DemonicDarkwraith
ArchKnight DragonFable
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Project Casca
Location: Outpost Yeden -> 2 Right -> Up -> Quests! -> Project Casca
Requirements: Completion of Welcome to Outpost Yeden
Release Date: June 9th, 2023
Objective: It seems the Magesters have come to a decision.
Objective completed: As the Magesterium makes their preparations, the inevitable conflict fast approaches...
Experience rewarded: 0
Gold rewarded: 0
Monsters
None
NPCs
Alteon
Amadeus
Drone
Ostromir
Vseslava
Zvezdana
Rewards
None
Dialogue
Drone: *bzzt* Wake up.
Drone: *bzzt* <Character>, your presence is required by the Magesterium.
*While your dragon is asleep, a Magesterium Drone wakes you up on your Lodging inside the Dome in Outpost Yeden, where it requests your presence.*
<Character>: Ugh... What time is it?
Drone: It is time to do your duty, Hero. The Magesterium requires your presence.
<Character>: Oh...
*Amadeus, Alteon, and you are gathered in the Tower with the members of the Magesterium.*
Zvezdana: Hero <Character>, outsiders.
Zvezdana: The Shapeless has decided your fate.
Amadeus: Wonderful.
*Zvezdana tell the results of the Magesterium's decision.*
Zvezdana: Given the testament of Golden Hand division Osiem, as well as the data gathered through your destruction of Magesterium property...
Zvezdana: It has been determined that the three of you will be powerful assets for our cause.
Zvezdana: You are to join the Magesterium's endeavors in Project Casca.
<Character>: ...And what is Project Casca, exactly?
Zvezdana: The details will come. First, we must be certain of your loyalty.
Zvezdana: If you have any doubts about serving the Magesterium, you will be detained until the conclusion of the Project.
*Alteon and Amadeus listen in to Zvezdana's request of Project Casca.*
Zvezdana: If you agree to join our cause, and turn against us, you will be executed.
Zvezdana: Do not take the Shapeless' request lightly. The burden of the Magesterium's secrets is not one to be accepted on a whim.
*You ask Zvezdana with the reason you and your allies came to Outpost Yeden—stopping The Rose.*
<Character>: As curious as I am about Project Casca, I will admit, we came here with other motives.
Zvezdana: Yes. The Rose. Jaania, and... Akanthus. Ostromir and Vseslava have disclosed all to us.
Zvezdana: If you fear for your own mission, rest assured, The Rose stands in direct opposition to the goals of Project Casca.
Zvezdana: Why not face them with the might of the Magesterium and The Shapeless on your side?
Amadeus: You phrase it as if you're doing us a favor. Yet turning to outsiders seems out of character for your... Shapeless.
Amadeus: You must be quite desperate.
Zvezdana: And you are no ordinary outsiders. Nor is <Character> an ordinary hero.
Zvezdana: But it is true that our time grows short. We are running out of resources, and shipments from Azaveyr grow ever more infrequent.
Zvezdana: We would posit that while we may have little choice but to demand your aid, you as well have no choice but to accept ours.
Alteon: So you will help us stop Jaania and Akanthus?
Zvezdana: But of course. Just as you will help us.
Alteon: <Character>? What do you think?
*You assess Zvezdana's request despite not disclosing about the goals of Project Casca before accepting it.*
<Character>: ...I accept. We will join you in Project Casca.
<Character>: Whatever you have planned, I understand that it is incompatible with The Rose's madness.
Zvezdana: Very well. We accept you into our confidence.
Zvezdana: Let us resume our preparations!
Alteon: Hold on, weren't you going to tell us about Project Casca?
Zvezdana: Ostromir and Vseslava can handle that. You hardly need all of us present to explain the details.
Amadeus: ...One final thing, then.
Amadeus: After this project of yours, after The Rose is dealt with... I will not be beholden to the Magesterium or your Shapeless.
*Zvezdana complies with Amadeus' warning as she turns around.*
Zvezdana: But of course. Nor us to you.
*Later, Ostromir, Vseslava, Alteon, you, and Amadeus are in the Common Area inside the Dome following the Magesterium's decision, while a Magesterium Drone is close by.*
Vseslava: I will admit, I am relieved you decided to accept our offer.
<Character>: It didn't feel like we had much choice.
Ostromir: Was it so difficult a decision? We came here to seek help from the Magesterium, and now you have it!
