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!
Final Fantasy Adventu is a roleplaying forum inspired by the Final Fantasy series. Images on the site are edited by KUPO of FF:A with all source material belonging to their respective artists (i.e. Square Enix, Pixiv Fantasia, etc). The board lyrics are from the Final Fantasy song "Otherworld" composed by Nobuo Uematsu and arranged by The Black Mages II.
The current skin was made by Pharaoh Leap of Pixel Perfect. Outside of that, individual posts and characters belong to their creators, and we claim no ownership to what which is not ours. Thank you for stopping by.
Oh hey. Faris' entire backstory. What do you know?
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
Caius had no complaints about gathering their drinks, and Faris had none about receiving them. He came back with two just as he was told, placing one in front of him. Faris eyed it curiously. It didn’t look quite like the straight liquor that he was used to, and he wondered what Caius had assumed was best for him. That was always a way to judge a man. What did he think another could best handle?
Caius cast a weak blizzard spell in his hand, summoning a block of ice that he crumbled into his drink. He offered the same for Faris, but he declined. If he could handle his drink on the deck of a ship, he could handle it warm as the tide.
Caius took his first swig, and to his credit, he didn’t wince. Faris nodded approvingly before taking his own in hand.
What was it? The drinks around here tended to have a kind of sweet taste or an abrasive one, brewing it from all kinds of strange fruits and spices. Still, he could smell the strength of it well enough. He took a deep swallow.
It was spiced, that was for sure, but a little bitter along with it. Not bad. He supposed it would do.
Caius had eyes for him. ”With all due respect, Captain Faris. Do you mind if I ask a personal question?”
Faris looked up from his drink, eyebrow raised. Now wasn’t that a sour start to a conversation? He found that personal questions were often the worst kind -- at least when they were asked at the beginning of a night rather than its end. He’d rather Caius have said his piece and been done with it -- no need for preamble. But he’d given his word he’d try to get along, and that vow to Yuna wasn’t one he intended to break.
”Aye.” No venom. No assault. Even Yuna couldn’t fault him for such a simple answer.
”Do I mind if I ask what got you into your profession? And if it’s not asking too much, what keeps you at it?”
Faris snorted. ’His profession?’ If it wasn’t asking too much, he’d rather Caius have been straight with him, but the question wasn’t really too much at all. ”Now that’s a tale.” He took another drink before placing the glass back on the table. He had the feeling they’d be talking a while.
”I was born a princess,” he said bluntly. ”To the kingdom of Tycoon. When I was about too young to remember, I fell into the sea. The waves would have taken me if I hadn’t been hauled out by a ship full of pirates. After a time, I forgot the whole thing. So I’ve been nothing but a pirate ever since.”
It was funny how his story had changed. For fifteen years, it had started with the waves and the storm and the sea. Now he had a start that didn’t feel real. Well, there was no use in hiding it.
”I owe that lot my life. They’re good men, all thieving aside. Though I left for my own ship in time. Their eyes were starting to wander, and I wanted a fresh start. A right wench, they thought me.” Faris smirked bitterly. As he always said, it wasn’t easy being the only lass on a ship full of pirates.
”It’s the only trade I’ve ever known, and I’ll stick to it. There’s a freedom to the sea, and it’s not one you find hauling cargo. Now, I’m not much of a brigand, mind. I’ll not take from a man who can’t afford it, and there’s a load of rat bastards out there who’d hardly notice missing a few hauls of gold.”
Faris looked at Caius head on. ”So that’s my tale,” he said. ”Judge me if you will, but there’s not much to be done about it, and I don’t intend to change. I’m a captain, ship or not, and if a throne couldn’t take me from the sea then nothing else stands a chance.”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
Caius cared for his drake. That much was obvious. The more Faris listened, the more strongly that devotion shined. He nodded along, listening to how they worked together. How he’d changed his life along for the drake’s good. That was good to hear. ”Last I heard, you barely knew a thing about caring for them.” Faris nodded appreciatively. ”It sounds like you’ve done good for yourself.”
But that wasn’t all.
