EVENT #2: BRAIN BOGGLING

[diceofthegods]

A CRASH IN THE NIGHT

In the dark hours of a snowy early morning, a sudden BOOM can be heard all across Town. It is swiftly followed by sounds of warping metal and then a screeching crash. Curious, albeit groggy, residents emerge only to find a smoking wreck just a mile outside of Town.

The strange craft appears to be almost nautiloid in shape with wrenched, broken tendrils streaming out the opening.

Much of it is metal although some of it almost seems... organic.

Those who with to get a closer look will be met by Charlie and Dimitri who are already on the job. They request curious onlookers keep their distance since this craft is, without a doubt, tremendously dangerous.

Later in the day, there appears to be an outfit of officials coming from the west to investigate and clean up the wreckage. Thankfully(?), you will all find out soon enough what's going on.

INVESTIGATION & PROTECTION

Deathcard Cabin by Jonah Senzel

4:07 / 13:06

▶︎

Click here to listen.

From the Inscryption OST: A unique and haunting sound paired with a unique and haunting game.

code

Charlie reports to the citizens of Town that an Illithid cargo transport. The pilot did not survive the crash, but they appeared to be transporting some kind of new breed of Intellect Devourers.

"We do not yet know what this new breed is capable of, but..."

Charlie does give everyone a rundown of what an Illithid and what an Intellect Devourer is, what they are capable of, and a keen warning to tread lightly. Many dead ones were discovered in the cargo but several of the enclosures were damaged in the crash and the likelihood of escapees is high.

Charlie reiterates: These creatures are to be killed on sight, or contained until someone can kill it. If you are not confident in your combat abilities, please remain in your homes as much as possible and seal all openings to your dwelling. Those who are capable though are urged to begin patrols of Town alongside Slayd, Dimitri and himself to ensure that Town and the surrounding areas are safe.

Please travel in pairs or groups, do not be alone! Attack from a distance when possible. Hoshiko will offer her assistance as a markswoman as well by picking off any Intellect Devourers from a distance that she can for those that are forced to travel alone. (Don't worry about any jokes she makes of her service not being cheap though. Charlie wouldn't actually let her charge you anything.)

Unfortunately, not even they can predict the blizzard that rolls through Town in the midst of all this. If you happen to see anything skittering through the snow, don't panic too much. It could just be a tiny woodland creature looking for a warm burrow to hide away in!

At least you hope it is.

PROMPT #3

Hybrid intellect devourers are unique from the regular ones in that the goal is not to kill their target, but to gather intelligence and act as a kind of spy network.

They will flee when confronted directly by greater numbers, but will attack a lone target. They do this by jumping at the target's head and wrapping a wet tendril around their neck. They will choke who they've wrapped around if anyone tries to remove it. They are also far more likely to try and attack sleeping target (hence the advice to keep your homes closed!).

These hybrids emit spores that will keep the target asleep during feeding. Their primary goal appears to be infiltrating the targets' minds and absorbing some of their memories. The target will have their mind left mostly intact... though they may suffer short term memory loss, confusion, distress, fatigue and head pain.

Here's where the fun starts!

Once one of these critters has fed on someone, they are onto their next target. When a fed Intellect Devourer feeds from another target, that target may absorb some of the previous target's memories. This can span across multiple victims and be erratic in whose memories taint whose mind. The memories will cross-pollinate in the form of dreams or waking visions and hallucinations.

If one of these creatures is killed, it will explode, releasing a powerful psionic wave and the memories it had absorbed from any recent targets. Anyone within ten (10) yards of the dying creature will be afflicted with extreme head pain in the short term and also witness the memories of it's previous victims.

Enjoy your muddled memories and leggy brain-hunting!

The outfit of people who have come to investigate are from New Svihelen's disaster containment squad and are investigating the hybrid creatures and the possible reason for an Illithid ship to crash here of all places. Right now, the running theory is that interference from the selfsame summoning circle that brought you all here could have caused the interplanar navigation systems of the ship to malfunction but nothing has been determined yet.

Eventually, these creatures will all be rounded up and taken care of. They are persistent and stealthy though in their efforts to survive above all else. Charlie assures that they're doing all they can to make Town safe once and for all but it will take some time.

