks the silence by saying. "Look, however you lost your memory doesn't matter. I still need something to call you. Got any ideas?" you spend a moment thinking on it, a moment wasted as you come up with nothing. You should at least say something, first thing to come to mind or first thing you see. Eventually your eyes see your shadow, your shade cast by the sun.
"Shade?" its more a question than an answer, seeing if its good enough? "Is that really the best you can come up with? its not even a name, more like a nickname. Why not something like…like…" he trails off there trying to think of something but apparently his mind has gone blank. "Screw it, sure, Shade. Cant really criticize the choice if I can't think of anything. Moment you remember your actual name were switching to that, alright?" you shrug your shoulders in agreement before continuing on.
---
"I'll accept." You say to Cyryls requests. There's a moment of surprise followed by satisfaction on the deacons face. "I'll be honest, I thought I would have to do some more convincing before you accepted, but I'm glad to be spared that sort of talk. Now I haven't fully prepared, didn't know if id have to prepare one pack or two, but come find me after midday and everything should be ready." He says with relief in his voice. Wait. Two? "shouldn't you be preparing three? Won't Medy need one as well?" at that he appears confused. "Medy? I didn't think him much of a fighter, not from the amount of times I've had to patch him up." "But he knows magic. He's able to cast water spells and use his sitar, at least I think that's what he called it, to do all kinds of things." Again, the deacon looks confused at this information, a little surprised as well.
"I didn't know he was capable of spells, he never showed any inclination towards magic to my knowledge. If its true than he would be very helpful, but I'm not sure he'd come with us given the choice. Feel free to ask him though, he might just surprise me." You're about to ask him what he means by that when one of his subordinates calls out to him. "Ah, you'll have to pardon me, Markus needs me fore something. Meet me back here after midday and we'll be off." With that he gives you a salute of some kind, his right fist placed over his heart and a nod of his head towards you, before marching off to this Markus fellow.
With the deacon gone and nothing nearby that catches your interest you head back into the church to find Medy. The two of you had found a spot in a small alcove along the outer wall of the church, more towards the back. Interspersed between these alcoves were windows of brightly colored glass, some plain though most being mosaics of some kind. You'd only noticed this morning that one of these mosaics depicted the carbuncle creature Medy had tried to catch. Is that what they worship here? Or are they simply depicting legends? Something to ask the deacon you suppose. You find Medy still asleep, snoring away wrapped in the blanket he was given. You'd already forced him awake the day before so you decide to let him sleep for now.
Its roughly an hour later, half an hour after you'd returned with some bread and more stew for breakfast, when he finally starts to stir. He groggily pushes himself up to a sitting position, still wrapped in the blanket, and starts rubbing the dirt out of his eyes. You hand him his now cold bowl of bread and stew which he takes with a muffled thanks. He's already taken a few bites before you start talking. "Cyryl wanted me to go with him to search for other survivors." He looks at you a moment before swallowing his food and saying "So you said no right? Can't believe that guy, willing to throw himself to his death for every little thing." "I agreed to go with him."
His eyes grow large as he looks at you. "Why the hell would you go with him man, I though you wanted to live through all this. Fighting those monsters is the dead opposite." He makes sure to emphasize the 'dead' part of his sentence, saying it louder and more fiercely. "if we do nothing here those creatures will beat us eventually. Shot and powder runs out, and so does soup. As far as I can tell we can't destroy these creatures, whatever they're made from just flies off into those clouds then comes back down like rain. We wouldn't win a war of endurance, so we either need to find a way to escape or beat them. Can't do that here."
He stares at you a moment before leaning back against the wall, eyes tilted towards the rafters. "I mean, I guess that makes a bit of sense, but still you are risking way too much. Let the would be hero take care of it." you give him a moment before hitting him with your request. "Id want you to come with us." He gets up and starts to talk but you continue before he can protest. "Your music is useful, as well as your magic, both would make us all the safer." At the word magic his eyes go a little wide as he looks around. "Quiet man, don't go throwing around the m word." He hisses out through clenched teeth.
His reaction surprises you. "Did I say something wrong? My apologies, But why is the m word so bad?" he gives you a look and shakes his head. "I forget you were born yesterday or something. Look, magic here is strictly controlled, if you got it than the emps wants you in the army, in the academy, or in a cell being experimented on. Told those guys in my band I could do magic cause I thought they were my friends but the moment there was danger they threw me at it, so I really don't want more people knowing about it." oh. Oh no you messed up.
