my oath shall be sped;

[agogemod]

WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? The January TDM.
WHEN? The mythic dimension of Vorspiel.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.

JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME;

Vorspiel; a land of song.

arrival for new recruits

You wake up in a patch of verdant forest, with the birds chirping all around you. You're not in a clearing; your body lies between the trees. Near you, a frail woman with tired eyes rocks back and forth. You have none of your clothing, just black military-issued underwear, and none of your previous possessions beyond the one you chose (if you remember choosing) to bring with you.

When the tired woman notices you've come to, she speaks in a tongue you won't recognize, but somehow understand, in tilting tones that somehow always rhyme. Tired and sorrowful though she is, if you have questions as to what's going on, she'll answer: you are a member of COST, a paramilitary organization of time travelers fighting against the Regency, a tyrannous kingdom of the future who are trying to stamp out freedom and individuality in the name of peace.

She will provide you with the clothing necessary to fit in, and show you how to use your BCE implant to look up information on this dimension and its social and political mores. She won't let you leave until you're properly dressed to fit in, but once you are, she'll wish you luck. She thinks you'll need it.

And, she says as you depart, if you see the Gods, spit on them. They will do you no favors here.

ARRIVAL FOR VETERANS

While on BASE, you'll receive a message on your BCE.

URGENT MISSION: VORSPIEL UNDER MAJOR ATTACK. ALL POSSIBLE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO PROVIDE AID.

ACCEPT: Y / N ?

Selecting 'Y' will instantly teleport you to Vorspiel. Or maybe you're not the volunteering type, but your BCE glitches and signs you up anyway. Them's the breaks.

When you appear in Vorspiel, you'll find yourself in that same forest with the same woman who is ushering new recruits. She will give you clothes and wish you luck-- though luck, she says, is something true heroes have in short supply.

VORSPIEL

Regardless of how you got here, your BCE will have a short rundown of the situation once you arrive.

Vorspiel is a mythical, magical dimension rich in rare and precious resources. During the course of the war, it's been fought over by both sides. The Regency has recently allied with the leader of the misty country of Nibelheim to issue what is known as a Time Break; a sort of spell only possible in ancient dimensions such as these. Essentially, linear time has been destroyed in this dimension. Everything is happening at once, simultaneously and perpetually, a never ending cycle of lives and deaths and battles. While Vorspiel is a vast dimension, its borders have become warped; it is possible to walk from one country to another across the sea in a matter of moments, by accident. While the BCE is trying to send people to Nibelheim, it's entirely possible it misses the mark completely, or sends them to several places before they reach Nibelheim.

This chaos is meant to be a punishment: bow down before the Regency, or nothing will ever be the same again.

There is good news, though. Vorspiel is a dimension of inherent magic; singing or humming or whistling certain magical tunes will have an inherent effect upon one's surroundings. The BCE lists all the spells, though it notes that some have varying results (AKA go wild, guys, have fun), and the ones named after people will do little unless the person in question is present (a statistical unlikelihood).

As you enter different parts of Vorspiel, the BCE will sometimes give you different assignments, prompting you to take this action or that. If you have any questions about how this setting works, feel free to ask!

THE RHEIN

You come upon a giant river with clear and beautiful water. The sun shines down upon it in yellow light, and wherever the light touches it, gold floats to the surface of the water. The BCE will prompt you to fetch as much of this gold as you can-- it is an extremely powerful magical resource, rheingold-- but it will not warn you about the Rheinmaidens.

The rheinmaidens are mermaids, essentially, and at first, they are very friendly and gentle, singing nonsense songs and welcoming you to their home. But as soon as you begin to make any moves toward the gold, they will curse you, dive for you with surprising speed, and attempt to drown you. They will be vicious, and their natural element is water. You're in their territory, taking their things, as far as they are concerned. They have every right to kill you.

