[Sable-Xeno]

Hello, and welcome to...Final Fantasy: Trinitial Odysseus! A story of love, conquest, hardships, tales of other lands beyond...all told beyond a single screen. Well, maybe more than one screen. Three? You're probably reading this from the fourth....

Now, like any good CYOAer should know is what sorts of actions to put in...which can be, well, anything! Really! OCs are allowed, too, as is the norm for a Xeno CYOA, though due to concrete narrative, some minor Power Play may occur. If you feel at any point your character is being mis-represented, feel free to let us know!

Regarding updating schedules, this story should have updates probably once every week, maybe less. I won't promise you this means the story will be good, but I CAN promise effort will go into making it as such!

Something a little special to keep in mind- this CYOA has a bit of a difference when it comes to participants. Namely, this story will be told upon 3 Forums at once! Each side will get the same story updates (with minor BB Code edits if need be), and anonymity of poster actions will be kept by default. I know going out on a quest can be scary at times, but just know you'll always have friends in high places!

Now, I've blathered on about the story enough- I have places to be, after all! So, have fun!



Well, today's the day. Today's finally that day where you try out that new Final Fantasy MMORPG everyone seems to be talking about!...okay, so it's not really that new. The blasted thing has been out for EONS by this point, but your friend Ian has been constantly begging you to check it out. He said he was skeptical about it at first, himself, but he took a word of recommendation from some other dude he knows on the weebz. Vince? You're pretty sure it was Vince.

According to what you've heard (and looked up), the game hasn't exactly changed much since its online release a while ago, but there was a rather hefty update recently. You haven't looked into what the update added, nor the plot of the story. If one of your party members die in the future, you're gonna want to be as taken aback with shock as humanely possible, gosh-darnit.

After installing the necessary plug-ins, linking to the server, and sifting through the title screen, the "all-important" option most MMORPGs provides these days pops up: Avatar, or Diginsert. The choice isn't hard for you- Avatar. You're not super-rich or anything, so you can't exactly afford a digitizer, and you're pretty sure that does weird stuff to your complexion, anyways. Er, you think it would. Hey, if it was on the 6 o'clock news, it has to be true, right?

In no time flat, you had reached the all-important (and not in a sarcastic sense this time) class select screen. Of course , there were only 6 classes to choose from, but of the little you had read of the game, more would become available to you over time, and there was the distinct possibility even more were added after the game's recent update. There also seems to be a text-box prompt, possibly for the naming of your character.

You scroll the circular menu around for a bit, not sure who to choose. You eventually end up just holding down "left", and watch as the potential heroes rotate on that circular...circle. Man, even if you're not stuck with what you choose, it could be HOURS before you can choose your job class again. And then, there's the matter of names...decisions, decisions.

What shall be your character's name? And what shall be his class?

[bemuzzled]

CYOA....isn't that essentially still a RP?

[Sable-Xeno]

CYOA....isn't that essentially still a RP?

Weeeell...it's sort of a grey area. Allow me to elaborate:

A "Roleplay" is when a group of people create a story together. Basically, the "GM" comes up with a plot, and of course directs the flow of narrative. "Participants" participate in the RP by acting as characters within the story itself, and of course the GM, whether having a character or not, acts as the "narrator" that progresses the story through these character interactions. Story progression goes, for the most part, in-character.

Choose Your Own Adventures have a similar story structure, with the GM still acting as a story guide for the CYOA. HOWEVER, the story is, for the most part, centralized around mainly the GM's character(s), whom the participants can direct through out-of-character narrational suggestions. Participants CAN sometimes have characters of their own within the story, which is where elements of Rp can overlap, though it is not a requirement. CYOAs also, as the title implies, have story progression occuring mostly from participant's actions. Story derailment is just as likely in CYOAs as RPs, but they tend to be more expected, due to the spontaniety of user actions.

In layman's terms, an RP is a story dictated mostly by the author, where the participants are expected to have a deep involvement in the story as well, thus their character's actions must be linked to how they were described on their profiles/how they would realistically act in a situation, whilst a CYOA is a story dictated mostly by the participants, of whom are not required to know anything of the story, and could very much suggest anything to happen with little to no consequence. They don't personally necessarily act as important parts of a CYOA that they would in an RP. It's kind of a sub-genre, I guess.

...That being said (and as probably mentioned in the title), this CYOA might or might not develop RP-elements later on, but as it stands right now, it's not an RP.

[Asphoxia]

Your character's name shall be Light Yagami and his class shall be Kira.

How about his name is Light Lawliet and his class is something that can kill from a distance?

[Voka~Daemyn]

Ohhh I'll just do self insert. My character pretty much is a story to him self now anyways minus class differences. You don't have to accept it if you don't want though.


Vokadae

[img]https://i.gyazo.com/ad30e889517f3abb88a5522795cd2ec8.png[/img]

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

Class: Black Mage I want summoner as soon as I can though

Usually quiet and soft spoken very passive aggressive at times tends to mumble about strange things like aether and what the darkness of an aybss tastes like. Has a passion for destroying literally everything with almost no regard during the moment.

[Sable-Xeno]

While usernames for this update will be going anonymous (bar one), I do wonder if it's something I should even bother with? If anyone has any objections to their usernames being un-mentioned, you can do so in the comments, and if enough people have no qualms with their username being shown across platform, then I'll just leave those in for now (as well as add them back into this post). For now, though, it'll be a secret...

Forums will still be kept anonymous unless asked, though.