Well, like a bandage, quick and painful. "I may have told Cyryl that you knew magic." At that there's a groan from your ally. "Seriously man? He's like the worst person to have heard that. If he thinks I'm from upper Noria he'll kick my ass." He clasps his head in his as he begins complaining. "I really do apologize. I didn't know it was so rare or such a secret." he keeps himself locked in his position, cradling his head in his hands, before looking up at you. "Look, its fine, you didn't know. Just keep the information to yourself from now on, alright?"
A few uncomfortable moments pass in silence after that as Medy finishes his meal. "So, how do you actually know Cyryl?" its asked less out of interest, though there is some, and more to shift the mood a little. It takes Medy a moment to respond as he thinks on what to say. "Guy pretty much runs the militia, and they act as the guard down here pretty much. I've been brought to him on charges of disruption, noise pollution, stuff like that. He usually goes easy on me but I've spent plenty of days in the holding cells they've got set up. problem is he hates the upper city, the nobles and all the rich dudes with like a burning passion. Im certain that if sees an opportunity he'll lead the lower city in like its fifth failed revolution. So, if he thinks I am from the academy or something he's gonna stop being such a nice guy to me."
Again more moments are spent in silence, though no longer quite as tense. You decide you might as well try to convince him to come with you now. "Both of us are more likely to survive if we go out there together. Your songs, my skills, things should work out if we work together." A mix of a sigh and a questioning noise comes out of your ally. "Maybe. I need to think on it man. Gimme a bit." You nod your head as you push yourself to your feet. "Alright. Were heading off in an hour or so. If you decide to come with us find us outside, alright? And if you don't its fine, not gonna hold it against you."
You leave Medy behind as you leave the church. Looking up at the sky your guess of an hour or so looks mostly correct, so you decide to try and relax. Now how do you do that? You aren't actually sure. Looking around for anything to do there really isn't much. Lacking anything else to do you go and lay down beside the church on the side in the sun, resting and trying to enjoy The warmth. Before you know it you find yourself getting shaken. "Shade, wake up child." You hear a voice, Cyryls saying to you. Opening your eyes it seems you took a small nap. Cyryl is now armored with a breastplate over his clothes, though underneath his red cloak, painted white.
"Is it time?" you mumble out. "It is, wake yourself up. I've got our packs together. Is Medy coming with us?" looking around you don't see him anywhere nearby. "Don't think so. Let's get a move on." You rise to your feet, a vague feeling of disappointment lingering. Only somewhat though. The two of you head to the platform where he left the three packs. Simple leather packs stuffed with all kinds of supplies, worn over the shoulder. You throw your on, followed by Cyryl. "So, I have a few ideas on where to go, but I'm welcome to any inputs you may have."
You give it a thought, thinking on all the things you had heard before. There's certainly options, but only one really had multiple people you could hear, and Cyryls goal is to rescue people, so that's the one you go with. "I had heard what sounded like multiple people together, roughly north west of here. If we get close I might be able to pick it out again." Probably, at least. You are fairly confident in your senses. "Then we can start there. Lead on and I will follow." You give him a nod and the two of you start walking to the "gate" that is placed into the perimeter wall, two metal slats that overlap each other. One of the guards there begins wheeling the outer gate to let the two of you out when you hear something behind you.
"Hold up a moment man!" You turn and see Medy running towards you, sitar slung over his back and soon paired with the third pack slung over the other shoulder. When he reaches the two of you he is already winded despite the shortness of the run. "You said- you said you were leaving in an hour man, its been like forty minutes or something." He says between huffs of air. "I wasn't exactly keeping track of time. But if you manage to get your breath back we can get going." You say. Medy nods his head, taking a few more deep breaths before getting his breathing under control. And with that the three of you head out into the city.
---
[Rolled 68 for the encounter]
Other than avoiding the creatures as much as possible, there really isn't much to do as you seek the source of that laughter you had heard. You keep your eyes and ears pricked for anything, be it people, monster, or even that carbuncle thing, but honestly the trip is boring. And boring is good you suppose, it means you aren't fighting, you just wish there was something, anything else to see. Then you notice something, a little shop set up in an alley with a blue lantern over its door.
"Medy, Cyryl, either of you know what that is?" you say, pointing the tip of your sword towards the lantern. Both of them turn to look, both with recognition in their eyes. Cyryl is about to say something but Medy's faster with his words. "Looks like an alchemists shop. Might have potions or ingrediants there, weird stuff if you're lucky." Cyryl then gets his chance to speak. "As Medy said, it's an alchemists shop. Since the wares it sells are not necessarily magical they are allowed to operate in the lower city if granted a writ of permission and that blue lantern is hung over the shop. We should check it for any survivors, and failing that goods we can use."