Killing the rhienmaidens will work... for a minute or so. And then they will rise again. Wounds will undo themselves-- whether they're inflicted by the rheinmaidens or you. Drowning doesn't seem permanent either-- you're pulled under, and all air escapes you, death befalls you... and then you wake up a moment later, standing on the shore.

Time has been fundamentally broken. Nothing done here is permanent.

WALHALL

You stand outside a fortress bathed in rainbow light atop a glorious mountain. Around you, the air is cool and still, and the roof of the sky seems terribly close. No matter how far toward the fortress you run, you can never make it inside. And thundering footsteps are coming just around the mountain pass, coming for you.

Lumbering giants wander around the fortress, searching for something they mutter and murmur is theirs. If they see anyone around, they will attempt to carry them off, kidnapping them for unknown purposes. They do not seem interested in eating their catch; they seem more interested in kidnapping it. Still, they are dangerous, brutish and sloppy with their strength. It is best to avoid them if possible, hiding in the trees.

Or perhaps you'd rather fight these fifteen-foot monstrosities on your own?

Of course, if you kill them, they just... come back. Death cannot be permanent in a place where time has been caught in an endless loop.

NIBELHEIM

The misty country of Nibelheim is located within a network of caverns dug into the side of a great mountain. It's a foggy, polluted place that brings to mind a city on the brink of the industrial revolution, not unlike Victorian London, though Nibelheim is entirely underground. There is smoke and smog everywhere, and living conditions are generally poor. The rich class is one family, ruled by a Nibelung named Alberich. He has various objects of great power that keep him enslaving his fellow Nibelung, working constantly in factories of his making. He has allied with the Regency to achieve this goal, and the time break within his home dimension is due in large part to his planning and plotting.

Human visitors to Nibelheim aren't unheard of, due to trade, though they are in a minority. Nibelungs, for the record, look and feel and act completely human, but they are ultimately alien, averaging a foot shorter in height at least, having naturally sallow skin, large eyes, hairless regardless of gender, and long, nimble fingers. They are a race of people made to live underground, and it shows; most can see in the dark, and climb nearly any surface. They are famed as smiths and metalworkers. Most just want to make a living and feed their families, though Alberich's clan keeps them in line.

Your duty here, the BCE says, is to try and befriend these people, the average Nibelung, and spark some kind of revolt. There are Regency spies everywhere, however, so be careful; you cannot call for rebellion in an open voice on every street corner. No, it's better, safer, to be subtle about it. Win the trust of a local businessman, seek out influential Nibelungs and figure out their opinions. Be tactical, be clever, be quick.

And avoid Alberich and his family at any cost.

But if you can, try and save some of the Nibelungs. Due to Alberich's machinations, Nibelheim is the only part of Vorspiel that has been untouched by the time break, but that will only stay true for so long. If you can convince any Nibelungs to join COST, they will do so willingly; you'll just have to escort them to safe places in hidden back rooms within dingy bars and forgotten libraries, the places where COST cells have been fermenting under the nose of the Regency. Don't get caught, and be careful; save as many as you can.

AT THE BASE OF A GREAT TREE

A man lays dying. He looks very much like the woman who introduced you to this place. Regardless, he lies in a pool of his own blood, a stab wound through his heart. The time break keeps him from ever truly passing into the next life; as soon as he dies, his eyes open, and he begins the process of his last painful moments once again.

Each time, he begs you to avenge him and find his love (or sometimes his sister; he seems very confused), and if you ask him his name, he will only respond that he is, "the woeful one". And then he will die again, for the hundredth time.

In the trees, warriors watch, poised to attack. They see you communing with their enemy, and they wish to defeat you as well. These warriors care little for your protest; they are locked in an endless battle that they cannot free themselves from, and you have just joined it.

IN THE FOREST

There is a serpent, larger than anything you have ever seen, sitting at the mouth of a cave. It sits upon a hoard of gold that may be familiar to you. It may not, but the BCE will inform you of what it is: rheingold, an incredibly potent and valuable magical resource.