Your name is Illion.

Your class is a Fighter.

Fighter: 1

Be Cid because Cid is the best Final Fantacy guy idk

And then be the fighter because martial arts= hitting twice which would be pretty cool

the ultimate goal is to become Bezerker or Geomancer either or

Fighter: 2

Your character's name shall be Light Yagami and his class shall be Kira.

How about his name is Light Lawliet and his class is something that can kill from a distance?

Fighter: 2
Black Mage: 0.5
Red Mage: 0.5

Be a red mage named Dave because wynaut?

Fighter: 2
Black Mage: 0.5
Red Mage: 1.5

Become a glass cannon rogue. Enter name as "Colm".

Fighter: 2
Black Mage: 0.5
Red Mage: 1.5
Thief: 1

Your name is Black Mage and your class is Black Mage.

Fighter: 2
Black Mage: 1.5
Red Mage: 1.5
Thief: 1

Wow, across three different forums? Neat!

You're a chocobo named Boko.

A part of me wants to say Red Mage since he can do a bit of everything,
but he looks too fancy for the main character...

So... how about a Warrior named Callo? (a Lord of the Rings Elvish word for hero.)

Fighter: 3
Black Mage: 1.5
Red Mage: 2.5 PSYCHE! 1.5
Thief: 1

Yeah I don't know the classes in this game so...

Be a swordy guy named Bob.

(So this CYOA occurs on two forums and I'm a member of two. I'm probably going to be arguing with myself over these actions.)

Fighter: 4
Black Mage: 1.5
Red Mage: 1.5
Thief: 1

Don't trust (censored forum name) (censored forumer). He's insane. And an idiot.

Be an iron cannon rogue named Gilgamesh Wellington XI.

Should proooooobably mention you can only make one action on one of the three forums at a time. There is, admittably, a little overlap, so of course this is something that'll end up coming to surface more than once, so it's best for me to be stating it here. I'll still allow actions of any length, but it'll be limited to one forum.

...Though do feel free to argue with yourself, I've been doing that pretty much all week.

Ohhh I'll just do self insert. My character pretty much is a story to him self now anyways minus class differences. You don't have to accept it if you don't want though.


Vokadae

[img]https://i.gyazo.com/ad30e889517f3abb88a5522795cd2ec8.png[/img]

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

Class: Black Mage I want summoner as soon as I can though

Usually quiet and soft spoken very passive aggressive at times tends to mumble about strange things like aether and what the darkness of an aybss tastes like. Has a passion for destroying literally everything with almost no regard during the moment.

Pretty early for an OC, but I'll take it. I like the detail put into this, lots of thought, too. Should make writing for them fluent.

Now, then, let's get this show on the road!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Whilst hastening your mad scrolling, you seem to perceive thoughts in your mind. You can't exactly place them, though...they certainly aren't yours, because you are quite certain Biggs and Wedge were your favorite. Cid is easily your second-fave, though. I mean, the dude is quite variable. Like, that one time he was the villain, and that dude's father...and another time when he piloted a space ship...and you suppose there was the one from FFII. You don't recall anything specific about that one.

Now, for classes, you realize the one you absolutely MUST have is Fighter. You find it odd that you didn't think to yourself aloud what the classes were, but whatever drug-induced hallucination you're under that's causing you to hear voices, these voices certainly have good taste, as well as a fine love of Final Fantasy. Well, most of them. There was that one that said something about not knowing the classes, after all, which is habberdash. That's, like, showing someone those starter Pokemon from Oak's Lab and not knowing what they're called! You know what they are, of course. You just...erm...forgot. You'll look it up later. Another reason you decided on Fighter is due to this one 8-bit webcomic you read once. That really gave you a new-found love for Fighter. And sword. You definitely liek swords.

Now, for the name... You decide to simply slam your fingers onto the keyboard in the hopes that it would grant you a good name rational thought wouldn't otherwise. Hey, if it worked for TomSka with asdf, then it should work for you, right?

You end up with the name "IBCGLYLDBSCBWCMEXI", which every voice in your head unanimously agrees on to be "Illion Bob Cid Gilgamesh Light 'Yagami' Lawliet Dave 'Black' Strider Callo Boko Wellington Colm Mage Evilwizardington the XIth", despite there being no meaning in any of that word, simply cherry-picked for the eyes of humans to see as "fitting". Well, you're a human, and like hell you're gonna put up with that name. Besides, there's a 15-character limit, and that name is over by 3 characters. So you'll just have to pick one of those chosen names. Lesse...

Strider? Nah, internet has enough Homestuck. Besides, that one's already taken. Dave? Same reasoning as above. "Evilwizardington"? Too long. "Boko"? Also taken. Actually, the only ones not taken that could function as usernames that lack crazy amounts of numbers and punctuation marks is "Illion", "Lawliet", and "Callo". Hmm...the creative juices in your brain are flowing. You can practically feel your brain producing brain slime from your smartness, which is totally a thing. Your smartness, you mean.

Yes...it's coming to you..."Cawlion"! You are quite proud of your naming genius! Now, to type in the name, and...dang. Someone already took that name. Eh, guess you'll go with CawlionXI. What's the difference?