Amadeus: At the cost of signing up for whatever Project Casca is. You will tell us the details. Now.
Alteon: This alliance makes sense to me. We all have an interest in preventing The Rose's plans from coming to fruition.
Alteon: But I agree with Amadeus. I have been wondering what Project Casca will entail.
Ostromir: Then, as allies of the Magesterium, information you shall have!
Ostromir: As I mentioned when discussing Sobieslav's origin, the Magesterium depends on a shard of the Mana Core for mana and magicks.
Ostromir: The recent setbacks in Nieboheim were the result of said shard being lost.
Amadeus: I doubt that such a powerful and important object was merely misplaced.
Vseslava: The exact details... are unknown, even to us.
Vseslava: What we do know is that all at once, across Lore, all current Magesters were disconnected from the shard.
Ostromir: As <Character> saw with Vseslava and I, this had a profound effect on the Magesters.
Ostromir: ...We took the shock of mana loss better than many of our comrades, especially those at home in Azaveyr.
Ostromir: Without the shard, the piece of the Mana Core, the vast majority of Magesters could barely function, much less do magicks.
Ostromir: Only by drawing from existing stores or ignominious were some able to survive.
Ostromir: The Golden Hand, of course, being... less entangled with the shard, were able to recover more quickly.
Ostromir: In time, it is possible for Vseslava and I, and a good number of the Golden Hand, to... re-attune to the whole Mana Core, so to speak.
Amadeus: Good for you. What about Project Casca?
Ostromir: Right. I was getting there.
Ostromir: The Magesterium has always laid claim to these lands around the Fissure. For it is here that our ancestors once lived.
Alteon: ...Then that is why you consider The Rose to be trespassers. That's how you know so much about the Fissure!
Ostromir: Precisely!
Ostromir: While the records on the Fissure's origins have been lost, we do know that it was a cataclysmic eruption that destroyed the lands of Hawkscry.
Ostromir: It left the surroundings uninhabitable and inhospitable.
Ostromir: And so our ancestors fled across the ocean to Azaveyr, where they encountered the dragons.
Ostromir: Long did they fight, and we were losing ground, until we took one final risk.
Ostromir: A brave group of mages sailed back across the ocean...
Ostromir: ...while some few heroes held the line against the dragons.
Ostromir: The mages descended into the Fissure in search of relics, foci, anything that could assist in our struggle.
Ostromir: And they emerged with something greater.
Ostromir: A fragment of the Mana Core itself!
Ostromir: Invigorated by this infinite well of power, they were able to return to Azaveyr...
Ostromir: ...crushing the remaining dragons, and establishing the Magesterium, all in the name of the Shapeless.
Amadeus: So, Project Casca aims to replicate this feat.
Ostromir: Precisely. That is the heart of our goal here.
Ostromir: We will retrieve a new piece of the Mana Core, and with it, we will reclaim our home, just as our ancestors of legend did so long ago!
*After listening to the Magesterium's origins and how it is related to Project Casca, Alteon ask a couple of questions about Project Casca.*
Alteon: Er... I do have a couple of questions...
Ostromir: Ask away!
Alteon: I've noticed there are Magesters here who are not of your order. Not of the Golden Hand.
Alteon: You said that you might be able to re-attune to the Mana Core, but...
Ostromir: The survivors, like Zvezdana and some of the others... they... have limited time left to them.
Ostromir: They may be able to survive with the help of ignominious, but once the supply runs out...
Ostromir: We do not currently have a method to reinvigorate their connection to the Mana Core itself.
Ostromir: But! When Project Casca is successful, there may be hope for them!
Amadeus: If they are disconnected from the Mana Core, what separates their status from that of Akanthus?
Ostromir: What a scholar you are, Amadeus! There is a subtle, yet important distinction.
Ostromir: The Magesters are not entirely... disconnected from the Core.
Ostromir: You are familiar with the concept of soul threads, yes?
Alteon: The what?, <Character>: Yes., Amadeus: I am aware of them.
Ostromir: According to our understanding, we are connected to the Mana Core by soul threads.
Ostromir: These threads, of course, vary in capacity and number.
Ostromir: Even those without the potential for magical ability are dependent on these threads for their being to exist.
Ostromir: Through attunement with the shard of the Mana Core, the threads between the Magesters and the Mana Core itself have atrophied.