Notes

⁂ The partner plotting post for this event/quarter is also up!

⁂ Additionally, we have a state of the game post available for people to read about updates, clarifications, and housekeeping items!

⁂ If you have any further questions or feedback about this event specifically, please comment here!

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Comments

ardyn izunia. ffxv. ota.

[fatedfinality]

🍷a crash in the night.

As someone who doesn't sleep much to begin with, Ardyn is actually witness to the strange ship that comes crashing down near Town. A spark of light across the night sky and then a shattering boom; he's at the site quickly, but not fast enough to beat their local deity and his bodyguard who keep him at a distance. A shame, really, since he wanted to do his own investigating.

Them mentioning the danger doesn't deter Ardyn any though. If anything, it makes him that much more curious. "Just how dangerous do you think they mean by 'tremendously'?" he asks someone else who arrives later. People are starting to trickle in, unnerved and uncertain.

"It doesn't seem like an intentional attack at least. Though perhaps peace wasn't meant to last with us around regardless." Is he trying to make people more anxious? Maybe. It's just that he, like many from his world, don't have a great history of mysterious objects crashing into their planet from afar. He thinks it's better to be suspicious than not.

🍷patrolling.

Ardyn offers his services for patrolling once it's revealed what they're dealing with. Look at him, being an upstanding citizen! Maybe he's paired with you for a walk around Town. Maybe he just voluntells you that you're under his protection for the time being. Regardless of the reason, he's here now and you're safe with him. Promise.

He's actually hoping to come across one of these Intellect Devourers and see for himself how dangerous they can be though. So if he seems a bit eager to throw himself into harm's way- Don't worry about it. He'll be fine! "I've survived worse than some mindflayer," he offers. Which is, in a sense, somewhat true.

Eventually, he gets his wish after using himself as bait. One of those parasites manages to wrap its slick tentacles around his throat and latch onto his head as he gives a strangled cry. He feigns fighting it off even as he feels a pain in the back of his head that blooms out through his skull.

It only lasts for a moment through before the Intellect Devourer's grip tightens harshly. Ardyn expects a potential killing blow - and he'll have to apologize to Charlie again, he thinks - but instead it makes a strange, sharp noise and then explodes. The psconic wave is strong, leaving him physically and mentally disoriented.

Anyone in the immediate area will also be slammed with a memory. It might be his, or it might be one of the millions of others he's stolen over the years. Either way, the likelihood of it being pleasant is quite slim.

🍷a time he tried to forget.

It isn't immediately after the explosion that he becomes... confused. Although dazed, he's able to pick himself up and head back into Town just fine with a dismissive and cavalier sort of attitude like he didn't almost get his head blown off.

At some point though as he walks alone, it calls back to the time he traveled all those years ago on foot to the next city. To where his people needed him, to where he was going to help them- Perhaps because of that psonic wave, his timeline of memories shifts. He isn't a monster made by centuries of The Starscourge ravaging his body and soul anymore; no, he's just a man again.

He doesn't look any different on the outside, but his mannerisms and attitude are out of character. He remembers Town, interestingly enough, but only the basics. He's stayed here now for a while, hasn't he? Yes, that makes sense. The affliction in the surrounding areas ran deep from that tragic war, he recalls, and he was... here to help. Isn't that what they'd said? Yes. Yes, that's right.

"Let me get that for you," he says, no dramatic flair or pretense to be found as he helps to move some heavy shrapnel from that downed ship. "And let me know if there's anything else I can do."

🍷wildcard / plot with me.

(( ardyn's plotting post is here! for the memory prompt, if you're canon familiar feel free to suggest your own. if not, hmu @ tentamenace on plurk or discord and we can hash out what memory you might want to get of Ardyn's depending on what you're feeling / what would be good for their CR.

the last prompt will also come with DLC Spoilers for him. I can avoid anything in-depth, but it's unfortunately a bit inevitable some stuff will be touched on! ))

a crash in the night

[aisandfyr]

"'Tremendously' means it's really, really, super dangerous!"

Thanks, Aisthota.

She's standing on her tiptoes with her hand shading her eyes as though that will actually get her a better look in the dead of night. Incidentally, the light blue markings around her eyes are currently absent, just like the matching lipstick, in case Ardyn was wondering whether or not those were makeup.