After a short wait, you arrive in okay, what the hell is this? I mean, really, what the hay? Sure, you weren't exactly expecting something fancy, but this is far from the graphical experience promised from by what Ian had told you about it. Or maybe it was somebody else that mentioned its graphical output. You were certain you saw at least something on TV advertising the game as being, like, this wildly-3D space. It could be just another limitation of opting for Avatar over Diginsert, since not being immersed in the experience means having a totally detached experience, or...something, but that still doesn't explain why the character-select screen looked so...HD in comparison. You bet this was probably another of Proarcheh Inc.'s lame marketing ploys. Well, joke's on them! You liked the 2D games more anyways! Ha!....ah...moving on.

There is quite a bit going on in this town. You've read up a little on the game, and this is  the town referred to as "Fahrey". It acts as a bit of a small town on the continent of wherever this game takes place, and it's said there lives in a castle nearby a great King who issues forth a quest to beginning players, to get them started on their journey, and to teach them the basics of the game...as if you really needed a reminder. Of course, high-level players come here sometimes, possibly to pick on lower-levelers, or maybe because of something regarding the King. You're not sure, you sorta kept your research to just that one thing.

Taking a look around, you can spot several people minding their own business in the town. The first you notice is a Black Mage, and in the most literal sense of the word: he seems to be staring at the statue of what you can assume to be Bahamut (given they didn't give him yet ANOTHER ridiculous makeover in appearance), for reasons you cannot comprehend. Equally incomprehensible is the level of customization that went into his sprite...at least, you want to say "sprite", but it's far more likely that he's a Diginsert that had a lot of free time. You're probably lucky you're even able to comprehend his appearance beyond the normal color pallate...or maybe all Black Mages just look like that. Again, you blame potential re-designs.

Of course, other figures within your short range catch your attention: stright in front of you, there's a furry. Yep. Not sure what else to add to that. A little ahead of you, and to your left, is a blue-haired boy managing a purple Chocobo. You remember Ian talking briefly about Chocobo spectrum, and you surmise purple must be in some ways better, but you don't know by how much. a little to the left of that is someone with a weird hairdo, who...might be surrounded on all sides by water. To your immediate left, a nobleman walks forwards, and a little lefter, a green-skinned dancer dances on an isolated patch of pavement. To your right, a Monk speaks with another nobleman, and a Mage cloaked in blue seems to peer down a Well.

You turn behind you to find a boy in green, on a bridge, singing songs about camaderie, faith, and losing 500 at the slots. You don't pay enough attention to hear what it is 500 of. Another, younger boy seems to approach a pig-tailed girl around his age, and a White Mage happens to look longingly at a Dragoon. And just outside of your field of vision, but still something you catch with a small glimpse, is what appears to be a druid who has a cloak adorning his entire face and hands. Well, possibly most of his face, but you can't make out any specific details behind the shrubbery.

You imagine that NONE OF THIS is relevant to you. Literally. You're looking at this from a 2D-screen, you CAN see that pink ninja from your monitor! Still, you do need somewhere to start here. Ian said he would be on to help you out at the start, though you haven't heard back from him in 5 hours, and you were getting kinda tired of waiting. This certainly leaves you with a lot of options for what to do, so you believe you'll take a short break to gather your thoughts, preferrably in the form of CYOA suggestions.

[Asphoxia]

Sable you can refer to me as "Ryuzaki" within the updates.

Well since you already know how to play, why not accept some sidequests while you're waiting for Ian?

[Voka~Daemyn]

I'm a bit confused on how to go about this so edit as you need for the actual story.

"Vokadae stares deeply into the statue meditating on the visage and trace ephemeral energy of Bahamut.

[Sable-Xeno]

Okay, from this point on I'm just dropping the anonimity altogether. It was sorta pointless, relatively confusing, and all, so lets continue, shall we?

(You probably should have specified that my alternate self wasn't calling some random forumer an idiot, but instead referring to me, but whatever.)

Change your name to (censored forumer), and then push the Mage cloaked in blue down the well.

(Also, I've never played the first Final Fantasy, so there's no reason why I would know the classes. I wasn't even aware there were classes actually.)

Trust me when I say this, that one joke was the one deciding factor in dropping the anonimity. It just wouldn't work otherwise, even though I greatly implied the sameness of you and yourself in those posts. I was gonna answer that top bit on the single forum itself and omit the top part from other participating forums, but then that'd ruin the joke once again, which would be rather irresponible of me.

Anyways, you try changing your name (even though you think it's the best name ever) to (censored forumer), but you soon figure out that you can only change your screen name by PMing a mod about it first. Also, there's still that pesky charcter limit to worry about...

And whilst it'd certainly be tempting to push that Blue Red Mage down that well (if only for his ridiculous contradiction in clothing and Job Class), you still haven't checked out the controls.

Since Ian might be being forced to do homework or something, you should sidequest a bit to become familiar with the controls and whatnot. They might've changed slightly since this is an online game.

Well, you try the arrow keys, so those definitely work. WASD also seem like plausible control options, though there's only one server you can immediately think of where using that with arrow keys available would be an option you're willing to go...but hey, you greatly prefer arrows anyday.

From the looks of it, Delete acts as a "cancel" button, and "Enter" as, well, an enter button. P opens up the menu, whilst Q...you have no idea what Q does, but it does make you do a little jig on the map. Will that prove useful to know?...probably not.

Also, since you finally figured out the controls, you walk over to where the Blue Red Mage is and push him down the well, him cursing you out as he falls in. He should be grateful: any seasoned explorer knows all too well that there's ALWAYS cool goodies at the bottom of wells. You wouldn't be surprised if he found a King Slime Crown down there.

Go talk to the blue-haired boy to obtain the tutorial for learn about Chocobo rearing.

