Week four

[letsplayamod]

Two more of your fellow gods, your companions, your friends, have met their end together. As you turn in for the night, and a new week dawns upon you, it's starting to be a bitter experience. Just how much of this will you be forced to take?

But all isn't just despair. The morning is brighter than the last. The storm clouds that previously plagued almost every day have dissipated, and this week brings plenty of sun and a friendlier breeze. Not to mention, another floor of this strange temple has revealed itself. Whatever lies within is your domain, not Typhon's. Keep it tight in your grasp, because you never know when you'll lose it.

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Quark's Bar

Comments

[stringup]

[ Oh. She recognises that sort of look. It's the same lookshe probably had when she went looking around in the libraries of the Underworld. ]

...It's super important, isn't it.

[markofnobility]

Exceedingly.

[ he picks it up, marveling at how light it is even with it's size. As soon as his hands are truely on the shield it practically hums with magic, a shimmer forming over it that is visible even to the naked untrained eye]

Do you remember the Sacred items I mentioned before?

[stringup]

I do, yes.

[ ...It really is basically the same as an Artifact, huh.]

[markofnobility]

[He can feel the magic vibrating up his arm, calling to his blood. No, this is no replica.]

This is the Ochain Shield, it must be- it is reacting to my Crest. But it has been missing for over a thousand years...

[stringup]

W-wait, wait, hold up, what do you mean "your Crest"?

[markofnobility]

My... oh, have I never mentioned it?

[he thinks back. No, he hasn't, has he? He takes the shield and straps it to his arm properly... and the thrumming magic flairs with an emerald green brilliance; not from the item but from Ferdinand himself. A symbol warbles in the glow, barely noticeable before fading. The two attune perfectly- like this ancient bit of armor was make for him in every way a magical item could be.

Or he was made for it.

The glow fades completely, though there's still a dull hum of magic in the air. Something not quite human. Ferdinand himself seems oddly elated, like the buzz of adrenaline]

Ha... oh. Wow. Yes... sorry, as I was saying- Crests are the divine gift of the Goddess given to heroes and saints in ancient times. I am descended from Saint Cichol, so his gift is in my blood. It is what gives me my noble rank.

[Well, there was argument if said inheritance was literal or more likely that he gifted one of Wilhelm's followers with it the same way the Goddess did to the 10 Elites. But that's more detail than is needed right now]

[stringup]

[ The moment she feels that magic and sees that symbol, can sense the way Ferdinand attunes to the shield (it really is a goddamn Artifact). If she didn't know any better, she would have thought Ferdinand was an Exalt too. It's certainly similar enough.

...Which is only reinforced by what she's hearing. It's Dragonblooded all over again, she swears. Hell, it reminds her of the Dynasts too, which is not an association she particularly wants to think of right now. ]

...I see.

[markofnobility]

Mine is a Minor Crest, so it rarely manifests visually like that and has relatively minor effects on me. I am a bit sturdier and stronger than the average man, but nothing compared to what some Crests can manifest as. I am not surprised it has not shown up in our few battles.

[stringup]

...Honestly, it reminds me of something similar back home.

[markofnobility]

Oh, does it?

[He's always curious about similarities between Fodlan and the others' homes]

[stringup]

Yeah. [ Right, what the least complicated way of explaining this. ] Where I'm from, people who receive a god's power are called the Exalted. But the ones most people back home would know are the Dragonblooded, who are people who inherited the blood of dragons and awaken to it.

...Most of them are Dynasts—imperial nobles, basically.

[markofnobility]

So they receive a blessing from their blood... I suppose that is very similar. Though I am not related to any dragons as far as I know!

[Ha ha that would be silly!]

[stringup]

Good, because if you were, it'd be fucking uncanny.

Frankly, I'm not sure how literal it's meant to be, but it is passed down through bloodlines. And in any case, they're supposedly descended from the original warriors who received blood from the Five Elemental Dragons.

[markofnobility]

From past heroes as well... it really is a bit eerie, isn't it?

[He rubs the side of his head in a common tic, thinking]

Velvet... you are an Exalted as well, yes?

[he knows her statue stats pretty well]

[stringup]

...Yes, I am.

[ If she had wanted to hide that fact, the statue obliterated all chance of it. ]

[markofnobility]

And being an Exalted is a gift from the gods?

[As she just said]

[stringup]

You could say it's receiving their blessing, yes.

[ Hm. Where could this conversation possibly be going,,, ]

[markofnobility]

I see.

[He's just figuring out 'those beings' that want to destroy life are probably a god or gods. That's fine. He is not afraid to fight a god. He nods to himself as if deciding something.]

[stringup]

[ Velvet is internally sweating because she can just tell Ferdinand has some kind of Idea in his head and she's not sure she likes it. Especially when he is smiling like that. ]

...If there's something you really want to know, you can just ask me.

[markofnobility]

For now it is not something to worry about. One problem at a time. I am simply thinking for the future.

[stringup]

...Alright.

[ She won't press him on it this time, at least.

("The future", like it's a strongly possible one.) ]

Just...don't do anything reckless, okay?

[markofnobility]

...I will not do anything I do not think I can succeed at.

[stringup]

Weren't you the one who said there's nothing you can't overcome with enough time and effort?

[markofnobility]

Exactly!

[ he gives his usual bright grin... but it fades a bit as he thinks. The sacred shield appearing feels like an omen. A sign.

There are battles ahead of him. And pure optimism was not enough anymore]

... of course, if that was true I would not be here.

[stringup]

...You said you had fallen in battle, right?

[ Mostly she just remembers how alarmed she was when she heard that he took Athena's offer in exchange for his life. ]