Freyd

Shadow fell out of shadows on the upper hull of the Ifrit, a blazing bolt of lightning held in hand for future, pending need, and promptly concealed within inventory. Infiltrating a battle cruiser in the middle of combat would be tricky enough without carrying a giant glowing beacon that screamed: here I am! This honking metal monstrosity didn't seem to belong in Aincrad. Massive in scale and enclosed on all sides, Razwell must have bought it at a Final Fantasy surplus sale and then smuggled it back to Ladonia in his forty-seven thousand piece matching luggage set. Some assembly requ

"Thanks for coming." It was an oddly serious statement from a man standing in an outfit unlike any Raidou had ever seen him wear, yet the tone and expression on his face were 100% pure Freyd. "I wish there was a better lead in to all of this, but it's all so complicated and convoluted that even I don't really know where to start." A hint of sadness in his eyes as his gaze drifted down to where Eruda had nestled against the man she loved. If there were consequences to this conversation, he resolved to take the blame. "The trail of the white-haired woman we spoke about not long

Eyes like stormy seas gazed upon her from behind familiar frames, even as the rage poured out through the piecing of flesh into his chest, She tore the robe with spoken bile, unleashing a lifetime of anguish that the banner readily absorbed. That was its purpose, after all. That was the mantle it represented. The person wearing it was just a vessel. Their measure of resolve lay in donning it in the first place. Freyd's eyes showed the same commitment as Raidou's - the same calming serenity readily accepting all that sorrow. Even as the last vestigial dregs of Juiblex peeled themselv

"You're a broker, right? Never underestimate anything or anyone who might provide you with usable information. Something like the location of dungeons, the entrance to a floor labyrinth, even the placement of treasure chests throughout an area. That sort of data sells like hotcakes, if you advertise in the right places." Striding through the familiar outer gates of Nimbus, Freyd winced at the cold brightness of light as they emerged from the hollowed out cave city. Sloping valleys slung between high peaks of grey granite greeted them, huge chunks of broken rock dotting the landscape a

Freyd sat in the sand as Eruda sank into the mire of myth and memories. He knew that face, the distant gaze drawn beyond the boundaries of the horizon. She was elsewhere, deep within herself and recollections of the past. It was a practiced state, for him, familiar and foreboding. One does not casually glance into the mirror of one's soul without risking consequence. Or, as it turns out, into Simmone's. Grabbing a nearby stick, sun-bleached and stripped bare of bark by washing of the tides, he felt the presence of serenity surround him. It was like fishing with his grandfather again. E

Chuckle countered by another chuckle. "I'm really not sure if it's a good or a bad thing that I end up being considered the rational one, though your fiancée is clearly in a state of severe distress... or stupidity." The chuckling stopped. "That stunt he pulled during the raid could have gotten a lot of people killed. The front lines are hardly the place for personal grudges to be settled, though it keeps with what I've heard of the historical trend. It might also explain why we still have over seventy floors left to climb." An eyebrow raised critically, loosing a bit of his fr

Barely enough time passed for a mental facepalm as Levi charged forward impulsively, screaming at the top of his lungs and revealing their presence to the twisted, frozen wreck of a figure that was surely Darian's murderer. A separate side compartment thought it very odd how bodies that normally disappeared upon death in this world somehow remained out of plot convenience during quests, but it was a distraction for another time. 'This is why you don't bring kids to a fight,' Freyd muttered to himself, internally, even as his body rushed to react. Fortunately, Persi had sensed the dang

The tea was nice. Not too hot, perfectly steeped for flavour and enhanced with the tiniest drops of vanilla for added aroma. Listening intently as Mina spoke, his eyes focused on the ripples that followed the rise and fall of her tone on the surface of his drink, fascinating him with the level of care and detail it represented. "Spare?" He looked up, his brow furrowed. "That's a particularly odd choice of word. What makes you think I can or should spare any information at all, especially given your own declared state of mind?" A hand raised to parry the predictable ire. "I'm not tr

