[ You follow the path through a forest long dead. ]
[ Out here, the air tastes bitter and caustic. The unnatural silence is occasionally punctuated by sounds: a distant, echoing crash of something crisp and wooden getting broken. A lonely groan from an inhuman throat. The intermittent scrape of dry leaves, disturbed by feet that skitter away before your circle of light can touch them. ]
[ As you walk, the path starts to climb up a slope, leading you through several switchbacks. The trees thin out, and the sky seems to lighten a few shades, like something up ahead is illuminating the very air. ]
[ You can see light glinting off boulders and tree trunks, guiding you forward like a beacon. ]
[ You have to scrabble over some rocks, picking your way upward. Then you look over a ridge and there it is:
—The ugliest city you’ve ever seen in your life. ]
[ The city is on the far side of a huge expanse of cobblestone — which, now that you’re looking at it, appears to be a parking lot. ]
[ After all that climbing, you have a better vantage point of where you just came from. Behind you is a steep drop into a vast canyon. You climbed out of there somehow, but from here it looks like a huge cleft in the earth that someone poured an ocean of heavy, dark fog into. ]
[The row of buildings across the parking lot are still distinct, even through the destruction and debris. He looks both ways down the cobblestone expanse... there was usually a Cup Noodle truck parked there, right?
He walks toward the city, hoping to find some answers]
[ This place might have been beautiful once, back when the buildings were still brightly painted and the streets were full of people. But now the buildings are boarded up, and roads that were once broad and inviting and now blocked by thick makeshift barricades cobbled together from metal signs, wooden pallets, rusted cars, barbed wire — anything and everything that wasn’t nailed down, and probably some things that were. ]
[ The barricade and building are run through with cables, and bright lights of all shapes and sizes are pointed outward as if trying desperately to keep the darkness away. The light illuminates the thick, dingy haze that squats over the city, which you can feel in your throat with every breath. ]
[ From here, you can see some spots along the wall where the lights have burned out, leaving some buildings drenched in shadow. ]
[ Someone on top of a building turns a spotlight on you. You hear shouting from a familiar voice. ]
“There's a survivor! Raise the gates!”
[ You hear activity from beyond the wall, and a moment later there's a groan of metal and clank of chains. ]
[ Two cars, stacked end to end in a cage of rusted beams and rebar, is raised by powerful winches like a massive gate. Behind it is a narrow, well-lit alley, leading the way into the city. ]
[ As you enter the alley and the gate shuts heavily behind you, the lantern you've been holding shatters into bright flakes of white light and vanishes. ]
[ You can still feel it, though. ]
[ Innately, you know the lantern is not gone, and not broken. It has gone into your Armiger -- a space inside of you, next to your soul. You can feel it in there, ready for you to call it into existence once again, any time you want. ]
[ In fact, now that you're paying attention, you can feel there is something else in your Armiger besides your lantern, waiting for you to call it into being. You know that all you have to do is hold out your hand and it will appear in your palm the moment you will it to be so. ]
[Much like the lantern and haven, another piece of comfort in this weird negaverse version of Lestallum. He's weirdly emotional about it, not realizing how much he missed just the feeling of the Armiger being there.
[ In a glittering flash of white light, the thing you called for drops into your palm. ]
[ It's a familiar greatsword with a guard that looks like golden wings. It's taller than you are and so heavy most people would struggle to lift it with both hands. You, however, hold it easily with one, the way you always have. ]
[ As you turn it in your hands, you can feel something strange about it. You can feel... that it has been imbued with the power of fire.]