I'll be honest, I though you said "breeding", but it is sorta the same thing...

Anyways, you head over to the blue-haired boy and, of course, ask about Chocobo breeding. You aren't entirely sure why you're bothering, you've tried desperately to avoid the situation whenever possible when Ian brings it up, but somehow the voices in your hear have convinced you otherwise.

CawlionXI [Cl] began pestering ChocoBlitz [CB]

Cl: Yo, dude.
Cl: Some voices in my head are telling me to ask you about Chocobo breeding.
Cl: Normally I wouldn't even give you the time of day over this sort of thing, but...
Cl: I have no idea what to do right now, and you're the only lead, completely vague or not, that I got.
Cl: So spill the beans.
CB: Gee, whiz! You actually WANT me to discuss with you the finess of breeding Chocobos?
Cl: Oh god
Cl: This was a terrible idea, wasn't it
CB: I wouldn't say so! In fact, it's important newcomers such as yourselves learn the intricacies of Chocobos as soon as they can! Otherwise, they might miss out on some SERIOUS benefits later on that no amount of grinding could resolve!
Cl: Oh.
Cl: I guess that sounds sorta promising.
Cl: I still think I have better things to do, but if I don't get this lecture from you, then I'll get it from Ian, and he's, like, probably a bigger nerd about this stuff than you are, so-
CB: Great! Let's begin!
CB: Though, I think the demonstration will probably go a bit smoother if I have a chart with me. Hang on...
CB posted file(s) in chat:

Cl: This is gonna take forever, isn't it.
CB: Nonsense! Now, where to begin...
CB: As you can see here, each Chocobo has it's own unique special properties, based on its hereditarial traits.
CB: Yellow Chocobo isn't anything too special, it's just a normal, everyday chocobo.
CB: Now, when you breed a yellow Chocobo with any other kind of Chocobo, it'll always end up with a Yellow chocobo, no exceptions. This usually happens with any kind of Chocobo, to be honest. But when you feed it a specific type of Gyashal Green during mating, it has a chance of producing a special kind of chocobo, in this case either a Green Chocobo, or a River Chocobo, depending on the Gyashal Green used.
CB: Green Chocobos are capable of traversing Mountains, whilst River Chocobos are capable of crossing rivers and small lakes. Green Chocobos are normally more sought out than River Chocobos due to how much handier their abilities are, and based on the practicality of their immediate offspring, but true aficionados such as myself seek to breed both of them for the much rarer chocobos down the breeding ladder.
CB: You see, when you breed two Green Chocobo, you might get a Purple Chocobo, which has the ability to fly! Of course, they can only take off from and land in forests, and they can't cross bodies of water. They also don't have their parent's ability to cross mountains.
CB: Breeding two River Chocobo gives you a Blue Choconbo, which is capable of crossing entire oceans! However, they can't cross rivers, and they can only cross from continent to continent via sandbars. Not sure why they can't cross rivers or lakes. Must be a freshwater thing.
CB: When you breed a Green Chocobo with a River Chocobo, that has the chance of producing a Red Chocobo! Now, they don't have the fancy abilities to fly or cross oceans, but they DO have the ability to cross both rivers and mountains. Truly, an explorer's best friend!
Cl: Huh. I think I have a friend who has a Red Chocobo.
CB: Well, your friend has good taste! But we're far from done here, y'know.
Cl: Le sigh.
CB: Continuing where we left off...
CB: When you breed a Red Chocobo with any kind of Chocobo, you'll sometimes get a White Chocobo! Though, they don't actually have any special abilities, they run at twice the speed of a normal Chocobo, plus, they're an important step in the Chocobo breeding process.
CB: When you breed a White Chocobo with a Blue Chocobo, you may get a Teal Chocobo! These guys are special for their ability to cross any body of water, be it lake, river, or ocean! And it doesn't hurt that they move fast like a white Chocobo, either, though it's only when they're walking on water.
CB: Breeding a white Chocobo with a Purple Chocobo gives you a Pink Chocobo! They, too, can fly, and they can fly incredibly fast, but they only move fast in the air.
CB: You can also choose to breed a Blue Chocobo with a Purple Chocobo, in order to get...a Black Chocobo! Much like the Red Chocobo before it, they can walk across rivers and climb mountains, as well as fly, but they can't cross large bodies of water.
CB: Now, these next few Chocobos are...a little different, namely in their traits being a bit different from the norm. When you breed a Teal Chocobo with a Black Chocobo, you'll end up with a Mint Chocobo! They...don't actually have any special abilities to note, BUT! They don't smell.
Cl: What.
CB: Well, you know how Chocobo normally have that awful stench?
Cl: Sure, I...guess?.
CB: Well, Mint Chocobos...don't!
Cl: Am I...usually supposed to smell something coming from my monitor, or-.
CB: Oh, you're using an AVATAR. Ah. Tis' both a blessing and a curse.
Cl: So I've thought.
CB: Well, I guess the Mint Chocobo's abilities don't directly matter to you, but they're still important for breeding purposes. Moving on...
CB: Breeding a Pink Chocobo with a Black Chocobo produces a Fuschia Chocobo! Now, those birds can go at up to 3 times the usual speed for a normal chocobo, but they're CRAZY HARD to keep under control! They can't cross rivers, mountains, or the like, but that's probably for the best. Who knows where you'd end up if they could?
CB: Finally, if you breed a Mint Chocobo with a Fuschia Chocobo, you'll get a Gold Chocobo! They can run at up to twice the speed of a normal Chocobo, cross rivers, mountains, and oceans, AND they can fly! They're the perfect Chocobo!...at least, next to the Platinum Chocobo the recent update brought into play, though that apparently requires the breeding of at least 40 other kinds of Cho-
Cl: Bye.
CB: B-but I haven't gotten into the kinds of Gyashel Greens you need to use, or hatching steps, or even Chocobo romance! You NEED to know when a relationship is Matesprit or Moi-

CawlionXI ceased pestering ChocoBlitz.