Faris cursed. ”Those lily-livered curs!” Just the thought of it, of that drake in pain, of their treachery taking out their anger on the poor thing when it was meant for Caius. Faris snarled. ”You didn’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
People like that, they deserved to be cut down.
”You don’t have to be perfect to do good,” Faris went on. ”We can’t all be like Yuna. She has a good heart. She does what’s right, but there are other kinds -- kinds like us -- that aren’t any worse off. Maybe it wasn’t right, but I’d have done the same. You let the fire in your heart drive you on.”
Faris paused. ”You’ve got a tempest in you. That’s enough to say you won’t do it without cause.”
That’s what mattered, really. If his rage was reserved for those who well and truly deserved it. If it was only brought out when the situation called.
”It looks like you need a drink.” Faris looked at him sternly, planting a hand on his shoulder. ”A good strong one and maybe another after that. I’ll not take no for an answer.” With that, they were at the tavern and Faris nodded, pushing his way inside. The doors wheezed as he opened them, and then they were in a room lit by dim candlelight that smelled of liquor and old grease. It wasn’t the classiest of places, but it wasn’t the worst of them either.
Besides, he didn’t think “classy” was really their style.
”To the bar. You’re like to have more gil than I do.” Faris waved towards the stools there. ”Whiskey, if you wouldn’t mind. I’ll take a space for us and I’ll pay you once you’ve got the price.” With that, he turned and found a table, nice and dark and in the back. He didn’t think Caius was the type to like the noise and the clamor of the crowd. He took a chair and leaned back in it, arms crossed.
I’ll take a space for us. I’ll take a space for us. ”Maybe he’s not so bad after all.”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
”You know Bartz?” That was the first thing out of Faris’ mouth. Bartz. Of course they’d know each other. Faris couldn’t have kept track of what Bartz was up to if he’d kept his eyes open from one night to the other. ”Aye, he’s got a knack for trouble.” Faris groaned. ”That air-headed lout would drift straight into the maw of a behemoth if you let him. He’s one of my closest friends, mind. I’d trust him with my life in an instant, but keeping him out of trouble is like turning the course of the tides.”
Faris shook his head. ”I should thank you for keeping an eye on him. He doesn’t have a handle on his crystal just yet. Ah, that’s what gives us the bulk of our fighting power. All Bartz can do with it is dance.”
Not that the dancer class wasn’t useful in its own right. If Bartz had a single other way to protect himself, it wouldn’t have been anything to sneeze at. But by itself, it only was only good for striking them blind then running in the other direction. If you were smart about it.
”A slave taking village?” Faris recoiled, blinking. ”Why those lousy, vile, good-for-nothing-!” He growled under his breath. ”It seems you served them right. If I’d have been there, she’d not have had a chance to heal them.”
In fact, Faris couldn’t think of anything worse. Not even Exdeath could hold a candle to that kind of evil.
”It’s not a weakness,” he agreed. ”Yuna’s got one of the strongest hearts I know. It’s not a path I would’ve taken, but that just goes to show how hard it is to walk.” Faris thought about it for a moment and then shook his head.
”She’s a lot like my sister. Lenna will put her life on the line to protect what she loves and even what she doesn’t. She once had us climb a mountain peak just to pick some dragon grass!” Faris laughed. ”Not that I minded. That drake was as good as they come.”
The thought of Lenna made his heart ache. He ran a hand through his hair.
”You’ve a drake yourself, don’t you?” He looked up to the night sky, almost aloof. ”How's she getting along?”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
”It sounds beautiful.”
”Aye.”
Yuna’s voice was airy. Dream-like. He guessed that she’d overcome her fear -- at least for the time being. Faris had wanted to show her the beauty of the sea no matter its darker sides. She knew those well enough, better than him as a matter of fact. No, what she needed in her life was a little beauty. A little happiness. Still, Faris couldn’t deny it.
He was doing this as much for himself as he was for her.
”Thank you. For bringing me. I think I needed this.” There was something soft there, and Faris nodded, looking at her. Her eyes caught his. They were beautiful eyes, really. One blue and one a vivid green. He’d never seen anything like them.