[ As surely as you are breathing, you understand: while you are holding this object, you will be able to channel its power and cast Fira at will. ]
[ You now have access to your Armiger. You can put things into it at any time, and they will appear or disappear from your hand at your whim. ]
[ With the closed gate at your back, there’s only one exit, and it’s in front of you. ]
[ The alley is narrow and zig-zags through crumbling buildings. Eventually you see the exit, and the man who’s standing at the end of the alley, waiting for you. You may also have caught a glimpse of a blond-haired woman in navy blue clothes, if she hasn't already left by the time you arrive. ]
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Re: Haven
[ Out here, the air tastes bitter and caustic. The unnatural silence is occasionally punctuated by sounds: a distant, echoing crash of something crisp and wooden getting broken. A lonely groan from an inhuman throat. The intermittent scrape of dry leaves, disturbed by feet that skitter away before your circle of light can touch them. ]
[ As you walk, the path starts to climb up a slope, leading you through several switchbacks. The trees thin out, and the sky seems to lighten a few shades, like something up ahead is illuminating the very air. ]
[ You can see light glinting off boulders and tree trunks, guiding you forward like a beacon. ]
[ You have to scrabble over some rocks, picking your way upward. Then you look over a ridge and there it is:
—The ugliest city you’ve ever seen in your life. ]
[ The city is on the far side of a huge expanse of cobblestone — which, now that you’re looking at it, appears to be a parking lot. ]
[ After all that climbing, you have a better vantage point of where you just came from. Behind you is a steep drop into a vast canyon. You climbed out of there somehow, but from here it looks like a huge cleft in the earth that someone poured an ocean of heavy, dark fog into. ]
Re: Haven
Isn't this... Lestallum?
[The row of buildings across the parking lot are still distinct, even through the destruction and debris. He looks both ways down the cobblestone expanse... there was usually a Cup Noodle truck parked there, right?
He walks toward the city, hoping to find some answers]
Re: Haven
[ This place might have been beautiful once, back when the buildings were still brightly painted and the streets were full of people. But now the buildings are boarded up, and roads that were once broad and inviting and now blocked by thick makeshift barricades cobbled together from metal signs, wooden pallets, rusted cars, barbed wire — anything and everything that wasn’t nailed down, and probably some things that were. ]
[ The barricade and building are run through with cables, and bright lights of all shapes and sizes are pointed outward as if trying desperately to keep the darkness away. The light illuminates the thick, dingy haze that squats over the city, which you can feel in your throat with every breath. ]
[ From here, you can see some spots along the wall where the lights have burned out, leaving some buildings drenched in shadow. ]
[ Someone on top of a building turns a spotlight on you. You hear shouting from a familiar voice. ]
“There's a survivor! Raise the gates!”
[ You hear activity from beyond the wall, and a moment later there's a groan of metal and clank of chains. ]
[ Two cars, stacked end to end in a cage of rusted beams and rebar, is raised by powerful winches like a massive gate. Behind it is a narrow, well-lit alley, leading the way into the city. ]
Re: Haven
What... happened here?
Re: Haven
[ As you enter the alley and the gate shuts heavily behind you, the lantern you've been holding shatters into bright flakes of white light and vanishes. ]
[ You can still feel it, though. ]
[ Innately, you know the lantern is not gone, and not broken. It has gone into your Armiger -- a space inside of you, next to your soul. You can feel it in there, ready for you to call it into existence once again, any time you want. ]
[ In fact, now that you're paying attention, you can feel there is something else in your Armiger besides your lantern, waiting for you to call it into being. You know that all you have to do is hold out your hand and it will appear in your palm the moment you will it to be so. ]
Re: Haven
He holds his hand out]
Re: Haven
[ It's a familiar greatsword with a guard that looks like golden wings. It's taller than you are and so heavy most people would struggle to lift it with both hands. You, however, hold it easily with one, the way you always have. ]
[ As you turn it in your hands, you can feel something strange about it. You can feel... that it has been imbued with the power of fire.]
[ As surely as you are breathing, you understand: while you are holding this object, you will be able to channel its power and cast Fira at will. ]
[ You now have access to your Armiger. You can put things into it at any time, and they will appear or disappear from your hand at your whim. ]
Re: Haven
There's a smile on his face as he vanishes the sword in a flash of light, and looks around for his next destination]
Re: Haven
[ With the closed gate at your back, there’s only one exit, and it’s in front of you. ]
[ The alley is narrow and zig-zags through crumbling buildings. Eventually you see the exit, and the man who’s standing at the end of the alley, waiting for you. You may also have caught a glimpse of a blond-haired woman in navy blue clothes, if she hasn't already left by the time you arrive. ]
[Approach?]