That was...more than you wanted to hear.

Curses, my plot to inject Homestuck references into every fiber of this CYOA has been thwarted! Nice name anyway though.

Anyway, I suppose the first thing to do is to head to the weapons shop.

You decide to go to the Weapons Shop to purchase a weapon, preferrably a sword. You'll need something to defend yourself, should you again get ambushed by rabid Chocobo nerds.



As you walk into the building, you are immediately greeted by the sight of a Gallade store clerk. Pokemon have just as much of a right to manage a store as a human, of course, but you do find it odd any mon would take up such a mundane role. You do have to wonder how he manages items, though, what with a lack of opposable thumbs. And hands.

Wait a minute...behind the counter...is that...

...IT IS.

SmithGally: Hello, and welcome to-
CawlionXI: I want dat Swordchuck.
SG: Well, I-
Cl: GIMME DAT SWORDCHUCK.
SG: You know, it wasn't even for sale, some guy brought it in because his friend lobbed their head off with that thing.
SG: If it gets you to shut up, though, then I would be glad to just give it to you.
Cl: Yay.

After that thankfully-short chatlogue casually short business exchange, you ponder your next course of action.

Here goes! Find so--*Firaga'd*

Anyway, you'll have to find some others. A sword will only get you so far on its own. Try the green Black Mage, why not. Maybe he'll help?

I have no idea whom you're talking about here. "Black Mage" could be referring to the only Black Mage on-screen, but he isn't green. It could be the Bard, since he's green, but not particularly Mage-y. And there's the Green Dancer, who's certainly not a "he", but looks more like a Mage than the Bard. Either that, or you're talking about those nobles, OR using the term "green" to refer to the Black Mage as being new...



Using this argument amongst the voices in your head as a window of opportunity, you escape the stress of adventuring to watch that smexy green dancer from a closer distance.

CawlionXI: Why, hello there.
Cl: Any chance you...mind dancing for me?
Cl: Purely for educational purposes.
SambaMegido: Oh, certainly!
SM: It's no trouble at all.
SM:
SM: How's that?
Cl: ...Cute.
SM: Glad you liked it. Hopefully as ironically as humanely possible for your pig-headed-
Cl: Wait, before you call me out on anything, I actually do have something serious that could be discussed.
Cl: See, I'm incredibly new to this game, and I was hoping someone such as yourself, whom has experience as an...adept warrior could potentially be of use to me on a quest.
Cl: On your own merits.
Cl: And not solely because I, a man, asked you to.
Cl: Which would be wrong.
Cl: And sexist.
SM: ...That was possibly the most sexist thing I've heard all day.
SM: Do you instantly assume that JUST because I get offended by derogatory assumptions, that I'm some kind of feminist? News flash: not all women are two-dimensional!
Cl: So do you wanna help me beat up some monsters or what
SM: Sure, sounds like fun.

SambaMegido has joined your party!

Well since you already know how to play, why not accept some sidequests while you're waiting for Ian?

Well, you figure you might as well undertake some sort of quest before you continue on your journey, right? Not like you have much of a journey to go on.



So, of course the most side-questy looking dude here must be that guy wearing that hood! He probs has something significant to say. Now that you're much closer too him than before (or rather, now that you're squinting at the pixels on your screen), you can see that he might have a red beak jettisoning out of his hood...or he has a really weird face, you can't really tell with this odd resolution.

CawlionXI: Hey, so...
Cl: Sidequest pls?
GreatScorch: Well, that was...abrupt?
GS: But since you asked, I do happen to be searching for some...things. Six, to be prescise.
GS: If, by chance, you should ever happen upon the Grand Finale, the Grand Diagonal, the Grand Spectral, the Grand Brachial, the Grand Chocolatier...and an Odd Keystone, then I would desire that you bring them to me.
Cl: Kay.

Odds are that sidequest shouldn't take too long to complete.

SIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEQQQQQQQQQQQQQUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Also out of game you should tell Ian that you're ready to start playing and you're going to do some sidequests until he's ready.

Well, you probably could take the more pro-active approach in getting in touch with him. You try sending him a message over the game's PM system, though he doesn't seem to be on at the moment. You try sending a message over #Pun, though he doesn't seem to be on there, either. He did recently send you a memo, though, which you proceed to read:

Damnit all. Apparently my chocobo was recently deleted. Not even fainted, DELETED. Like, I'm pretty sure that shouldn't be a thing on any server I go on, and when I asked about it to a mod, he just...kicked me right off! I'm going back onto that server for answers, and I'll be damned if I leave without my Bobby Cornwell!...but first, dinner.

Seems he left that about 10 or so minutes ago, so whatever happened, it was recent. You decide to leave him a message:

Ouch. That sucks. Anyways, I'm on the Final Fantasy server now, if you happen to go on that later. I'm in Fahren at the moment, managed to convince a sorta-but-not-really feminist dancer to tag along. I'm not sure how much that's going to help...oh! But I also got these sweet Swordchucks. So it's been pretty good today. So, see ya soon, I guess.

