Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
at adventu, we believe that colorful story and plots far outweigh the need for a battle system. rp should be about the writing, the fun, and the creativity. you will see that the only system on our site is the encouragement to create amazing adventures with other members. welcome to adventu... how will you arrive?
year 5, quarter 3
Welcome one and all to our beautiful new skin! This marks the visual era of Adventu 4.0, our 4th and by far best design we've had. 3.0 suited our needs for a very long time, but as things are evolving around the site (and all for the better thanks to all of you), it was time for a new, sleek change. The Resource Site celebrity Pharaoh Leep was the amazing mastermind behind this with minor collaborations from your resident moogle. It's one-of-a-kind and suited specifically for Adventu. Click the image for a super easy new skin guide for a visual tour!
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Post by The Nameless Tonberry on Oct 14, 2021 3:41:18 GMT -6
Picture a forest. Picture its trees, picture its bushes, picture its undergrowth and picture winding dirt roads studded with acorns and fallen leaves. Somewhere, a lone squirrel clung to moss and bark with a hazelnut in its mouth and many more buried in the vicinity – and it remembered all of their positions. In the meantime, a stoat stared at the rodent intently from a nearby branch, calculating the fastest and most efficient way to get from Point A, which was to say the stoat's own present location, to Point B, which was traditional mustelid shorthand for that specific position where one's teeth got to meet a squirrel's neck from up close, and possibly also sink into it until the latter stopped moving. Stoats had always prided themselves on their ability to put so much meaning in a single shriek.
Both animals froze in their tracks when they heard the sound. It was a whistle as distant as it was incessant. It was the kind of noise that didn't simply draw nearer so much as loomed. They looked up at the sky and noticed a glimmer like that of a shooting star, even though the sun had yet to set...
...and in light of that very fact, the two creatures, who both happened to be promising scions of millennia of natural selection, took a smart pace to the rear, seeking refuge in two different tree hollows. In the meantime, as that mysterious object darted past the treetops, or at least those treetops, the two animals knew better than coming out before they actually heard its landing.
It landed with a thud that, quite oxymoronically, boomed through the thicket. What had just entered the forest was a crystal, blue in colour and about twice as large as the average adult human, its tip lodged quite neatly into the topsoil. Other animals of the forest – not the stoat and the squirrel from before, as the landing had happened far away from them and so they had already gone about their businesses – gathered around it in alarmed curiosity. A few of them saw the puddle that was forming near its base, water dripping down magical glass. All scurried away when the first cracks began to appear along its surface.
[attr=class,bulk] Mikoto was going about her day. She cleaned up the crumbled stone pathways in her ghost village with a broom made of little more than a long stick made with twigs. The houses that still had windows were starting to look cleaner now that she gave them a small wash with the water she dragged from the river. She had to take a dry cloth to make sure there were no streaks. The inside of the homes too were slowly set right - chairs were stood up. Beds were fluffed. Rooms were dusted. [break][break] The abandoned village was starting to look like home for someone. It was finally getting the attention needed to once more serve its purpose of shelter and comfort to those who lived in it. The will-o’-the-wisps took to the homes as if they once lived in them. [break][break] The young genome was taking a break when there was a suddenly bright light in the sky. It was odd to notice when the trees were so thick and high. But because the forest was generally so dark, the light seeping through the branches above were noticeable. It only intensified as it came closer to the forest, soon followed by an echoing whistle. [break][break] The ghosts of her village did not care for it. After vibrating in their displeasure, they promptly vanished. Mikoto followed the source of light with her wide, vacant eyes, until it faded in the distance with a boom. It was then her curiosity caught the better of her. She began to stealth through the forest, taking to the trees to get a less dangerous perspective. Then she saw the glowing still, and began to carefully climb across the branches. Her eyes peeking down at the forest floor, her face half obscured by the brush. [break][break] Despite the display, the damage to the forest seemed minimal. Only now there was the now cooling, blue crystal. It reminded her of Gaia’s life crystal as it slowly cooled as Terran souls were added and Gaian souls processed out. Except, this crystal had water leaking out, instead of souls. Then it cracked. [break][break] Mikoto probably should have turned to leave. Instead, her curiosity continued to drive her. What did she have to lose? Could this crystal be useful to her predecessor? She had watched him buy and collect some for his own purposes. Was it a new form of life crystal that could unlock the secrets of the forest? [break][break] She jumped out of the tree, her body crouching with the gravity before springing back up. Lightly, she padded to the crystal, stepping in the water to reach a hand out to the crystal. She closed her eyes and reached out with her extra sense that let her touch, communicate, and manipulate souls. What was the life welling in it, so eager to crack the hardened shell and release itself?