”Glad I could help,” Faris said. ”When you said you’d never seen the sea -- the good side of it, I mean -- well I thought I’d-”
She shifted against him.
”Ah.” Faris looked from her eyes to her hands to their legs all pressed together. Her skirt was sopping wet, and he felt the weight of it on his bare skin. He shivered. ”Are you…?”
He felt heat rising to his cheeks. A blush? Now that wasn’t right.
”N-now lass…” His heart was beating faster. ”You’re a strong woman. And a beautiful one to boot.” He glanced away, pushing loose hair behind his ear. ”I don’t want to give the wrong idea. There’s a whole mess of things you don’t know about me. The kind that would turn you away if you did. I don’t want to reel you in when you’re…”
Did he have the wrong idea? He didn’t feel like he did, but if he was wrong…
”Not that I’m saying you’re after anything!” Blushing. Harder. ”Just if you were…”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
The others seemed to be handling themselves. Not that Faris had much time to spare them more than a few glances. He was caught in a hard place with hardly a breath in between. He’d planted himself right in the thick of a whole host of pirates. Warrior of Light or not, that wasn’t the best of ideas.
”Not a thing to do for it now.” Nothing but to keep fighting. He took his knocks, wondered if he had the stamina for it, and for not the first time, he longed for his friends at his side. Lenna would keep him going with a few of her spells. Krile would punch out whoever needed it, and Bartz would… do whatever it was that Bartz did. Directing him did about as much good as directing a gale wind.
It was funny, the difference a storm could make. With all the excitement, he’d nearly forgotten the typhoon they’d found themselves in -- not that it would let him completely. He felt its sway as he launched himself in the air. He felt his feet slip on the flooding water across the deck. He felt it sting in his eyes. And then there was the swell.
”Ah!” Faris thrust out his arms, waving them for balance as the ship gave a massive heave. He cursed loudly, unable to do a damned thing as the rest of the pirates toppled over together. But Faris had a set of sea legs rival to none. He grasped the nearby rigging to keep himself upright, grit his teeth against the storm, then took the first opportunity to launch himself into the air. This time, he was aimed for the mast -- the enemy one this time. It’d be hard to balance there with all the tossing and turning, but he needed a better view. He held onto each set of ropes with every perch he found until he was right smack in the crow’s nest.
A pair of startled eyes met his own at the top. Their lookout. Faris grabbed the man by the shirt and yanked him screaming over the side before taking the spot for himself. A vantage point. Aye, that was what he needed.
He could hardly see a thing through the dark and the rain. It pounded on them like something alive, and he squinted through the gale. Their own ship was blazing like a lantern in the night -- like fish in a barrel for a ship of pirates. If that lout of a captain had just listened to Faris and put out the light-! But what was done was done, and he used the brief bit of visibility to his advantage.
His eyes swept the deck. The mages were pulling out the storm-quelling crystal. Good. He’d have to rely on the others to keep it safe for now. What was the greatest threat? And more importantly, where was the pirate captain?
He didn’t have long to think. A blaze caught his eye. How could it have not when it was sent hurtling towards the ship’s hull?
He cursed again -- like a howl into the storm. Mages. There just had to be mages. At the very least, they weren’t hard to find. He followed the arc of the magic to two shadowed figures in robes. Not exactly going for subtlety, were they?
Faris spun his spear in his fingers and jumped. He could make it that far, he thought, and he did. He thrust his spear down, but the wind caught him, and he was thrust too off course to skewer them outright. Instead, he landed between them, his spear bringing up a shower of splinters as he landed. They jumped, startled, and he straightened, shooting them a fierce look.
”Who’s to go first?” He readied his stance. They hadn’t caught even a glimpse of the fight left in him. ”I’ll take you in a breath!”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
”Don’t mention it, lass. They were the worst kind, the ones heckling you. I couldn’t let it stand.” Faris crossed his arms, considering her. She still looked uncertain. Exactly as lost as she claimed, but even if he’d had the inclination to stay by her, he thought it wouldn’t do her a lick of good. She needed to stand on her own, he thought. If she really wanted to learn who she was then she could only do it once she’d had some time to herself.