Go talk to the Black Mage because we all know BM would be no fun if he was a silent protagonist.

Well, why not? It's quite apparent to you that he's the best-dressed dude in town, so clearly he has some greater importance to the plot.

I'm a bit confused on how to go about this so edit as you need for the actual story.

"Vokadae stares deeply into the statue meditating on the visage and trace ephemeral energy of Bahamut.

He seems to be quite focused on that statue of Bahamut in the center of town, though he still turns towards you when you try to engage in conversation.

CawlionXI: Hey
Cl: Heeeeeeeey
Cl: Wanna join me on a quest?
Cl: We have a total babe with us
Cl: Who may or may not actually object to being called a babe
Vokadae: ...

The Black Mage silently but politely turns his attention back to the Bahamut Statue, still focusing on its energy. Is there perhaps something within that statue he sees, which nobody else in town can?

...You believe you may be starting to get what the mage may be onto, as an idea formulates within your thick thinkpan.

Ride Bahamut Statue like a mechanical bull

Ride Bahamut Statue like a mechanical bull

Then punch it in the snout to establish stupidity.

Ride Bahamut Statue like a mechanical bull

After that, jump on the dragoon and ask/demand for a ride to the clouds, while up there take a view of the world.

Well, that was fun, but you're bored now. That weird voice in your head gave you a pretty interesting suggestion, though, and it might be fun to ride a Dragoon like a mechanical bull. You creepily sneak up on the Dragoon, as he has a tender moment with the White Mage staring lovingly into his eyes...

Rosalesca: Oh, Rich, you know I could just stare into those beautiful blue orbs of yours all day long...
RichIngot: A fact I am most aware of, milady, and something I could re-state two-fold for your lovely, glorious, sweet, precious hazelnut eyes...
Rl: Oh, Rich!
RI: Oh, Rosa...
RI: ..........
Rl: Why the long ellipsis?
RI: There's something I've been meaning to ask you...
RI: Ever since we first met on this server, two hours ago...I've fallen head-over heels for you.
RI: I simply don't know what I'd do without you in my life
RI: Which is why I have to ask...Rosa, will you ma-
CawlionXI: IMPORMPTU PIGGYBACK NINJUTSU!
RI: WhaaaaAAAAAAH!

Spurred on by your sudden advance, the Dragoon jumps high into the sky, with you tagging along for the ride.



While you don't exactly get a good view of the ENTIRE WORLD, you do get a good look at the immediate vicinity of the world map. Seems there's Fahren, next to a crescent-shaped lake of some sort. On the northern end of the lake is a shrine of some sort, whilst the southern end has some sort of cave. There's a river between the cave and Fahren, and you can't tell how far the river goes, so unless you have access to a River, Red, Teal, Black, or Gold Chocobo, you might not be getting there anytime soon.

Leave and go grind until you hit the level cap

As this mysterious voice speaks its peace, you crash down outside of the town, having been shaken off by that dragoon. Odds are, neither he nor his Ingot Digger will join your party anytime soon. But you do have two others waiting for you near the town entrance, ready to go questing: that black mage, Vodakae, and the dancer, SambaMegido. That name might be a bit much for you to remember, so...maybe you'll just call her Megido. Maybe she won't mind? Or she'll mind a lot, who knows.

Cl: Oh, hey
Cl: Were you two waiting here for me this entire time?
SM: Well, I was. More or less.
SM: I pre-occupied myself with another server on the side, though, so it's not like I was doing ABSOLUTELY nothing.
SM: As for this guy here, he sorta came out here just now, while you were flying around in the air like an idiot.
Vd: ...
Cl: Oh, good
Cl: I was kinda hoping he would come join us, actually
Cl: Just look at those robes
Cl: They just scream "plot importance", ya kno-

Sudenly, your party is ambushed by enemies!



Goblin A: 10/10
Goblin B: 10/10
Flan: 15/15

Cawlion: 28/28
Megido: 18/18
Vodakae: 23/23

What shall your next course of action be, brave heroes?

[Sable-Xeno]

(Just a little note here: Vodakae and Cat Mcsummonstuff are going to be speaking, though I don't want to be derivative of their characters. So...they might not speak much? I guess? I dunno, it's been more than 3 weeks, let's get on with the show.)

Have a flashback to the chocobo lecture, use the knowledge gained to win the fight.

Yeah, sure, if anything goes wrong, we can try to lecture them to death. We'll keep that in mind for later

Yeah, that's...a "good" plan, but we'll put it on the back-burner for now. I doubt these guys have enough of a grasp on English Language to be engaged-but-distant enough from conversation to be bored by it.

Attack that slime Flan first. Vodakae can hit it with a spell, since I doubt physical attacks will do much to something like that.

Awwww yeah we got an evil mysterious Black Mage on the team.

My life is complete.

Cawlion: Swordchucks. Flan. Make it happen.
Megido, whose name is totally not another Homestuck reference: Atempt to...uh...

...

Maybe we should ask Megido and Vodakae what their abilities are first.

You decide to jump up into the air, making your most fanciful of poses as you strike down the Flan with your-

Your SwordChucks have become stuck in the Flan.