Post by The Nameless Tonberry on Oct 17, 2021 7:54:56 GMT -6
It took the cracks mere minutes to grow in both quantity and size, and moments for water to gush out of the crystal in spouts, as if piercing through a dam, as a result. As the pressure increased, so did the number of crevices and holes, and even more water forced its way out, which in turn contributed further to the strain placed on the crystal in a frenzied vicious cycle that resulted in the crystal finally shattering. However, instead of being flung in every direction like shrapnel from a bomb, its shards stopped harmlessly in mid-air, turned into light, and rose up in the air for a few inches before disappearing entirely.
Hatching from that unfamiliar egg was a Tonberry. Shrouded in an ethereal white swathe of pure energy and somehow free of moisture, it floated down gently to the muddy pool that formed where the crystal once was. The veil scattered and vanished into thin air as soon as the creature's feet touched the closest thing to solid ground that their position allowed. Then the Tonberry opened its eyes, blinked rapidly while scanning their surroundings, and checked their hands (or front limbs, for those who espoused a very conservative definition of the word ‘hand’) for their lantern and their knife.
Grudge gave a low hum of half-acknowledgement and half-relief, and turned to face the only visible presence that they assumed to be sentient. It was a young woman with blond hair and blue eyes, short but not shorter than them (that would have made them a young child), and she appeared to be human in every aspect except for a simian tail that they had never seen in anybody they met before. Moreover, the forest felt just as unfamiliar, though there was still the possibility that they had simply ended up in an unchartered portion of one they had already visited in the past. Still, that necessarily begged one question: how? They remembered the crystal forming around their feet all of a sudden, freezing them in place, and then enveloping them whole before their consciousness drifted away in a dreamless slumber... But this was not where it happened.
"Where am I?", they asked the stranger calmly. It was the second of the three questions that were currently dominating their thought processes like a choir of tyrants. The third was: "When am I?"
Both answers, Grudge realised, were nothing but the keys to free even more questions waiting at the backdoor of their mind in the same way ambitious princes waited for their turn on the throne while they whispered plots. Nevertheless, they were questions that had to be asked.
[attr=class,bulk] Mikoto curiously watched knowing that there was life in it, though this one did not reach back to her. The cracks became louder and prominent. She drew her hand back and curiously watched instead, her tail swaying behind her expectantly. As more water came in torrents down its side, she found herself pacing backwards to not get overly wet or dirtied by it. There was no need, was there? [break][break] She turned away to shield her face as it unexpectedly shattered. She fluffed in surprise and braced herself for an impact. But when nothing bit into her flesh, she turned to look to see it vanished in columns of light. Her eyes widened in even deeper curiosity as what revealed itself was a creature she had never seen before. Smooth, green, and dressed in robes. It eyes like gold orbs that hold nothing but the remains of its sleep. [break][break] Then, the curious creature spoke, denoting some form of intelligence in its voice. So it was not some feral, primal animal. It was something more. “Headstone Forest.” She said simply with no elaboration. She shook her head at his second question. “Time is a human concept. I have no answer.” The shifting of celestial bodies. The waning and waxing of the light. She still never fully acclimated to the cycles even though it had been a year and a half. She only slept when she was tired. [break][break] “The forest cares not for it either.” She said her eyes turned to the trees around them. She was searching to see if the ghosts would appear again at this new intruder in their land. How would they react? Would they let him leave or force him to stay and keep them company. She supposed she it would only be a matter of waiting to find out.
Post by The Nameless Tonberry on Oct 20, 2021 5:31:35 GMT -6
"Headstone... Forest," they repeated, weighing that name on their tongue. It savoured it in the way a man would savour the dish that he hoped it would remind him of his long-lost childhood, and the way his mother made it the same way. However, Grudge had no recollection of having ever visited or, for that matter, heard of any woods with such a name. Somebody or something must have displaced them from their original position, they concluded. What remained unascertained was whether the change was spatial, temporal, or both.
“I understand,” they said in what, as they realised a moment later, constituted a partial lie. Grudge themselves was no human, and the purpose of their creation meant they had little reason for counting time aside from what was needed of them for their mission. Still, every other creature they knew of was aware of time, though in different ways and to different extents. All that was born was destined to die, eventually, even if death didn't necessarily prevent some beings from living. And even if one was not there to see it, the Sun always rose and always set.
Grudge followed her eyes as she glanced at the local flora. Suddenly they felt a chill on their snout, as if from a cold breeze without wind. A spark of realisation found a sheaf of flammable synapses. “Hence Headstone Forest, I see.”
They stared at the general direction of the spirit and waited for it to materialise. When it didn't, Grudge deduced that either it wasn't interested in them or it would come back later to try whatever it was that it wished to do, so they looked at the young woman again.
“You didn't call for me.” It was a statement, rather than a question. She found them, and that was the extent of it. If she had called for them, she would have replied with much more than answers. Simultaneously, Grudge could not fathom from whom or what came the summons, which was unlike the last time, where they had known what they were supposed to do since before taking their first breath. Then they added, in a flat tone of voice: “I need to know why I'm here.”