Regardless, the serpent will attack anyone that comes near it or its hoard, even by accident. It, too, is caught in an endless loop of battle long over, for it calls you boy and foolish young man regardless of who or what you are. It speaks in a deep and sonorous voice, and will not stop until its head is cut off. The creature is obnoxiously large and highly dangerous, and battle with it will be long and painful, not least because, like everything in this place where time has been so fundamentally broken, it is very bad at staying dead.

Be careful when you fight it -- if you accidentally get some of its blood in your mouth, you will be suddenly and temporarily able to understand the language of birds. Which is cool, but also, you know, distracting.

The birds will tell you to find the Valkyries, who will bring you great fame and glory. They will also tell you to run, for Fafnir does not die so easy.

AT THE END OF THE WORLD

You are at a funeral. A golden-haired woman stands upon an unlit pyre, standing next to the man who, she sings, is her dead husband. Her song is beautiful and loud and incomprehensible, and when the pyre is lit, the fire swallows her whole. But the burning doesn't stop there; it begins to destroy the assembled mourners, the forest around it, the castle, the very river burns. The fabric of the world crackles and sets to flame.

Run from the flame all you like, but it always licks at your heels.

There is a trick, though, to saving your life. If one is truly unafraid of death, the fire cannot harm you, or anyone you touch. The BCE won't warn you of this; it doesn't know. But if you are unafraid, you can simply walk through the flames unharmed.

It will bring you to a wide field atop a mountain, where a woman lies sleeping. It's the same woman at the funeral, peaceful in sleep, unmoving, unsinged. She can be awoken by a kiss.

Of course, awakening her will begin the cycle again: the pyre, the fire, the fearlessness, the clearing. Over and over again, endlessly, until the BCE manages to pull you out.

This is the will of the Regency.

As a final note: This will not be the main mission for January. This TDM is meant as a one-off to dump characters into a setting they don't have to read a ton of infopages for, while still getting a sense of what Agoge could be (and as always, this TDM is game canon).

The main mission for January will be the Gallipoli campaign, as detailed here. Future missions for Agoge are always listed here months in advance.

NAV. NETWORK LOGS OOC MEMES PLURK

Comments

@BURGERKING

[dipolar]

Where are you?

@NIGHTLIGHT

[fessus]

Nibelheim, did you come too?

[dipolar]

Yes, I responded to the call for aid on my BCE. I was monitoring your vitals, but I'm just going to use your location to track you in the area.

I don't think I'm far.

(jesus.)

[fessus]

No

1/2

[dipolar]

OK I'll be there in a few minutes.

[dipolar]

What? No?

[fessus]

I'm doing subtle work, you're not subtle.

[dipolar]

You're underestimating me. Infiltration is my speciality.

[fessus]

Okay but then you need to play it cool and don't attack anything. Doorman outside's gonna ask for a password and it's nachwort.

[dipolar]

Understood. I may be a monster but I'm far from a mindless savage.

Two minutes.

[fessus]

Okay not what I said, don't be like that. I'll let them know to look for you, what're you wearing?

[dipolar]

A heavy cloak, a standard tunic, a bit of rope I found that keeps my pants up. They're linen. Everything's various shades of brown and filthy. I had an unfortunate run-in with some of the fish women.

(finds the place quite quickly, getting rid of the HUD on the inside of his helmet by blinking the BCE out of his vision. this is all very alien to him; the small underground city clad in thick fog with smaller people who seem straight out of the pages of a book. the nibelung, pallid and hairless, standing at the door tries to measure up to hei and look as imposing as he can, yet hei still manages to crest him with at least one extra foot of height.

amenable enough to the request to remove his helmet, though, quiet look assessed before a question is demanded of him.)

Nachwort. I have a comrade inside.

(the nibelung seems to match the description at the word up in his head, stepping away to lead the man inside without much more fuss. noctis can overhear him as he ducks the doorframe and takes his chances inside.)

Noctis?