With everyone more or less in agreement you lead the way inside. The first thing you notice is the cold, cold enough for your breath to mist and even a small layer of fog to roll on the ground. It doesn't bother you much, though you can't say the same for Medy. Cyril has his cloak to keep him warm but Medy preferred to wear his "stylish" outfit, and his supposed style does little to guard against the cold. On various shelves all manner of glass vials are lined, as well as books, pouches of herbs, and even various pieces of metal ore.
There is no person manning the store, merely a strange contraption, large and metal installed on the counter with rails along it that this contraption can be pushed along. Cyryl clicks his tongue at it. "Looks like we won't be taking anything. That there is an auto merch, employee and security system all in one. We take anything and it will attack. peruse if you want, but let's not waste too much time."
You have 460 gil.
Potions are available for 50 gil. They heal 30 hp each
Ethers are available for 80 gil. They restore 30 mp
An Alchemists book is available for 100 gil. Read it and learn how to make certain potions.
A chunk of mithril ore is available for 150 gil. Its not immediately useful but it is apparently good for making weapons
[] list what you buy, if anything.
---
After your trip to the shop you continue on, ears still kept pricked for any sign of laughter. Thankfully it doesn't take too much longer before you can finally hear something. It isn't laughter, but the sound of someone fighting. You let the others know, Cyryl nodding and Medy trying to hear what you did with his hands to his ears. You lead them through the streets until the sounds of combat are nearly right in front of you. you turn a corner, only to get pulled back as one of the creatures, this one armed with a sword and dressed in a bandits clothing hurtles right through where you were, bursting into a cloud of shadows that dart off to the sky. You find Cyryl and Medy behind you, each with a handful of your coat. You give them a nod of thanks and more carefully turn the corner this time. There are no more of the monsters, the only thing you see is a glimpse of an armored figure walking into a tavern, three stories of wood and brick with a chimney spewing out smoke at its top. Once the figure is back in the forced laughter and joviality begins again.
"You're certain this is the place lad?" Cyryl says as he looks at the building. "I am, why? Is there something wrong about this place?" the deacon closes his eyes and robs his chin. A moment before saying. "An awful lot wrong, but not as wrong as the creatures we face. This is the hideout of the local thieves guild, the Forum Aperta Manus or something like that. Been trying to take them out the past year but they're slippery, slippery as oil in water. Right now though theft isn't all that important a crime in the face of what's happening. That knight of theirs is new though. We should try to get them to come to the church still, as allies not as prisoners. You lead the way shade, they're unlikely to appreciate any words from me."
You give him a nod and make your way up the stairs and push open the door. Inside is a richly, almost tackily, decorated tavern, silk sashes and golden decorations at odds with its rather plain exterior. Everything pauses for a moment when the three of you enter, before a man in the back starts barking "Hell're you all doing!? Stop acting all cowardly anytime something darkens our door. Those men are just guests of our fine establishment, so don't act all afeared!" The man is tall at roughly 6' 8" and broadly built, covered in a layer of muscle, and none too friendly looking.
His hair is an unnatural pale green chopped short but slicked back a large scar crosses over the edge of his right eye, blinding or weakening judging by its inability to focus, though his left does all the work of glaring on its own. He's square jawed and clean shaved, his skin taught against his face. He ears a leather coat similar to your own over a florally decorated shirt and the heels of his boots have spikes attached as if they were made for riding some beast of burden. Judging by the quick following of his orders and the ornate chair he's sitting in he must be in charge.
You look around for the armored figure you had seen before and find them sitting upon a chest of an almost red wood and dark metal, the fur of some black and brown striped creature thrown overtop of it. Her back lays against the wall, a hung tapestry depicting a knight driving a lance into the back of some large scaled beast providing some padding. Just as you had seen she is armored head to toe in black armor with some purple metal used for filigree. The only skin exposed is on her head, protected only by a visor stretching from temple to temple, three slits for each eye to see through, giving her something a monstrous look. What skin that is exposed is dark and dusky, her hair pure white. Her face is framed by two curly locks of her hair, stretching down past her shoulders, while the rest is pulled into a bushy ponytail behind her. A buckler is strapped to her right arm while her left rests on the haft of her spear, its leaf shaped head resting on the ground, two sharp prongs off to either side.