Grudge took a few measured steps forward and out of the puddle, stopping about three feet away from the tailed, human-looking woman. “Could you bring me to where the World needs somebody the most?” They brought the hand holding the lantern to their chin thoughtfully. “Or point me there. If it's right here, please tell me what I need to do.”
[attr=class,bulk] Mikoto blankly stared at the tonberry as he repeated her words. Whatever it was, it was trying to take in the environmental stimuli and come to terms with its new location of existence. She stood silently and gave space. Briefly, she wondered where the remains of the crystal warped too. Were they remnants of a remaining life crystal? Did it return to its mother crystal? And was this what the Gaians called an eidolon - creature brought to life through memories and the life crystal? [break][break] She gave them a curious gaze as they stated she didn’t call for them. “No.” She agreed she hadn’t. Why would she do so? She had no idea what their functions were. Without even that, she had no reason to request their presence. Besides, she was quite content in the forest, tending to the spirits. It kept her busy. [break][break] She had no answers for them when they stated they needed to find out their purpose, so she remained silently watching them. In truth, she had no idea why she was brought here either...or if there was a purpose at all. “This world pulls souls into it without reason. You may not have one.” She simply remarked on the basics of this world. [break][break] She tilted her head at their request. “Why does the world need you? What are your functions?” She drew her brow together as she spoke rudely. They seemed to be making uncompliable requests with their lack of information. “There is a path to Torensten. It has a lot of people.” She stated simply. It was the closest city near here. Perhaps someone needed the tonberry there? Or at least give them more answers. [break][break] Wordlessly she turned from the tonberry to begin on the path to this location. At first, it seemed the path was not there originally. But once Mikoto placed her first steps towards it, the path seemed more visible, as if the bramble pulled back.
Post by The Nameless Tonberry on Oct 26, 2021 4:53:04 GMT -6
Grudge acknowledged the denial – or, better yet, the confirmation of what they already knew – with a polite nod, the slow type when the eyes closed as the chin moved downwards, and opened again as it rose back up. It was nevertheless unfortunate that she could not brief them on their new purpose, but that was to be expected from somebody who had nothing to do with their presence there. Even the last time, the first time, it was not some bystander met by happenstance that announced them their mission; no, it had been the World itself, it was a dream, it was a vision, it was an instinct, it was a command, it was a compulsion.
But this time they couldn't hear its voice. Grudge searched their thoughts for a message that may have got lost to the slumber, but found silence instead. They weren't used to it, silence. Even when there was no need for a voice to guide them because they were already doing what they were supposed to do, Grudge could always rely on some distant, echoing whisper to remind them of their duty. Walk that path, stab that creature, ask that question. There was always something.
"I see," they said calmly, but with a hint of ice. "I did not consider that possibility. So this is not the same World where I was born. I suppose this explains why I cannot hear its voice anymore."
There was a slam of a scaly, fish-like tail on the muck, and the resulting droplets stained Grudge's garments with russet. If their World had allowed this one to suck them into itself, then their World must have discarded them, for they had already exhausted their raison d'être. However, in that case, wouldn't it have been much easier to erase them entirely? Alternatively, their World had next to nothing to do with their current situation... But if their existence was bound to that of their World, did that imply they would end up disappearing soon? For the latter option, only time could tell them. Another possibility was that this place had a different modus operandi entirely.
"I am–" they paused and contemplated the necessity for a change in tense. "I was needed because the World, my World needed to avenge its suffering. I was the instrument through which vengeance was carried out. I was the World's Grudge, as some commented. If, as you said, this land calls forth creatures from other places, then it might need all of the souls it summons, even if the reason may not be readily apparent."
It was with the last plural that realisation dawned on Grudge and, with it, an idea struck like lightning as they walked along a path that didn't look like it was there before, gravel crunching beneath bare feet. They weren't the first creature to happen upon there, and it stood to reason that not being the first also meant that not being the only one. So who else was brought there?
"I find myself curious. What about you? Were you born here, or did you arrive the same way I did?" Then they added, "Did you also happen to meet a young goblin woman, an old dog who can speak the language of men, or a tall skeleton with a long beard in the past?"
[attr=class,bottomlyric] Don't you know there's a part of me [break]that longs to go into the unknown.