CawlionXI: Fudge
Cl: I think my SwordChucks have become stuck in the Flan.
SambaMegido:
Vokadae:
Cl: WHAT
Cl: I'M PRETTY SURE ANYONE ELSE WOULD MAKE THE SAME MI
Cl: Hold on
Cl: Are those
Cl: Emotes?
SM: Well...yes.
SM: The ones I'm using are for promotional purposes centering around the release of the new Undertale-based server today. I was one of the beta-testers before it went live, so I got some handy-dandy Toriel Emotes
SM: Aren't they just the best?
SM: N-not that your emotes aren't just as good, or anything, Vokadae.
Vd: Aw, shucks, Samba. Thanks.
Vd: These Klonoa emotes are kinda premium, though there is a good reason I can use them.
SM: Oh?
Vd: Well, I'm just a big fan of the guy.
Vd: You could say that I'm using them "in support" of him. Or something to that effect
SM: Klonoa? Sounds...interesting.
SM: Kinda looks like Sonic, actually. But...cuter?
SM: Come to think of it, I heard there was a Klonoa-based server some millenia ago, but it...faded into obscurity? I hear there's still a few people maintaining it.
Vd: Oh, funny you should mention that! See, I-
Cl: Okay, gonna stop you two right now
Cl: You can ship yourselves later
Cl: Right now we're
Cl: Kinda in the middle of something a bit more
Cl: IMPORTANT
Cl: Any chance either of you have any sets of skills you might be able to use
Cl: Preferrably aiding me in un-stucking my SwordChucks?
SM: Wow. RUDE.
SM: But you do have a point. Since I...guess we're apparently a team now, it's best we know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Cawlion? Since YOU'RE so confident, why don't you-
Cl: I can swing swords
Cl: I believe that's all a Warrior REALLY needs to know
Cl: What about you, mysterious evil Black Mage?
Vd: Eh, you can just call me Dae
Vd: Anyways, I do have some tricks up my sleeve
Vd: At the moment, I only have up to Lv. 2 Black Magic. Stardard stuff, y'know? Namely, Fire, Ice, Thunder, Sleep, Poison, and Toad.
Vd: I also access to Sword Magic, so I could apply any of those effects to your Swordchucks, Cawlion. Though, I'm sorta trying to unlock the Summoner class down the road.
Vd: That was kinda why I was examining that Bahamut statue, to be honest. I could tell from the energy emanating from it that...well. That was no mere statue.
Vd: Then you sorta...you know. Decided to ride it like a mechanical bull.
Cl: Don't forget punching it the snout!
Cl: To establish stupidity.
SM: ...
Vd: ...
Cl: So, what about you, Meg? Anything you can do besides, well...dancing?
SM:
SM: Sorry. There were no Toriel Emotes that properly illustrated my rage.
SM: YES, I can dance. It's one of my special abilities. It's for support purposes, like increasing one's attack stat for one turn, or defence, or...WHATEVER.
SM: But I'll be glad to let you know that, first and foremost...
SM: I AM A STRONG!
SM: INDEPENDANT!
SM: MONK!

Why did I read that entire wall about chocobos? It was probably a stupid idea but whatever.

Grab Goblin A and stuff him down the Flan throat. I refuse to be governed by RPG laws.

Ignore the other Planetbox. Stuff Goblin B into the Flan's mouth instead.

(Also, I'm so glad you let us push the mage down the well.)

I second our Planetbox. Who cares about the (Other forum's name) Planetbox, right?

SambaMegido shwos off her strength (and her ability to not be tied down to either Planetbox) by suplexing BOTH Goblins into the Flan, just because she can. Vokadae, during this decisive action, alights Cawlion's SwordChucks with Fire Magic, allowing them to cut through the slime like butter. These actions cause all on-screen enemies to be brought down to 5 HP.

Cl: Sheesh
Cl: Remind me not to tick off Megido
SM: Really?
SM: You need a REASON not to tick me off?
SM: Like, the fact alone that I'm a human with feelings isn't enough for you?
Cl: Uhm.
Cl: Oh, Dae!
Cl: Thanks for the save with the SwordChucks there.
Vd: NP.

Self insert my white mage (with this epic theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e-O9rspYlg accompanying his self insertation because I played ff14 for like 2 months once upon a 2013 yea) that has attacks for some reason to spam auto attack on Goblin A or heal if someone gets rekt before I can spam auto attack.

http://i.imgur.com/G8uDoo7.png
So I found my character. Name's Cat Mcsummonstuff. He can summon Carbuncles to fight people and stuff. Technically, he's an Arcanist (like white mages but low tier), but whateves. Also change my action to summon Tank Carbuncle to take any damage sent at anyone. Then heal Tank Carbuncle.

Edit: I may as well give him a backstory on why he's here. Cat Mcsummonstuff wanted to be the best white mage ever. However, he [strike]forgot to pay the subscription fee[/strike] couldn't pay the rent for his home and magic lessons and was sent back into the world with no purpose. His reputation was trash, so nobody wanted him to do sidequests or anything. Angry at this, Cat Mcsummonstuff casted the forbidden art...
" "!!!
The art was so forbidden and powerful that it sent the poor cat two years into the future and into another final fantasy game (aka here). Now with a clean slate, Cat Mcsummonstuff has dedicated his life to helping these random adventurers save the world!

Suddenly, a mysterious figure approached from the vast field of green, a male of some sort. He seemed somewhat...strange...a man with what appeared to be pink hair. And were those...cat ears?