You keep her eyes on her as you walk over to their leader, and she does the same to you three, sizing all of you up you suppose, or rather the two of you as she almost immediately glances over Medy. When you're finally in front of the thieves leader he snaps a finger and three of the other thieves here get out of their seats, offering them up to the three of you. "So, what brings you to my happy little niche in the world?" he says, his words slightly slurred. He's drunk, at least slightly. "I heard the laughter, wanted to check out what was happening. Not too common to hear with those monsters in the streets." You say, testing the waters. He lets out a short bark of laughter. "You'll find that we here don't let anything stop our enjoyment of life and all her luxuries. Sure, them monsters ain't the kindliest folks, worse than the militia though not so bad as them guardsmen, but our good friend Theodosia here can send em all packing with just a good swing of her spear, ain't that right Theo?"
She barely spares him a glance, saying "When you pay me, sure." If the words bothered the thieves leader he doesn't show it. "Trust me that girls a peach she just doesn't like to show it. More importantly she keeps us safe and protected here." You've just noticed that despite the mans cheer or attempts at cheer, he hasn't smiled once, his face almost stuck in this rictus frown. "I'm certain she does an admirable job, but I think you all might be safer if you joined the other survivors over at the church." A tension enters the air at your words as all the thieves look at you as if you made some mistake, and you hear it. the grinding of teeth, coming from their leader. "We welcome you into our establishment and barely any ways into a conversation and you're already suggesting we abandon it? let me tell you something bud, I have poured blood, sweat, and far too many tears into building this place up to go abandoning her now." His mood seems to shift on a whim, unpredictable and dangerous.
"And don't think I ain't noticed you neither Deacon. Trying to use all this chaos as an opportunity to raid my business, steal our treasure? Knew you lawkeeper types were foul but this is a new low." He says, his good eye now glaring a hole into Cyryl. "I can assure you Mr. Serenus I had no idea you were even here before a few minutes ago. Our intent was simply to attempt to rescue any survivors not yet under our protection, and that extends to you as well." Cyryl says stepping beside you, his voice even and calm, an attempt to calm the man. It's a tense few moments as people wait on his next words, waiting for him to start a fight. Thankfully, it never comes. "Yeah right. Take your holier than though self and get out. As you can see we've got all the help we need in our lovely lady Theodosia here." His words are final, but they let you avoid the situation worsening. You place your hand on Cyryls shoulder and tug him back. The three of you already almost out the door when someone else speaks.
"Hey, priest." Her voice is deep and husky, commanding. The three of you turn towards the mercenary who spoke. "200 gil and I'll go with ya, keep this church of yours safe and protected." Her words are surprising, both to yourselves and the rest of the tavern. "Theo, the hell are you doing?" their leader says, his voice a hiss, though there is fear in there. "Been getting lazy and soft sticking around here, need to get a move on. Don't forget a part of my contract said I could leave as I wanted after a month, and its been three." "Yes, three wonderful months where the both of us have been getting richer and richer, why ruin a good thing lady!?" "Because you've decided you'd rather die protecting your horde rather than live doing anything else, and your willing to get the rest of us killed to do it. I'm fond of life so I'll be moving on." Cyryl looks towards you and whispers "And if she's gone they don't have their protection. They'll be forced to leave or die."
[] Toss the mercenary Theodosia 200 gil. Might risk further angering serenus.
[] no, just leave. Its not worth the money or the risk.
---
The Deacon Cyryl has joined your party! He is a gunner/cleric, his element is earth, and his weapons are guns, predominately long guns such as rifles and shotguns
---
So, ive been thinking if switching the quest over to using ffd20 for its mechanics, a pathfinder conversion that's already done most of the work for me. All the main characters, companions and the protagonist, would be gestalted, meaning they have two classes. I already had classes assigned to your companions so its fairly easy, though you'd have a turn working on shade, choosing the new classes for him that fit what's already been chosen so far. It wouldn't be one to one, some things would be altered or ignored for the sake of the quest, such as certain characters having access to magic even if they are a non magical class or having unique limit breaks. Gonna leave the choice of converting up to you all though.
If you do convert shade will be able to choose between these classes to represent the fighting style you've chosen for him. Gunner and engineer for his pistolieering, dark knight, fencer, and sword saint for his dark magic and swordsmanship. If you find another class or archetype that you feel fits I will also give it a look and determine if ill allow it or not
[] convert to ffd20
[] continue to homebrew it as I go along.
-[] if converting choose the combo of classes you want so I can get started on that
And here's ffd20 so you can get an idea of what it is and what the classes do
www.finalfantasyd20.com