"They're probably right even if it wasn't an intentional attack. They've been here a lot longer than us, so they're more likely to recognize it!"

She does not seem perturbed by the idea of peace being ephemeral.

[fatedfinality]

He wasn't, exactly, but it is an interesting detail to note. So is how trusting she is that they wouldn't try and withhold important information from the non-natives. He admits that Charlie has been more forthcoming than he hasn't, but they also haven't really dealt with anything dangerous like this yet.

"Perhaps so," he concedes. "Or perhaps they're just as uncertain as the rest of us. This doesn't seem precedented."

[aisandfyr]

"Just about all of this is unprecedented, isn't it? I suppose that's all the more reason to be cautious." Aisthota's not really much of one for caution herself, but that's why she typically associates with people who have more common sense than she does. Her usual crowd isn't here, though, and that's why she's rubbernecking as hard as she can get away with right now.

"Hmm, I can't tell if it's alive or not."

[fatedfinality]

"To a certain degree," he admits. He knows their presence isn't, of course, but 'mind flayers' don't appear to be unknown to this world. It's just that the crashing of one of their ships is, which- He has his theories on why that might be already and it does have to do with them being here when they're not supposed to be.

"The ship, you mean? It does look more organic, doesn't it? But I wonder if it's more an extension of the pilot, in that case, rather than alive in its own right." So, the pilot is probably dead if anyone.

[aisandfyr]

"Anything's possible! It could be connected to the pilot or even have no pilot at all. There's no way to tell without getting a closer look at it, and even then, we still not be able to make sense of it."

She crosses her arms thoughtfully.

"And it might not be safe for normal people to go near, too. The last time I saw something even vaguely like this, it really messed with people's heads!"

grabs that loser from the past

[parer]

One should never underestimate the tendencies for those to return to what they deem familiar. This is true for people and beasts alike, plus... other things. So after he's spent some time with Gladio to ensure that their home is properly secured for Noctis and Prompto (not to mention themselves, of course), he takes off to do some investigatory work.

Also, really, this entire place simply needs to be clean up in some capacity.

The idea is that he will see if any of the IDs are drawn to the scattered fragments from the craft which crashed and then get rid of such so that it isn't in the way of anything else. The last thing they all need is for some other emergency to happen, and people to trip or run into giant slabs of metal.

All the help he has currently is a promise that Hoshiko is watching from afar for any issues. So, needless to say, when there's suddenly a hand help him haul up a piece of shrapnel, and a strangely dissimilar voice...

Ignis stares. Frowns, actually. But he's sharp enough to realize that something is... strange, here. Certainly Ardyn is capable of being an absolutely two-faced tit of a man, but there's a certain quality to the act which makes it incredibly shallow in Ingis's eyes. (Also he hates him.) This is even before going into the careful distance they've both been maintaining ever since Charlie brought Ardyn back to life.

"...I shall keep it in mind," he says, voice slow and careful. "So you're out and about, then?"

Just a mild statement, something to proud and get a bit more out of the other.

[fatedfinality]

Ardyn is more than capable of being a duplicitous bitch. He has been one before and especially when it's been to his advantage. But while he's usually a snake lying in wait in the grass to strike, this feels oddly genuine in a way that would be hard for him now to even performatively convey.

The frown doesn't deter him any, at least. He's used to mistrust and uncertainty about the healer prince showing up. Especially in areas like these, he knows, where The Six aren't who the people actually worship. "Of course, I am," he offers, continuing to move the shrapnel with assistance.

"Where else would I be but out in the field? Much preferable to anything else my brother tried to delegate to me."

[parer]

...So.

Ardyn has - had, really - a brother.

And it sounds as though they were not on the most positive of relationships, although he can't quite tell yet if it is simple neutral sibling nonsense, or something moreso. Noctis has always been a single child but, through his research of history and politics, Ignis knows that the mixing of power and family can be... messy.

This is all information that Ignis takes in with just that simple sentence, but it's nothing compared to the most obvious one: this man clearly is seeing the world through a different view as of present. The cause? Obvious. Ignis has eyes, and ears; he's picked up on the matter with the intellect devourers, what might confuse a person.