"This place doesn't belong to just the Elves." Freyd nodded in agreement at Alkor's summary. The man's assessment was astute and confirmed that he was equally well informed. Good. That improved the odds of them solving whatever underlying mischief or mystery had triggered the recent change. "No, you're right. It doesn't. But it's also been a rare place where both sides set aside their feud, and something has recently changed." Watching and listening as the creature vented its pain, Freyd sympathized with it in a way that echoed the tragedy of those mobs afflicted by the Sundere

"Go Streya go! Go fight win! You totally took it easy on me though." "Nonsense," Freyd replied laughing so hard that he could barely stand and had to lean against the bokken to keep from falling over. "I totally took it easy on me, and just had fun with it, which was the entire point. Well-played, @Astreya," he said, extending a hand and proudly congratulating her on her victory. "I'm gonna go have a grand old time eating and drinking all of Baldur's free food and actually allowing myself to mingle for a bit. Everyone's been way too on edge lately, and this is exactly what we all nee

"You're gonna hate me for doing this, but suck it up and don't try to claw or bite me." A grin as wide as his head spread as he took his other hand and briefly rustled her hair between those cat ear things. It was just too irresistible. "Ah!" He interjected, raising his hand off her head with a single finger raised in pre-emptive warning. "Friendly gesture only! No outrage and no temper tantrums allowed, remember? And yes, of course I'm sure. All of Firm Anima's current members started where you are now, including myself. That's how it works in our guild. We're not about bos

"You've been pushing against Raidou's defenses at points where he has become so accustomed to deflecting or defending that he is no longer capable of doing otherwise. You can't convince him that way, but there are other options." His thumb swirled slowly against his palm as they spoke, as it if had become an hourglass, meeting out precious moments as granules of sand, each one precious in its own right. Aincrad itself fit the same metaphor, save that the granules were people and their lives. They would eventually run out of both. "Nisahime is building an army, but I seriously do

"You haven't heard of Firm Anima?" He seemed genuinely surprised. "We're one of the most active and fastest growing guilds around and went from fielding a few members in the floor 25 to filling out half the front line ranks in the one that just wrapped up. Many of them have become good friends, and I would gladly introduce you to them, if you'd like. The guild is always looking for new members, and is very generous and supportive." Watching Amber paw her way up onto Xena's shoulder made him smile. Persi, amorphous form made her capable of insinuating herself into the least expected p

"Katoka? Yeah. We've been through the grinder a few times together on quests, but she's really come into her own. I think we joined Firm Anima around the same time. She's this tiny little Katana-wielding samurai chick, usually dresses in blue. She, Elora and I have been on several adventures together. That reminds me, I'm supposed to organize their next stage of the Dragon Hunter quest chain. Hopefully Griswold will have their weapons ready soon. I think he's been distracted by the Tournament that Baldur organized." His face scrunched up when Xena mentioned familiars dying.

"Erm... well..." He looked around, as if seeking inspiration. "So, part of the issue is that things changed a bit, systems-wise, after the big black ooze floor during the floor 25 raid. You might remember it, or maybe you just slept through it. Probably better if it was the latter, because it traumatized a lot of people. Familiars got re-classified afterwards, so my intel may be a little out of date. Persi, for example, is now a grappling type familiar. She's pretty reliable when it comes to stunning stuff, but I swear it's made her lazier than she used to be. There are healing and

A sincere sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly. Emotions were hard. He was still new to the concept, and likely clumsy. "Friends are honest with each other, Xena, as I've tried to be with you. I wasn't mocking you, just asking. But, likewise, you can't jump down my throat just for doing so. This thing has to run both ways." He wasn't angry in the slightest, but it was clear that Xena was all riled up. Freyd's brain was just struggling to figure out why. Was it the Corn Flakes comment? Was she just overly sensitive about the whole cat thing? "And I certainly don't dislik

"It's more than that, I'd wager." Freyd hands slowly lowered to rest on the growing bed of moldy leaves accumulating from the balding tree-creature. Feet crouched beneath him, he looked like an overwound coil ready to spring into an attack at the slightest hint of provocation, yet his movements were slow and deliberately disarming. His voice, equally calm and level, sought to diffuse rather than antagonize. "I assume you know the history of this floor" he whispered while the creature wrangled out its roots. "Why would a treant possibly be watching over an elven graveyard? Even more n

"I'm seeing the same thing," Freyd admitted, his eyes on the horizon and face a mask of speculation and concern. "It's getting to him. I'm seeing the cracks, and they are growing. Raidou is at greater risk of falling to his passions than he is to his commitments, and that cannot be ignored." Reaching down, Freyd scooped a handful of pale sand into his hand, letting the grains slip through his fingers. It was a metaphor for a dream in danger of perishing if its architect crumbled beneath its weight. Could Raidou reach that point? "Human spirit is a remarkable, intangible thing.