Cat_Mcsummonstuff: Well, now! Did anybody here order a
White Mage hero sandwich? Preferrably with a side dish of a can of WHOOPBUTT?
SM:
Vd:
Cl:
CM:

Uttering his almost incantational rebuttal, the mysterious user (apparently named Cat Mcsummonstuff) summoned forth a Tank Carbuncle (also referred to as a Topaz Carbuncle by some), protecting the party from further damage for that turn. Which, truthfully, did not help much, as the entire enemy party was entirely immobilized, either from being stuffed into a Flan, or...well...being stuffed with two too many Goblins. Instead, Vodakae simply used Fire against the vulnerable smorgasborg, securing victory.

Gained 4 Exp! Got 10 G!

Cl: Well
Cl: That was
Cl: an experience
CM: Four experience, to be prescise!
Cl: Alright, wise guy
Cl: Exactly WHO are you supposed to be?
CM:
Cl: Ahaha
Cl: AHA HA HA HA HA
CM: I was just joking around
CM: Anyways, name's Cat Mcsummonstuff.
Cl: I refuse to call you that.
CM: Aw, really?
CM: I mean, if you're really adamant to the idea, I guess you could just call me Lenrap.
SM: How about LenCat?
SM: I think that name would suit you...
SM: PURRfectly.
SM:
Vd: Oh man
CM:
CM: I think we're getting off-topic here.
CM: I guess you can call me whatever, if you HAVE to, but...
CM: I still have no idea who any of you are?
Cl: ...
Cl: the HUD on your end shows our names, doesn't it?
Cl: Wait, no, the chatlogues are only showing the abbreviations right now.
Cl: Guess it sorta...changes between the two.
Cl: For some reason.
Cl: WHATEVER.
Cl: I guess you can call me Cawlion.
SM: Samba!
SM: Samba Megido.
Vd: Just Dae is fine.
Cl: Well, we're done here, nice seeing you, but now we really gotta go do some more grinding
Cl: So
Cl: Bye-
CM: But I haven't told you my awesome backstory yet!
Cl: I really don't care, tho-
SM: Maybe YOU don't, Caw, but I'm certainly interested.
SM: So then, LenCat...exactly how did you...uhm...what's your story?
CM: Well...
CM: First and foremost, you should know that I'm an Arcanist. You know, low-level White Mage, of sorts. And it's been my long-held dream to be the best White Mage the land has ever seen!
CM: However, after some...time, I...er...forgot to pay my Su- MY HOME! I forgot to pay rent. And...MAGIC LESSONS! Yeah, so nobody wanted me to do sidequests for them anymore, and my reputation was pure trash.
CM: So, I decided to cast the forbidden magic. The art of...
CM: ""!!!
CM: This caused me to be sent two years forward into the future, and into another Final Fantasy game, no less!
CM: Now, armed with naught but my forbidden art, arcane spells and cat ears, I come to you, explorers! For I am here to help you on your quest!
Cl: That
Cl: Is the most phony-baloney backstory I've ever heard.
Cl: Like, Even the crazier Mythologies I've been forced to read up on in History Class are more believable than that.
SM: I dunno. Not about his story, though, It sounds TOTALLY made up.
SM: But more in regards to said "mythology". I mean, isn't that Alexander guy who created the host Mainframe of this server HIMSELF a central figure in said Mythologies?
SM: Assuming we're talking about that SAME mythology Mysidists believe in, anyways.
Cl: Please
Cl: Everyone knows Big Business came up with the concept of Alex just so they would have an appeasing mascot for their brand.
Cl: You know
Cl: Like with Santa Claus, Colonel Sanders, or Donald Trump.
Cl: In any case
Cl: However ridiculous your backstory is, Len
Cl: You're still coming with us, in virtue of being a White Mage
Cl: ESPECIALLY for being a White Mage that has no romantic connections to a Dragoon.
Cl: Seriously, those two were giving me the utmost of creeps.

Before the group ended up getting into another battle, audible screams could be heard coming from the town square. Somebody had run out of town in a panic, ending up in front of the group of warriors. It just so happened that it was the same Dragoon Cawlion had rode on just before to get a good look at the immediate world map.

RichIngot: You?!?
RI: Ugh, not who I was hoping to run into, but nonetheless YOU GOTTA HELP US!
RI: Shortly after you left, this...thing? I dunno, looked like a plane of sorts...sprta like a yellow Latios, actually. There was this other thing, a bird man?
RI: Yeah, they just wandered into the center of the town square, said something about "The freedom of Programs everywhere", and something about this thing called Falzar?
RI: all of a sudden, all sorts of...THINGS just swarmed out of this huge portal and started reaking havok on the town square, while the bird man and plane thing headed towards the castle, and...
RI: And...
RI: One of those monster things abducted my girlfriend!
RI: Please, if you have any heart...you have to help us! B-but mostly my girlfriend. I'll even PAY you, if need be!

Well, seems like the plot's finally kicking off! So, now, what shall you-

....Uhm?

I'm sorry, but what is this abou-

*Live feed hacked

*Preparing to intercept signal

*Kalev Firewall Bypass successfully engaged

*Server 001 Logged onto successfully



...Well now, who's this douchebag?...We're probably not gonna find out for a while.

Whoever he is, he seems to be in a server...not related to the Final Fantasy one that the prior group was in. He doesn't speak to himself, so it seems you're more-or-less given nothing to go by in terms of backstory for him, or any of the pokemon in this quaint village. You might have to have him talk to someone to find out more. He does give a small nod, though, turning off his theme and letting the natural OST of the server sink in.

...Aside from that, yeah. Quite a bit of story material to work with here...