Ostromir: The Magesters can no longer draw from the Core, and in time, without the sustaining flow of mana, their souls will simply... unravel.
Ostromir: And therein lies the miracle and the threat of Akanthus.
Ostromir: He is disconnected from the Mana Core, yet rather than cease to be, he has, as far as we can tell, lived.
Ostromir: From where does his soul draw its power? And how? Such fascinating questions with no easy answers.
Amadeus: But the answers do exist?
Ostromir: Of course they do! Do not doubt the Magesterium! Now that we have shared the nature of the threat, we can better assess our approach.
Amadeus: ...
Ostromir: You had another question to ask, Alteon?
Alteon: Um. Yes. You seem confident that you'll be able to reclaim Azaveyr... but... from what?
Alteon: Your ancestors fought against the dragons, but what has threatened your home this time?
Ostromir: That... it... it...
Vseslava: I will answer this, Ostromir.
Vseslava: It is... the physical manifestation of The Shapeless itself. I believe you had a brief encounter with it during your stay in Nieboheim, <Character>?
<Character>: ...How could I forget how you were sacrificing people to it?
Vseslava: ...The physical manifestation of The Shapeless was controlled by the will of The Shapeless, through the Magesterium.
Vseslava: However, The Shapeless does not act without direction. Someone must have given it orders...
Alteon: Perhaps it was truly the will of The Shapeless—
Ostromir: The Shapeless would never demand such... such... destruction.
Alteon: Er. Right, sorry.
Vseslava: Even with malicious commands, it should not have been an issue for the Magesterium to subdue The Shapeless.
Vseslava: But combined with the loss of the shard, The Shapeless has wrought havoc and destruction, not only in Nieboheim, but across all of Azaveyr.
Vseslava: There are reports that it has changed. The physical form has... been twisted beyond the will of The Shapeless. It will not be so easily contained.
Alteon: I... I see. Perhaps when this is over, I could send some knights to help.
Alteon: This could be the start of new diplomatic relations between Greenguard and—
Amadeus: You are no longer "king", Alteon. Do not presume to speak for your people.
Alteon: I only—
*Alteon sadly recalls words of not being king from Queen Victoria and now Amadeus.*
Alteon: No, you are right.
Alteon: I cannot make these promises.
Amadeus: ...Hmph.
Alteon: Such talk can wait until after we stop Jaania and Akanthus.
Amadeus: Let us get on with it, then.
Ostromir: Yes. I will let the other Magesters know that you have been sufficiently briefed.
<Character>: Thank you, Ostromir.
<Character>: Oh, and one final thing...
Ostromir: Yes, <Character>?
<Character>: Thanks to Warlic's teleportation, we've arrived before Jaania's airship, right? I'm sure the Magesterium already has plans, but...
<Character>: Maybe if we can get word back to Swordhaven, Eirn can give us more exact coordinates of Yix... and the airship.
Ostromir: You are a clever hero, indeed! A relatively slow-moving airship makes for an easy target.
<Character>: Jaania is powerful, and Akanthus is immune to magic, but at the very least, an ambush could slow them down, or throw their plans into disarray.
Ostromir: Such ideas have not escaped the Magesterium's notice. But I will be sure to remind them of the opportunity!
*Scene fades out and back in, as Ostromir leaves the Common Area, Vseslava turn around to face you, Alteon, and Amadeus.*
Vseslava: ...I... I want to apologize.
<Character>: Vseslava? What's wrong?
Vseslava: This burden of hope.
Vseslava: You have seen how Ostromir has changed. The hope, the faith... It is infectious.
Vseslava: And now, it weighs upon your shoulders. The hero, and the outsiders, bearing the dreams of a people on the brink of elimination.
Vseslava: I...
*Vseslava uses a hand gesture to turn the Magesterium Drone around.*
Vseslava: We do not deserve your honor.
Vseslava: Thank you. Truly.
*Scene fades out and back in, Vseslava leaves the Common Area, leaving only you, Alteon, and Amadeus.*
<Character>: ...Vseslava...
Alteon: I guess we're back to waiting for now, then. Anyone up for some friendly sparring?
Alteon: We'll be saving the world soon, after all, and I'd hate to let down our hosts!
Amadeus: ...Agreed. We cannot have you holding us back, Alteon.
Amadeus: Prepare your blade.
Complete Quest
< Message edited by DemonicDarkwraith -- 7/2/2023 1:11:06 >
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