[fessus]

[ Noctis has been hard at work for the better part of the day, more involved in the politics of this place than he is with those in COST. His efforts to save the citizens have been extensive already as well, so it's in a rare moment back at one of the bases that Hei does manage to catch him. Fortunate.

He hears his voice and pulls himself away from the table in the back room, finishing a last notation on a large map. ]

Hei. [ He pauses, looking Hei up and down. His own sad garments have been exchanged for far better-fitting black pants, a sleeveless white tunic preferable to the one he'd shown up in. ]

Ah... You weren't kidding about your clothes. You want those washed?

[dipolar]

(a pause, looking over the layout and what noctis is accomplishing here.)

No, it's fine like this... (pace slow, well aware he's being checked on by many pairs of sensitive eyes, hei approaches the map and looks it over.) What are you doing? Are these battle schematics?

[chariotry]

[ Noctis' public location is what Achilles uses as a means to reach his destination. He takes on his spirit form, moving through the walls of the facility in search for his comrade. He's interested in seeing how he's doing since the ordeal with the rheinmaidens.

When he reaches Noctis and Hei, he materializes.

He's in his armour, looking quite out of place for someone who should be blending in.

With his hands on his hips, he surveys the two, noticing Hei first, the man he remembers roughing up quite a bit in Paris (he slapped him around before letting him flee...).

He got his revenge then, so he isn't intent on carrying hid grudge over to the next mission. He just looks genuinely surprised. ]

Oh. It's you. [ He figured he was a member of COST, but they hadn't bumped into one another until now. ]

[fessus]

Close. Wouldn't really say battle schematics but I guess it'll get there. These here are places we've received contact from... so we're working on extractions for these people. Then these are hideouts they've got set up--

[ Noctis's full attention is on Hei and the map they're perusing, so he doesn't initially sense Achilles's sudden appearance. That voice, however, startles him enough to make him instinctively wheel around and jab at its origin... which, predictably, is Achilles's face. ]

Shit-- Rider, where the hell'd you come from, are you okay? [ This now officially makes two accidental punches. And already he's having to turn from him momentarily just to quiet a few stunned Nibelungs (no, it's okay, he's an ally of mine, etc.) before he looks back. ]

[dipolar]

(leans over to take a look at what noctis has been outlining and what the nibelungs look quite impressed with. it's fascinating, really, and he realizes that it's him who's perhaps been a bit too quick to judge noctis' capabilities — at least where the mind is concerned. frankly, he thought he was a bit of a dumb-ass. underestimation, however, doesn't stick with hei and he nods with what's being said, immediately integrating—

until his knee-jerk reaction to achilles' sudden and startling appearance has him flipping a dagger from beneath his arm, holding it high before noctis cracks him in the face.)

...

You. (one low, scathing word as the name "rider" settles in.

everything makes that much more sense. the way he writes, the foolish honour he hocks. this is the man who cornered him in the tavern and smacked him hard across the face. the invulnerable one who's just been struck in a too-similar way by noctis, of all people. didn't realize he could feel this kind of satisfaction anymore, the joy of a nice revenge, but it's not meant to last.)

Can't you see we're in a meeting? (then drops his voice, tipping towards noctis.) What the hell is he wearing?

[chariotry]

[ At least Noctis isn't buffed by Charge.

It still hurts like a bitch and he recoils, having not moved in time to dodge the strike. He's not used to having to constantly be on guard and he hadn't been anticipating Noctis to greet him with a fist to his face.

With a grunt, he braces a hand against the wall behind him and shakes his head like he's trying to stave off the pain. Blood rushes to the surface of his skin, turning his cheek red but not quite leaving a bruise.

He's fine. He clicks his tongue disapprovingly. ]

It's my armour. [ Bitten out just as scathingly. Now his mood is sour and Achilles is a complete bitch when he's angry. ] I was checking in on the boy.

