Aboard the Invincible: Head of State Meeting

[tidesnpcs]

[Come one, come all. It's time for what Regent Cid expects to be the final council meeting before Garland is defeated. A good thing the airship is so enormous, because there are a lot of people here, all picked up the day before

Comments

Before/After the meeting

[tidesnpcs]

[Everyone has time to mingle while aboard the Invincible, explore the airship, accidentally enter the wrong bedroom etc etc. All those threads can go here! Say whether the thread takes place before or after the meeting.]

[heavenslament]

[Before the meeting, Terra can be seen wandering around. She's curious to see who else has arrived and needs something to distract her from worrying about Celes' welfare.]

[petalwhirlwind]

[Ursula isn't one for exploring much, not today. In fact, the princess is not very sociable at all. She can be found staring outward at the sky, her gaze pensive and a touch melancholy. It's not a usual state for her at all, but the revelations of the past few days have shaken her, a lot.]

[lunarianlegacy]

[Ceodore's not all that happy with the recent news either. He's not the most observant of souls, but he can tell it's bothering Ursula. He casually walks up and puts an arm around her shoulders as a sign of support.]

Ursula?

Stuff learned from Matoya

[tidesnpcs]

[First item on the agenda is Matoya, and the news that myrrh is the key to breaking the spell merging the worlds.]

Ahem. Greetings, everyone! Allow me to start with the news from the party I sent to speak to Matoya. They learned a lot.

As I understand it, the only way to break Garland's spell is to recreate Gaia's source of life, so that both Sky People and Gaians become natives of this world. I suppose you could say we're finishing Garland's spell off. But at least Gaia would become stable again - no more disappearances, no more towns randomly appearing.

To do that, we must go to the source of life itself at the Iifa Tree. The Guado call it the Farplane. I've also heard it called the Lifestream. If we gather enough myrrh and mix it into the Lifestream, that should do the trick. Basic chemistry: collect the ingredients, add to the pot and stir.

For those of you who met Matoya, have I summed it up correctly? And can anyone tell us more about this myrrh? I have to confess, I'd not heard much about it before.

[for_cosmos]

[The warrior nods.]

That is indeed what she has told us. I must apologize, however, for I know as little of myrrh as you, Regent.

[lastsummoner]

[Eiko may well be grounded for life after this, but she's quite had it with being left out of all the grown up talks. Once the meeting is good an underway and she's positive there's no way she can be sent home, she abandons her hiding spot and barges into the room.]

As the official representative of the summoner's tribe, I say we should just go give it to that old fart again. I can clobber him, no problem. Forget the dumb trees and beat him up.

[crowned_jewel]

[Garnet turns and just... LOOKS. She cannot believe Eiko is here. Capable summoner of not, this isn't her place. she ignores it for the moment, fiddling with the crystal chalice she won at the auction, and brought along with her.]

I had witnessed a video of the Selkies, holding something like this, a pouring something into the base of the Iifa Tree. I believe that was Myrrh? But where they obtained it, or what it is, I can't be certain.

Elemental Crystals

[tidesnpcs]

[Next up for discussion are the elemental crystals and what to do with them.]

I think you've all heard by now that we've been searching for the four elemental crystals. They're supposed to point the way to the Chaos Shrine, which is Garland's lair. Well, finally we have them all. No, they're not here. They're being guarded carefully until we need to use them.

But now that we have them, we can make plans to find Garland. I believe that the crystals must be taken to the four elemental shrines and placed there just like the elemental mirrors that opened the way to the Shimmering Island. Once that's done, we'll see what happens. Of course, we'll need four parties to take the crystals to their respective locations - and then a group to go to the Chaos Shrine.

Suggestions? Is there anything else that must be done?

[heavenslament]

[Terra, solemn and silent for most of the meeting so far, glances over and responds almost immediately.]

I volunteer to go to the Chaos Shrine. I've been there before, and it seems fitting.

[trinitycrusades]

I will accompany you, Terra. The more people we have who are familiar with the location, the better.

[And, truth be told, he isn't sure he trusts himself with the crystals. Better to let the others take care of that.]

[heavenslament]

[Terra looks over and nods to Cecil with a smile.]

I'll be glad to have you.

Garland & Lufene

[tidesnpcs]

[Finally, time to discuss tactics on defeating Garland and Lufene.]

Lufene got away again. I have a feeling that she might have run off to Garland and that should worry us. Enough is enough. They're difficult enough to defeat on their own; what if we have to fight them together?

Those of you who have fought either of them - would you care to offer your strategies?

[strays_pride]

[Noah can't help but feel a little uncomfortable with the way his knowledge in the man was gained, but people need to know everything he could tell tem.]

Garland, from my encounters with him, is not one given to leaving things to chance, so I doubt that there are very many 'angles' that he has not covered. [Except, of course, for the big, glaringly obvious ones that he underestimates.] He also has this particular fascination with the cycle of war and... souls.

I have not faced this Garland directly, but from my observations with Lufene, it is not likely he will be as casual with his genomes now as he had been. [He remembers the brief encounters he'd had with Kuja, and the little tidbits of information he'd managed to glean from the mage. None of it particularly pleasant. If only the mage could tell of his knowledge himself; he knew so much about the shells for souls and... He doesn't think of the trouble his words may get him in.]

I would rather that Kuja was here to speak of it.

[princessstealer]

You know what, Clanky, I think I'm glad he's not. We don't need three of us, after all.

[Yep, that is a very specific tail waving around behind one chair. Zidane is lounging, feet crossed on the table and chair balanced on its two back legs, arms folded over his chest, every inch the Warrior of Cosmos and (apparently) not the King of Alexandria.]

Enough people want to put holes in him for what happened five years ago, and they've all got reason to. Add in all of us from the gods' war, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't last two seconds to give us whatever new information he's got. Which is probably nothing, since him and me both got out of Garland's control and never went back. And Lufene, I can't figure her out. It seems like anything Garland gives a real soul to can't do what he wants it to.

[tidesnpcs]

Hmm! Lufene doesn't seem to like Garland, does she? Maybe she won't team up with him after all. He's already used her to wreak enough destruction though - now that's something she has in common with Kuja.

Any Other Business

[tidesnpcs]

Before we wrap up, is there anything else that anyone would like to discuss?