Freyd merely raised an eyebrow at her outburst. Temper tantrums were not going to be effective against him. On the chance that it was some sort of an act, and in deference to their friendship, Freyd just stoically waited for her to finish. "You're gonna want to dial things down a bit," He offered, politely, wondering how she functioned as a broken if she flipped out quite so easily. "I know precisely how hard it is. Who do you think has been feeding information to the brokers all these years?" There was a harsh edge to those words - not threatening, but burdened with callous dec

[Bibbito-boppity-boop, back to @Astralinpart of the convo] A quick pop-up and scan were all that he required to check his inventory. Thank goodness Quip actually ignored everything he said and did some real work around the shop. Dingo was, well, there? Freyd wasn't sure how much the boy could be relied upon to do anything except excessive napping, and swore that he'd put on his Nervegear too tight before coming into the game. "Hrm... no, I don't see anything in stock that suits your request. It's all too macabre for your tastes, I suspect. If you have items you'd like identified

"You left out the third reason," Freyd added, as Kodo made to stand and bolt in the slowest possible manner towards the exit. "To remind you of what... or who... killed them." Neutral tone matched neutral tone. Freyd wasn't one to appeal to others on emotional grounds, and he suspected that straightforward honesty might actually earn him a little credibility. "I'm sorry for your loss, whoever they might have been. I'm also sorry for whatever stage of grief calls for retribution, because I'm guessing that you haven't hit it yet. When the time comes, and it will, find someone to talk t

“Keep an eye on him, m’kay?” Freyd asked of @Hirru. “We met the same way back on floor 8. Plummeting may be habit-forming, at least for him.” Freyd offered only a wry grin by way of further explanation. Too much was happening all at once to dwell on it, and Hirru was a fine healer. He only half-heard @Vigilon’s complaints about whoever or whatever caused his fall in the first place. “Yeah, umm… file a complaint with Cardinal if we all survive this, Vig. In the meantime, get your skinny ass off the ground and follow Hirru’s lead.” Sparing a moment, he points at the fleet of swarmin

"Handwraps, you say?" Freyd flipped his hands over, palms up, revealing tightly wound ribbons of nothingness whose very existence seemed abhorrent. It was as if their very presence was an act of defiance against their virtual reality, eager to assist their wielder with tearing it apart. "I recently had to make a change, and might still have a few desirable odds and ends from past adventures laying about my shop. What 'elemental' gifts did you have in mind, @Astralin?" [later and elsewhere] Freyd listened to @Hirru, noting that he was a local resident and simply filing it away in

Confusion spread over the Whisper's face. "Aren't you supposed to be an information broker? Shouldn't you know this stuff?" It wasn't a dig. He honestly would have expected her to have done her research before delving into this sort of quest. "Do you have any idea what you even want that thing to be able to do? I mean, it's not quite as low profile as I might have expected you to want, but given the ears and tail, I can see why you might want it?" Freyd was simply too pragmatic to appreciate anything for its cuteness. If Xena had ever seen his home, she might understand. Every

Thread Summary: 33319 words / 30 = 1111 x 5 = 5555 per tier. EXP rewards adjusted to reflect the 3 posts per page requirement. @Baldur | 29997 EXP | 4500 col | granted with staff gratitude for putting this event together @Astreya | 9999 EXP @Jomei | 39996 EXP | 6000 col | additional page credit granted with gratitude for helping run the event @Koga | 7777 EXP | 1167 col @NIGHT | 12221 EXP | 1834 col @Nari-Lanreth | 3333 EXP @Alkor | 6666 EXP | 1000 col @Calrex | 22220 EXP | 3333 col @Oji | 1111 EXP @Griswold | 7777 EXP | 1167 col @Yona | 1111 EXP @Nisahime