....He just wouldn't have thought it could lead to this sort of confusion.

"I suppose so," Ignis says slowly, still cautious with everything considered. That doesn't mean he's lazy, of course, and he gets the shrapnel out of the way with Ardyn's assistance. "Still. I thought you would be helping in other ways."

What other ways? He'll let Ardyn fill that blank out, see what he thinks.

[fatedfinality]

It can be extraordinarily messy. While the Ardyn of current day relishes it, this man of the past seems less inclined to appreciate such a thing. He loves Somnus even for as bullheaded as he can be; they might not agree on how to handle matters, no, but they're still brothers in the end. They're still family. He likes to hope that means something to him, even as he worries more and more it might not.

"No one here needs my healing yet," he says, to that. "Not that I can tell. That might change with those... creatures on the loose, but for now I'm happy to help how I can."

[parer]

Since when was Ardyn a healer?

At some point, apparently. Or in another universe perhaps. If not for what he knows of the Intellect Devourers, Ignis has to admit that he'd struggle to tell which is a more viable answer. For now, he simply nods and pulls his cloak back into place tight around his shoulders.

"The creatures do seem to prefer more subtle ways of attacking people." Subtle like a brick to the head that almost make Ardyn seem like a lost puppy instead of a rabies-filled mess that should be put down behind a shed, but still. Although since there is a chance... "I have never had a chance to see your healing. What is it like?"

The Caelums he knows can imbue their power into the average drink, which has a restorative effect, he knows... But what of Ardyn? Get a flask of water, and do the same? Or something else?

There's no forgetting this face

[berriedmemories]

It's rare, especially in a situation known to be dangerous, for Noctis to be alone. It's only the fact that he is the first one of them that has been able to manage the transformation to full dragon and back to his normal form that convinced the others he could stand watch over this particularly problematic hunk of wreckage while they looked for someone .... larger. Sure he might have the strength to move it in dragon form, maybe- he's... well he's not very big- but with the way his wings are structured he couldn't lift it and fly it off out of the way of the path.

Nevermind that it's probably not a good idea to leave it just... wherever for those little brain things to hide out in it.

Noct is, for the moment, pacing lazy circles around the panel (maybe it was a door once?) only his lower legs and feet transformed so he can use the broad spread of paws to stay atop the snow. Convenient, really, that the pants of his go to outfit are so short.

The slow pace of those paws comes up short the moment he sees Ardyn, immediately tense and shifting his stance to brace for a possible attack. Especially after the last time the asshole had torn open his side. That he comes up and just.... offers to help only has Noctis bristling even more. "What the hells are you playing at?"

[fatedfinality]

He hadn't really looked at who he was helping. Perhaps he should have. Even for the draconic features, Ardyn's mind is a bit... scrambled. He recognizes his own dragon changes, of course, as natural and part of being in this place. But what he doesn't recognize is: "Somnus?" he questions, blinking.

"No, you- You're not supposed to be here." Here as in- Where? This world, or out in the field with the people where Ardyn was? If Somnus was around, that meant a purge of the infected was due to happen and he wouldn't stand for that. But these people weren't infected from what he could see, so maybe- Maybe they'd be spared.

"Did you think I couldn't handle this?" he asks, accusatory. It wouldn't surprise him if Somnus didn't believe him to be capable of this task. It wasn't often anymore that he was confident in Ardyn overall, it seemed.

[berriedmemories]

Noct's not sure what the hell he expects from this man. (He never knows what to expect when the chancellor is involved.) So at first he just tilts his head, confused (again) but on guard just in case (as always). It takes a moment for him to backtrack from great one more person trying to tell me what I should and shouldn't do to Somnus?????.

"Som- Uh... The only Somnus I know is the Mystic and I'm sure as hell not him." No, he's the Last King, not the First. The thought alone makes him flinch slightly. "I'm surprised you're trying to help at all? Or are you out here just to fuck with people that are trying to keep the rest of safe?"

A mean accusation, maybe, but considering the faint lines that still scar his ribs... a valid one.

[fatedfinality]

The Mystic? While it sounds like his brother's brand of arrogance to title himself thus, Ardyn hasn't heard that moniker before. It seems whoever he's given that name to though he's also not given a great opinion of Ardyn, which- Small surprise there too. It hurts. It always did, always will even if he expects it more than he doesn't.