”You’ll find a lot of ’ports in the storm,’ I think, but take care that the winds don’t steer you off course. You’ve got a place to be, don’t you?” Faris smiled at her. This was a storm, alright, and one that he couldn’t see the other side of, but storms had a way of hardening a sailor in the best ways. Dagger would return to her throne, he was sure of it. When she did, she’d have a straighter back and a better head on her shoulders. He hoped.
Faris looked down the marketplace. It was bustling and crowded and a nice distraction when he’d needed one. Part of him longed to stay here, ambling pointlessly from stall to stall touting the money he didn’t have. Part of him longed to mill about until the night came and he had an excuse to return to his inn and sulk for the night. But that wasn’t why he’d come around, was it? No, she had her place to be, and he had his. No matter how he wished he didn’t.
”I should be going,” he said. He was scowling. He couldn’t help it. ”Aye, there’s someone I’m in line to see. A right lout, that one.” He shook his head. ”But you’ll do fine. Don’t let the next one make you feel small. Call him a feckless cur and demand the respect you deserve.” Faris nodded at her. Another princess, another kingdom, another lass lost to the waves.
”Good luck.”
And with that, he was gone, lost to the crowds and the tides that would take him to the last place he wanted to be. To the Wyvern’s Rest. To the Dragonblades.
To that yellow, witless, thick-headed Caius Dragelion.
LOL Man. Faris is getting it in romantic situations. Why can't you?
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
Caius gave him a warning about Sonora (not one he needed, mind) and then went on his speech about the guild. Faris nodded, pretending to listen for the mercenary’s sake, before he shook his head. ”Aye, that’s a noble goal,” he said. ”A tad too noble for my liking, but I’ll commend you for it. Even if it gives us cause to clash heads.”
He hadn’t missed that little snipe about pirates. Was that what was making Caius snappy?
”There was a whole mess of a meeting in a bar in Provo. Something about dates, I think. Bartz -- er, this lad from my world -- dragged me into it. It was about as insufferable as a swampy sea, but I took one good thing out of it. I’d’ve not talked to Yuna otherwise.”
Faris yawned, stretching his arms over his head. ”They took a look at our papers and it seemed they thought we were a match. Not one I would have thought, but it seemed they had something going for them. We got along like fish to water, and I took her out to see the sunset at sea. It was a good time. Er…” Faris felt his cheeks heat with a blush. ”Aye, it was good.”
He’d seen the sunset a thousand times, and he’d see it a thousand more. But it had been good to see it with a lass like her. He still remembered the golden waters shimmering in the last light of the sun. And Yuna beside pressed up beside him . They were both wet from their swim, and the combination had made him shiver.
But that wasn’t something that Caius needed to know.
”So she thought the two of us should get on. You and me, I mean. She seemed to think it was all some misunderstanding. She has a good heart. I couldn’t bear to tell her no.”
Faris glanced at Caius. ”So ah. How do you know her? I know she’s taken to your guild.”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
Caius didn’t look any happier about this than he did. Good, Faris thought before another one crept in. And why exactly was that? Faris had all the reason in the world to hate Caius, but he didn’t think the thick-headed mercenary had seemed hostile towards him at the end of either of their meetings. That had been part of the problem, in fact. The man had kept going on about how he must’ve been good at heart even as Faris held him at the wrong end of a spear. He couldn’t say that Caius was wrong, exactly, but it was degrading.
Well, it seemed that attitude had passed with the tides. Or maybe he’d caught Caius in a mood so foul that his true colors were showing.
’I’ll take that over being a pirate.’ Faris laughed.
”And I’ll take being a pirate if you don’t mind.” Was that what this was about? Or was he grasping at straws to throw one of them in his face? Faris felt better, somehow. He didn’t know how to handle a man trying to see the best in him even as Faris told him to his face what he thought of him. But a man willing to toss a few heated words back in return? That, Faris could handle.
”Aye, it’s all Yuna’s doing.” Faris shifted his stance, arms still crossed. ”She’s a brilliant woman, you know, and not one I’d want to stand in the way of. She seemed to think we’d get on if we really got to talking.” Faris smirked like he very much doubted it. Because he did. Yuna might’ve been as smart as a sage, but even sages had their blind spots somewhere.