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I know you said you wanted ghosts, but didn't know what you had in mind? So we just walking. The Nameless Tonberry
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[attr=class,bulk] Mikoto had no way to confirm whether the tonberry was born here or not. But with the way she understood things were happening, the probability was pretty good they were not on their home world. She let them do their own speculation, having no words to offer since nothing was asked of her. Though, it did appear odd that this life form enjoyed talking out loud to themself. Could they not hear their own thoughts? Or perhaps, this was how they tried to make sense of what was happening to them. [break][break] The tonberry continued to share information about themselves, unprovoked. Mikoto simply wordlessly listened until they completed the monologue. “A planet can feel?” Mikoto was confused by this concept. She shook her head. “It is a neutral entity that cycles souls in a system of rebirth. Its functions cease as it weakens...but emotions…?” She creased her brow at the thought. [break][break] It’s life crystal was a container for souls, wasn’t it? Much like a person’s vessel. A vessel felt nothing until it was given a soul…Could a planet not just be a container, but its crystal start to gain the emotions of the recycled souls? [break][break] Her tail twitched in curious thought. She continued to tread down her path without too much concern. Her vacant, half-opened eyes turned to the tonberry as he asked about herself. “I was not ‘born’. I was created by Garland to aid in resurrecting Terra.” She stated simply, “I woke here.” [break][break] She shook her head at his description. She had not met a goblin woman or a dog that spoke the language of men. Though, she could not tell why the image of certain companions of Zidane - Garnet and Eiko - came to mind at the describing them. Nor why Garland popped into her brain when he asked if she met a skeleton with a long beard. Zephon logic must be affecting her. [break][break] “I have not met them.” She said simply. “Are they important to you?” The path before them changed again.
Post by The Nameless Tonberry on Nov 4, 2021 19:30:12 GMT -6
Grudge shook their head. "I did not say a planet, I said the World. A planet is but a part of it. As to whether or not a planet can feel emotions, that I cannot answer." Certainly not when they themselves were unsure on how to define the idea of emotions to begin with, at least the way most of the people they met understood them. Still, they could still grasp the difference between a globe of mostly cooled down rock and the sum of that and the essence that resided in each of its components, as well as in all beings living and otherwise, and in magic, and in the sky and its clouds, and every drop of water and in every bit of knowledge gathered through the ages.
"I see. You woke here." Grudge considered for a moment the fact that they did not know who either of those people were, and wondered silently if it mattered – if they mattered. If the young woman woke up there, then she went through the same experience as Grudge, only earlier. If she had been made by somebody or something else for a specific purpose, then that also made her similar to them, in a way... In a way, Grudge realised, that they had never found in any other sentient being they met before. Until now, it had been the type of affinity they would only feel with machines. "Were you created here, too?"
It was unfortunate that she did not know where their companions could be. Of course, that could have also meant that they were not there at all – not in that forest or not even in that plane of existence, or perhaps they had yet to arrive. Grudge could not explain why, somewhere at the back of their mind, the certainty that if they were there, so must be the others, burned tenuous but unflickering, like the flame of a candle that would never run out of wick and wax, and that not even a storm could have put out.
"They have many things that I lack," they said as they kept on walking behind the young woman. His eyes stared ahead at somewhere beyond the trees, as if they had already seen the end of the forest past the horizon, or at least the fronds. "And I can accomplish so much more with them than alone. Which is why I must get out of here and find them."
Suddenly, the temperature dropped. Grudge tightened the grip on their knife, stopped in their tracks, and raised the lantern meaningfully.
[attr=class,bulk] She drew her brow at some nuanced difference between the terms planet and world. “So the people that inhabit the planet called upon you?” She did not understand. Was Grudge’s duty similar to her own where she was created to assist the inhabitants of Terra? If so, were they an enemy of this world? She furrowed her brow at the thought and looked at them from the corner of her eyes. “...What made them bear grudge and want vengeance?” [break][break]
She shook her head as they trudged on at their questions. “No.” She stated simply. No, she had not been created here. This was the second planet she had been forced to walk on. It was different from Terra and Gaia. This Zephon seemed more busy and frantic. There was nothing left of Terra here. Even Gaia had some ruins of the lost civilization scattered from the [break][break] She turned to the Tonberry. Something they said struck her. “Accomplished so much more with them than alone…” She gently said the words to herself. She remembers her time in Black Mage village. Everyone worked together to take care of each other. They certainly did accomplish more together. Even Zidane and his friends proved that in their victory. “Where would they go?” Certainly there must be a spot they enjoyed more than the others. [break][break] There was a sudden temperature drop and she looked as Grudge picked up on it too. It was then the area seemed to grow darker and more silent. Disembodied, spectral hands reached out to snatch the young genome. Her skin turned purplish from the tight, icy grasp of the hand on her arm. She grunted softly and offered no real resistance. Instead, she tried to mentally reach out to it to soothe it with gentle colors and feelings. [break][break] It did not seem amused. Instead another more shadowy being appeared out of the shadows to tower over the Tonberry. It was tall and thin, but humanoid in shape other than it being a translucent shadow. It let out a low moaning roar and walked towards. It’s own claw like hands coming to swipe at the tonberry.