"I am helping," he counters, convicted. "Just because he doesn't agree with my method of doing so doesn't mean it isn't true."

They're having two entirely different conversations, unfortunately, but Ardyn's still stuck in the past with only snippets of his future and as they relate to Town.

[berriedmemories]

"He doesn't agree...?" He who? What the fuck is he on about? "Who doesn't agree?"

It's well beyond Noctis to jump first and foremost to a dead man that might be the one disagreeing with Ardyn. "We've seen your version of helping. Slapping a bandaid over the mess you made in the first place." Cleaning up the evidence but doing nothing to correct a damn thing.

"Just taking advantage of the mess this time?"

Patrolling

[swordlily]

It was actually Gladio who voluntold Ardyn they'd be partnered up together, in this particular instance. Less because it's anything Gladio wants, and more because Gladio doesn't really trust Ardyn around anyone else in an already dangerous situation. He, at least, can go into having Ardyn at his side with his eyes wide open - and there's no way in hell he'd let the other people who know Ardyn is like partner up with him. He's not risking any of them, not while he can stand between them and Ardyn.

He's made this all explicitly clear to Ardyn, of course. He never saw any reason to hide it. Ardyn both knows what he is and what he's done, and what Gladio's opinion of him is. There's no tact in denying obvious reality.

But whatever his opinion of Ardyn might be, Gladio at least is a reliable man to have at one's side. For the time being, they're working together - and that means when the intellect devourer Ardyn was baiting manages to actually get ahold of him, Gladio moves forward without hesitation to try and get it off him. The easiest - and most tempting - way to solve the problem would be to remove the intellect devourer, and Ardyn's head, with a swipe of his sword...but he's not looking to cause more problems for Charlie, and he doesn't betray people. It'd be one thing if he and Ardyn had just met in the street - and especially if Ardyn was back to causing problems - but for now, they're working together, and Ardyn is(for reasons Gladio can't guess at, but he's chalking it up to Ardyn being consistently unpredictable), at least for the moment, helping the town. And Gladio does what the situation calls for, not necessarily what his heart wants.

Which means that - since Gladio can't think of a better way to get the damn thing off Ardyn without hurting him - Gladio's actually got his hands on the thing, trying to twist those tentacles loose, when that sound like a rapidly deflating balloon goes off and the explosion follows far too fast for him to even react. Fortunately - if one can call something so messy 'fortunate' - the shrapnel of this particular explosion is largely soft meat. The blast knocks Gladio, big as he is, flat on his ass(possibly to Ardyn's private delight), but it doesn't do him any significant damage beyond a ringing in his ears that takes a full minute to abate.

Really, though, none of that is his immediate concern. The explosion hits him with a lot more than just concussive force.

He sees...well, what does he see? A power play. Politics. Murder. The crystal and the Astrals not giving a damn about humanity, casually demanding the highest sacrifices from those they deny everything, letting the worst assholes kill the best people and doing nothing, but admittedly none of that is actually news to Gladio.

And sure, it's an unpleasant eye-opener to see just what the Founder King of the nation he's served all his life was like - a petty, scheming, amoral, backbiting snake. He lacks full context for a lot of what he sees, but that much is clear almost from first blush. But for Gladio, what's almost even more enraging than that...is watching the First Shield, his predecessor(not by blood, but by title), lick the Founder's boots. Backing him in what is clearly a blatant usurpation attempt, followed by attempted fratricide, and then even continuing to back him after the man murders an innocent woman trying to protect - from what Gladio can tell - an equally innocent man. (Hard to believe, when he can see the shadows of Ardyn in that man's face, but Gladio had never really kidded himself that Ardyn was born an evil asshole. No, it takes considerable effort and dedication to make such a dick out of oneself; it doesn't just happen. So he supposes it must be so, however strange it seems.)

He doesn't know how long he lies on the ground, seeing countless years ago and worlds away, before his eyes start seeing the here and now again. But when he comes back to himself...the first thing out of him is a grunt that Ardyn will likely hear. There's a bit too much anger in it, too much emphasis, for it to be truly quiet, even though Gladio isn't actively speaking to him.