[fessus]

[ That's me, I'm dat boy. ]

Ah, great, you know each other... [ With the full awareness of what that must look like. Already he's envisioning it, Hei meeting and chatting with Achilles, and those two personalities are not meshing well in his head. Well, that explains the lukewarm greetings. ]

Hold on, okay? That was an accident. [ He almost says "like the first time" and luckily manages to catch himself. ] Sorry, you just startled me. You are okay, right?

[dipolar]

Unfortunately. (another aside to noctis, dagger still held between him and the heroic spirit.)

Your armour isn't suitable for this place. You're to meet our operative in the forest to retrieve the period's clothing. Too pigheaded to get the memo?

(it's all hushed, the exchange. that doesn't mean their hosts enjoy it.

by now the nibelungs are getting restless, unsure of the new additions to their diplomacy meeting. one adds in a low voice that if they're all going to have in-fights, then they'd better get out and make their marks outside. that this is a place of recollection and careful strategizing. that their families are in trouble and they have no time for COST's petty squabbles.

not a good step for all of noctis' hard work.)

My apologies, please continue your discussions. Would you like me to escort Rider outside?

[chariotry]

[ His insult, though warranted, is met with a sardonic smile and a vein popping up in his forehead. He isn't a patient man, so holding himself back for the sake of keeping peace is a lot more difficult for him than it would be for most.

He doesn't show any intention of budging, nor does he give Noctis any affirmation that he's fine.

Instead, he moves to stand over the table, slapping a hand over the wooden surface of it. He can ignore the stinging pain in his cheek if he has something to focus on. ]

I'm an ally of Noctis' and I plan on aiding in this operation. These people can see my power for themselves and know that I'm an asset.

[ Pigheaded is one way of putting it. ]

1/2

[fessus]

[ Noctis's fist is the one that collided with Achilles's face but Hei is the one that isn't pulling any punches. An insult chased by an offer to force Achilles out of the meeting? This is escalating quickly.

And the loud smack of Achilles's hand against the map-covered table has some of the Nibelungs drawing back, wariness merely increased by what they're witnessing. Some express understandable doubt following an obvious lack of camaraderie and Noctis can't exactly fault them for it, squeezing at the back of his neck to calm his own aversion to this sort of thing before he's suddenly stepping forward, raising his voice. ]

This is nothing but a misunderstanding. COST has taken in a lot of people that are suffering or that can help to put the Regency in its place... and some of them are new and getting used to each other. We aren't all soldiers. We come from all walks of life, just like you do, but everybody's got a way in which they can help the effort.

Rider's right -- his skills will be an asset in fighting back against Alberich and his family. So will Hei's. That's what we want to see happen here, so... Sorry you had to witness that. It's not gonna' happen again.

2/2

[fessus]

[ There's silence in the wake of that little speech, one that seems to effectively take hold with the rapport Noctis has built up with these people. A few mutter amongst themselves before nodding at long last, still keeping an eye on the three of them but returning to their own planning. ]

... geeze. Ahh, anyway... I think you both need new clothes now. You're gonna' stand out even if you think they're fine.

[dipolar]

(noctis keeps impressing him, little by little. rider, however, hasn't given him much.

does remember their conversation about the dead, how he'd respect his body if he was killed, how he'd honour him even if he's the only one who'd do so — and it calms him down. nods once at the words that've been shared and glances between COST members with a begrudging acceptance. dark eyes linger on rider.)

Let's take care of our responsibilities. Forget what I did to your horse and I'll forget what you did to me. Understood?

(waits briefly for an answer, before sighing quietly.)

We should change, as per Noctis' suggestion. Noctis, do you have access to anymore clothing?

[chariotry]

[ He remains quiet as Noctis takes over the direction of the conversation, withdrawing his hand and folding it within one of his arms. He watches Hei throughout the speech, as if to challenge him. It doesn't help that after Noctis is finished, the other man decides to tack on an order that Achilles feels is practically an insult.

But he relents, having to stave his anger in the quiet quarters of their temporary home base.

His bullish snort is the only answer Hei is getting. ]

I'll change my clothing as required.