DUNGEON LOG: AMESTA FOREST

[phantasmods]

Hello everyone!

Up and the others think that we have enough stabilizers ready for the next expedition! We're going to the forest to the south this time, but it shouldn't be too far for anyone to walk. If you're REALLY going to complain, you can talk to Top on the roof and catch a ride on one of the drones like before.

The scenery's really nice, but there's definitely some kind of magical effect going on in there - as far as we can tell, the day doesn't progress inside the forest. It's stuck a little while after sunset - probably when the Fissure first appeared? (°ヘ°)

Be careful out there! Don't be afraid to call for help if you need it and we'll send a drone your way! o(^▽^)o And Strange says no stupid stunts this time, got it? (；¬д¬)

You'll probably see a big tree on your way there, before you're under the cover of the forest! That's the Infinity Tree, it's a really big willow. Charm can probably tell you more about the mythology if you're interested. He's gonna meet you guys there at the end of the expedition, so try to work your way in that direction as you go!

(｡･ω･｡)ﾉ See you when you get back!

After Down's message, characters will find things set up much the way they were last time on the roof. Top is making last-minute adjustments to the drones, and there's tables with food and medical supplies set out - the latter a little sparse compared to last time, so hopefully you kept your first aid kits from before. The table of stabilizers, on the other hand, is much more full.

On your way, you might also see some of what the construction drones have been putting together so noisily these last few days - there's the metal shell of a building, similar to but smaller than the Station, to the immediate west, just off your path to the forest in the distance. Nothing much indicates its function as of yet, though there are significantly more windows.

To the southwest stretches the border of Amesta Forest - about a mile distant, though still easily within sight. As promised, the Infinity Tree sticks up from the far edge, easily visible for those who need a landmark either now or later in the dungeon. If you get lost, you can probably find your way up a tree somewhere to get a perspective on it, and which direction to head in.

The silver mist doesn't begin until some distance into the forest, the time of day gradually changing to the eternal twilight mentioned as you approach the boundary of the Fissure itself. There's no distinct border, just a slow shading towards late afternoon and then sunset while the mist increases around you.

And as the mist wraps around you, and exhaustion you might have felt from the walk out here starts to evaporate... You've well and truly arrived, now. Better keep your eyes open.

Comments

[burninglight]

...You want me to prove it?

[nightcure]

Yeah, I do. If you can.

[burninglight]

[A digital camera appeared in Ardyn's hand in a flash of crystals; with a resigned look and a few button presses, he held it up to show a candid picture taken in an unfamiliar house. Ardyn in the high collar and vest without his coat, and Noctis ten years older but still clearly himself--the pair of them obviously mid-conversation with the former wearing the smirk of someone that just told a terrible joke and the latter trying very hard not to dignify it by laughing.]

[nightcure]

[ Noctis looks at him with a frown--he's obviously suspicious, but he finally gets himself to look at the camera. And what he sees, it... it's confusing and he isn't really sure how to react to it. ]

That's... [ He can't ignore it, either, the resemblance between the two. ] ... I still... I don't--

[ He tears his eyes away from the screen. ]

[burninglight]

I never said it made sense. [The camera disappeared in the same flash that had brought it, Ardyn looking away and fidgeting with a ring on his left hand.] It doesn't. It never has and never will.

[nightcure]

... Yeah. You're right.

[ He doesn't miss the way Ardyn messes with the ring. ]

So what happened to-- Something happened to change you. What was it?

[burninglight]

That whole ordeal was...complicated. When it began, all of us awoke with missing memories we weren't yet aware we'd lost. Some lost weeks, years...millennia in my case, all simply locked away as though they'd never happened. So I didn't know anything of what I was, and I acted accordingly. Like I was still human, even while something I didn't understand was warping my emotions and thought processes.

With no one else from our world in that season to correct the blatant misunderstanding, I had to find out the hard way what actually happened as our memories came back a little at a time. Eventually I cracked under the weight and tried to go back to what I was. I told all of them that still remained who I was and what I'd done. And they didn't...

[He folded his arms, gripping his own sleeves restlessly.]

...They knew Ardyn Lucis Caelum before they knew Ardyn Izunia. And they wanted to believe that the former could still be pulled out of darkness and hatred.

[nightcure]

[ He listens, because the only thing he can do. He listens, and what Ardyn says sounds totally nuts. But at the same time... it's not really a lie, is it? It's too insane to be, and Noctis doesn't want to believe anything that comes out of Ardyn's mouth. But..... ]

... So you didn't know about the things you did at the beginning of the-- season.

... That's pretty screwed up of that network. To play you like that.

[burninglight]

'Screwed up' does not even begin to illustrate Intergal's methods or their producer's madness.

[Ardyn looked as though the conversation itself made him distinctly uncomfortable, but he didn't outright stop so much as paused to collect his thoughts.]

It-...when I was taken, I didn't have a corporeal form left. I had no way of knowing at the time, but this body is a recreation that contained a fabrication of the Starscourge--don't ask me how, I don't know and don't want to find out. Eventually...near the end, I started to lose it. I didn't know who I was or who I wanted to be. Part of me still wanted to be the savior they needed and chose to look to, while the other half was convinced there was no point when they would all surely turn on a lost cause and leave me behind in the end.

So I had to make a choice. Live in bitter darkness forever, or gamble on the chance that maybe, the people telling me they wouldn't abandon me were actually telling the truth.

...I chose humanity. Demanded our overseer remove whatever passed for the Starscourge and make this replicated body a human one. The only price was to keep my memories of these past two millennia, with the veil removed from my emotions and morality to comprehend all of it.

[nightcure]

[ Shit.

Noctis definitely doesn't know what to say now. He's... floored. ]

So they put their faith in you. Even knowing what you did?

[ This time it's not accusatory. It's thoughtful, quiet. ]

[burninglight]

I did tell them it was a terrible idea, in my own defense. But they-...were stubborn. A few in particular.

[He curled his left hand into a loose fist, bringing it and the small black and blue ring closer to his chest.]

There were...several of us like that. Adapting, turning to something better than we were. I don't ever claim it's absolved me of anything; I know it hasn't. I just...want to protect the people who fought to protect me from myself--who still do even now.