He shrugged. ”I know a few places. Now, most of them are dens of scoundrels, but there are some you’d fit into fine. You don’t seem the type to take to it on your own.” Faris turned and waved for Caius to follow. The light had nearly faded as he started outside. It was a hot, muggy kind of night, and the streetlights gleamed a cool yellow-white. It shadowed the streets as the dusk left them. Faris walked without really needing to see where he was going.
”Now it’s just a drink,” Faris said. ”Maybe two. I’ll want enough that we can turn to Yuna and tell her we gave it a try. If you want to trade blows, that’d do the job even better.” He turned his head to Caius and gave him a dry look. ”You look like you could use some liquor and a good bar fight. Then a night’s rest if you don’t mind me saying.”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
Caius stared at him. It must have been a surprise for to Faris to suddenly appear at this hour, and to be honest, he couldn’t blame him. Faris was nearly as surprised at himself. But the mercenary was a professional, and whatever he was feeling, he shoved it aside. He answered his question with a nod, standing from behind his desk. ”Can we help you?”
Faris had forgotten just how tall Caius was. In truth, he towered over Faris -- a fact that sent him bristling. Instead of craning his neck to look at him, Faris kept his eyes on the walls and the ceiling, trying his best to look aloof. He didn’t have a reason to be here, and he wasn’t apologizing. That was the effect he was going for at least.
”Aye,” he said and then stopped. He hadn’t thought ahead quite this far. Now that the moment was on him, it felt like something that had crept up on him in the night. Yuna had wanted him to give Caius a second chance. But what did that look like exactly? ”Not for me, but for a girl I know. Yuna? The lass said she knew you.”
A pause. Did he really want to go into his private life with Caius of all people?
Faris tapped at the edge of his leather bracer. ”She’s got a fire in her, that one, and a heart to match. She didn’t like what I thought of you so I’m here in case she’s set me right. About all this Dragonblades business.” Not about Caius himself. About his guild. That would do it.
”So I’m here whether I like it or not.” He suddenly realized that he had nothing else to say. Well, that didn’t give Caius much of a second chance at all. But how exactly was he supposed to do that?
The idea came to him with a groan.
”I’ll buy you a drink. Or something.” He grumbled, rubbing at the back of his head. ”Though I still think you’re a thick-headed lout.”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
It was time.
Faris stood outside the guild, eyeing the sign hanging over the door. It was a big wooden one, but out with a carving knife and then engraved with painted letters. The Wyvern’s Rest -- Home to the Dragonblades. It made his skin crawl, seeing it like that. He knew that Caius had been official, but now Faris knew the full of it, and he didn’t like it one bit.
He felt like he’d come slinking in with his head low and his hat in his hand. He felt like he’d do better to turn on his heel and keep walking until he reached the sea. But he didn’t. Because he had to do this -- whether he liked it or not.
Yuna liked Caius. Yuna had said to give him another chance. She’d said he had another side that Faris hadn’t seen. Faris still thought he had his head up his ass.
But then Yuna had smiled at him. And now he was here. He cursed under his breath.
”This’ll be the end of me.” Faris allowed himself a final scowl before he straightened, thrust his hair back behind his bandanna, and strode in with as much confidence as he could muster. He’d need it if he planned to get through this.
The light was dim as he walked in -- shadowed with the evening -- but it didn’t take long for Faris to catch sight of him. The room was small, he thought, and cramped and it smelled like old wood polish. He didn’t have much of an eye for it compared to the man slouched behind the front desk. Caius. One and the same. He wasn’t dressed in his armored duster jacket, but Faris would never forget a face like that. Outside of battle, he looked a lot less formidable and a lot more exhausted.
Faris strode forward, leather boots clicking against the floor. He wore his usual plain tunic, no frills, no armor, and nothing else to write home about. In that moment, he looked like twice the man that Caius was, and that thought gave him a nice boost to his confidence.
”You look like you’ve seen the wrong end of a garula.” Faris crossed his arms, looking slightly up and away. ”This is the place, isn’t it? You were always going on about that guild of yours.”