"First Shield my ass." He should have taken the bastard's other arm.

[fatedfinality]

There is no denying it. All of what he says make sense. While the man isn't thrilled about being treated akin to a dog on leash, he can play nice enough to satisfy. The last time he did though got a sword run through him and his head lobbed off. It's almost a shame Gladio couldn't do a repeat performance thanks to Charlie's interference, even if he thinks very hard about trying it still.

In the end, they're left to do thing the hard way. Both of them only end up with an intellect devourer exploding between them. It rattles his head and causes a loud ringing in his ears that he tries to shake away from where he lays after face planting into the earth before him. The ache is light, all things considered, and he gives snort and thrash of his tail as he blinks away the stars in his vision from the force of the blast. Worse than the physical pains though are the nails in his brain from all those memories of his being siphoned up and scrambled. It takes him a moment to remember where he is, who he is- Maybe more than a moment. There's a lot of things there to sift through and put back into place.

He rolls onto side with a hiss of pain before hoisting himself up. Aside from some brain on his cheek and collar of his clothes, he seems relatively unscathed. Confused, yes, but he blinks away the past sprawling out before his eyes in Town's fields and homes and returns to the present himself. "Ah," he mentions, hearing Gladio but it taking a moment for him to register exactly what he'd uttered.

"So that's what they meant," which is more to himself than the other man as he recognizes what must have happened. These things were trying to steal memories, yes, but it seems some of the ones it was mid-slurping from Ardyn's brain got transferred elsewhere. Strange. Though he realizes it must have overloaded from the state of his brain, which likely makes him a less appealing target.

"And I presume you're speaking of Gilgamesh?" His brother's Shield, his friend. The one who stood by him despite everything and what he was told a good shield should do. But as Gladio saw: Ardyn wasn't necessarily the danger that Somnus needed to be protected from, he was made out to be that threat by the man himself.

[swordlily]

"Yeah," Gladio huffs out a breath as he gets to his feet. "Thanks for the hand up." It's sardonic, but not exactly biting; it's more of a verbal eyeroll than anything else. Gladio certainly didn't expect a hand up from Ardyn, so he isn't surprised not to get one, but that doesn't mean he can't be exasperated at Ardyn being, well, Ardyn.

Who knows how much brain mess Ardyn has on his back; the nice thing about that is, of course, that Ardyn doesn't have to know about it. Gladio got the mess in the front, and his expression of distaste as he tries to wipe off as much of the mess as possible may be some comfort to Ardyn for the attitude he's getting.

"Is an inconsequential man like yourself well-informed enough to know I fought the bastard?" Ardyn always seemed to be a few steps ahead of them on things, but then again, that had always been about things relating to Noct and the prophecy. Now it occurs to Gladio for the first time to wonder if he paid attention to Gladio's little detour. He's gotten so used to Ardyn being aggravatingly well-informed that, until this moment, he hadn't even considered that Ardyn might not know...but at the same time, do the kings care about the pawns on the board until they're an active threat?

Well, wise kings do, Gladio supposes. But he doesn't know if Ardyn deserves that much credit. Maybe Ardyn never had eyes for anyone but Noct on their journey.

[fatedfinality]

"You're welcome," Ardyn answers, being insufferably him through and through. Nevermind that he doesn't actually know what it means to be him most days anymore. Being who Gladio thinks he is tends to be easier anyway than any kind of vulnerability that might accompany being actually seen.

He's not too happy about his mind being forcibly cracked open and memories of his spilling out, but- He also can't change what happened now, can he? It also is giving him some interesting insight into Gladiolus himself, who... Well, put simply, Ardyn still isn't used to seeing many of Noctis' entourage as people in their own rights. They were moreso obstacles for him to overcome in getting to his true goal. He knows Gladio is a person, but it makes it easier sometimes to not perceive him as such.

"I had heard rumblings of your absence and something to do with Cor, but it didn't seem especially relevant so- No, actually, I didn't realize. I can believe he's stubborn enough down to his soul though to be still around." Despite everything, so many fragments of Ardyn's past remained stuck in their star like splinters under his skin. "That's why him and my brother got along so well, I'm sure."

