out into the unknown (march catch-all)

[funbreaker]

Who: Thancred Waters & others
When: Throughout March
Where: Thorne & the Horizon
What: Eclipse stuff, quest stuff, Horizon stuff, anything and everything.
Warnings: Will add if something comes up.


[ Starters will be placed in comments below! If you'd like to do anything with Thancred this month, please reach out at demonology, demonology#1725 on Discord, or by PM. ]

Comments

[supersoldier]

[An awkwardly phrased question, its original intent would've been clearer if the man who asked it wasn't so stilted. But Sephiroth is nothing but filled to the brim with truncated replies and short observations -- the request for an exchange of names is instead interpreted as him asking if this man possesses one at all which is. Certainly a thing to ask.

But he does not reply to the Don't most people? remark, finding it more effort than it's worth to properly clarify. And so, as they walk, casting long shadows along the alleyways-]

Sephiroth.

[No last name given.]

From the Free Cities.

[Or rather, that is where he's currently stationed; and follow that logic, it is clearly the faction that summoned him, as well.]

[funbreaker]

[ It feels like more often than not, the people he encounters in the Horizon are from the Free Cities. Based on the mental tallies he'd made while at the summit, it makes sense. There's no denying that the grand majority of Summoned are there when compared to the other two factions.

Yet it's that name that truly captures Thancred's attention and he skids to a halt, his boots scraping against the cobblestone beneath them. ]

Sephirot?

[ He takes a look at the other man's face, partly shrouded by his hair, as if it might offer clarification. Thancred's only heard tales about Sephirot as a member of the Warring Triad, a god worshipped by the natives of Meracydia before he'd been used as a primal energy source by the Allagans. Surely there can be no connection, but it trips him up for a moment all the same. ]

Ah, apologies. I'm not accustomed to hearing familiar names from other Summoned here.

[ He gives a little shake of his head and continues walking. ]

[supersoldier]

[It’s the first time his name has garnered any kind of reaction relating to recognition, rather than simple befuddlement at how odd it is to most. But this is not the kind of recognition that Sephiroth is used to, seen in Thancred’s searching gaze and sudden halt to his gait, though he cannot quite ascertain why that is.]

Sephiroth.

[Naturally, it’s impossible not to seek clarification.]

You don’t look like someone from Gaia.

[A domain is a reflection of a Summoned’s home, or so he’s gathered. This is unlike anything that he’s ever seen on his own planet, a touch of something too archaic for recognition, and that isn’t to say anything about Thancred’s clothing. He falls back into step, but not without a question on his tongue.]

How is it familiar to you?

[funbreaker]

[ Sephiroth? Another familiar name comes up when the stranger mentions Gaia, but whereas that appears to be the name of his home star, Thancred recognizes it as belonging to the pain-in-his-rear girl who'd befriended Ryne. The Oracle of Darkness, and based on what Himeka told him, a reborn Ascian besides. ]

Not familiar at all, it seems. The star I'm from is called Hydaelyn.

[ With so many similar names already established between them, Thancred cannot help but wonder if this Sephiroth comes from yet another of the Source's shards, one of them which has yet to be rejoined.

As they continue, the dark streets morph and the scenery around them shifts. It's still dim out, but they are now in the wooded portion of Old Sharlayan, near the Studium, with a stone path leading toward a bridge that arcs over a gently flowing river. White stone buildings are nestled beyond the trees, some larger than others. ]

This is a portion of one of its city-states, Old Sharlayan. [ Thancred halts then and turns back to Sephiroth, head canted to one side. ] And I can only assume that means nothing to you.

[ This man, even with his long hair and somewhat unsettling eyes, does not strike Thancred as some sort of god or primal. ]

[supersoldier]

[No. The names are as foreign as he expected, wandering down the path which changes into more unfamiliar sights. The ambiance of their surroundings appear to lose some unseen weight, however, moving from winding alleyways to a stone bridge with clear, flowing water just beneath them.

He spares a glance over the edge, his curiosity betraying his stare otherwise fixed ahead of them. He isn't quite sure if he should let the matter go just like that, but perhaps in some faraway land, it is not so wild an assumption to believe that his name is not as unusual as believed.]

No. It means nothing at all.

[Easy confirmation.]

This is already nothing like my city. There are far too many… trees.

[A wooded area? Within Midgar's confines? Absolutely not.]

[funbreaker]

[ Then it's possible they have already exhausted any of the similarities between their stars, but that remains to be seen. Thancred can't imagine what he should try to mention next. Primals? Adventuring guilds? They could go down an entire list.

The remark about there being too many trees causes him to cock an eyebrow. ]

Then where you're from must be rather dreary.

[ Granted, Limsa Lominsa and Ul'dah don't have an abundance of trees, but they do have other things going for them. Sephiroth's city, as he calls it, might be the same. ]

Or am I too hasty in my assumptions?