And if that piece of things - that the Founder King was family - wasn't something Gladio gleaned from the memories, Ardyn perhaps just gave away more than he meant to by assuming.

[swordlily]

"Well, they say the good die young and bastards live forever." Yes, Gladio is one hundred percent aware of who he's saying this to, and he's not remotely sorry. Although as far as that goes, he doubts he needs to be, anyway. He's pretty sure Ardyn will take a lot more perverse humor from his comment than offense. That's just the kind of guy he is.

Gladio had already been informed that Ardyn belonged to the Caelum line, so between that and the memory, Ardyn's remark about his brother doesn't catch him much off-guard. He hadn't known the exact family connection, but learning where it is doesn't change much.

"For whatever it's worth, I kicked your brother's Shield's ancient ass. Would've kicked it harder if I'd known how little he deserved the title." Gladio doesn't have a lot of sympathy for Ardyn, all things considered - he certainly hasn't earned any from him yet - but he's prepared to agree with him that Somnus and Gilgamesh are at least as bad as Ardyn himself, if not worse. (The memory Gladio saw certainly seems like it might have been the inciting incident of Ardyn's descent into whatever he is now, and while that doesn't absolve Ardyn of the responsibility of his own choices, it does mean Ardyn himself didn't pull the trigger that started the whole stupid chain of events. How exactly the levels of responsibility even out...that's a subjective assessment.) And he's at least willing to share the satisfaction with him of a guy who had thoroughly deserved a beatdown getting one at Gladio's hands.

It's not enough, of course, but what could be?

patrolling

[orbicularis]

Mithrun is quick, when he hears Ardyn cry out, to move for the source - but not quite quick enough to find a projectile to take the Intellect Devourer out (hopefully, if his aim holds up) before Ardyn's own overloaded memory does.

Instead, the thing just Does That all on its own. Mithrun is far enough to have an instant longer than Ardyn does to brace himself - but that isn't much, when it comes to the spike of pain through his skull, and the unfamiliar memory he knows is coming.

( ardyn dlc/ffxv spoilers )

[fatedfinality]

The ringing in his hears and pounding of his head are only cut through by the pain of a memory that is, in fact, his. Ah, yes- He remembers this. Quite vividly, even. Just like Mithrun is suddenly thrust into this memory, so is Ardyn thrust from finally having his revenge by killing Regis to instead an unproductive audience with Bahamut.

He is told that this isn't the path laid out for him. Rather, his 'fate' is to be the world's sacrificial lamb to end the blight of The Scourge upon the star once and for all. Fuck that, says Ardyn. Not quite so literally crass to Bahamut himself but- Close enough.

"Thine impudence shall prove thine undoing, foolish mortal."
"Oh, I'm no 'mortal.' I'm a monster."

Inky, viscous fluid leaks from his now black sclera, mouth, and even some of his pores. It oozes out of him as he grits his teeth and growls to fight against this 'fate' decided for him. For his disobedience, he's held prisoned in a circle of blades while a beautiful blonde woman dressed in white approaches to pierce him through his heart with a trident mercilessly. (If Mithrun notices any similarities to her and someone else he knows from another world, no he doesn't.) He begs her to end his curse, but all she does is stab him again.

"Pierce my heart if you must, but you will never kill my resolve."

Only a fool would defy such opposition, Bahamut says through her. Well, then? He must be a fool, through and through.

[orbicularis]

The onslaught of memory is... a lot. As expected, of course, with any of these, but there is the matter of the content, the helplessness and brutality of it.

Some elements, here and there, are almost familiar - in one way or another.

The present floods back, almost more disorienting than the sudden drop into the memory itself. Mithrun shakes himself, finding his bearings - then looks in Ardyn's... general direction. Confirming the guy's still alive after having an Intellect Devourer... y'know. Explode on him.

Somehow, Mithrun suspects he's fine.

[fatedfinality]

He's got a pounding headache, brain in his hair, and is pissed off that thing just decided to explode out of nowhere but- Mithrun has the right of it. Other than those things, he's perfectly fine. Disoriented, a little, and shaken up (not that he'd ever admit it) but otherwise... fine.

"It could have given a little more warning, don't you think?" he asks Mithrun. No 'how are you' or concern beyond that, but what did he expect?