We're all in this train-gether 🚂

[adregem]

Who: OTA. If you’re a passenger with a ticket on this train, then you are most welcome here!
Where: Upper Music Car
When: Imagination 18, at around brunch.
What: Welcome to the train’s first ever community open forum. Come for the food, stay for the best discussions ever.
Warnings: Lots of top-levels for easy access to relevant topics to your characters, but apart from that, nothing right now! (Not a warning but a heads-up that one TL will be dedicated to the dissemination and discussion of the bonus trek during the last mission. For your OOC reference, please see here.)



Someway through the 18th of Imagination, an announcement for the already spoken for meeting is shared by the ICPs, giving people twenty minutes to come to the upper Music Carriage for the gathering. While the chairs mostly face the stage, they’ve been curved to allow people to face their fellow passengers too, so not to put the sole focus in one place.

This is a meeting for all, and everyone will have their chance to speak and be heard.

The promised snack table sits to one side of the room, and on the stage, the white board from the standard coach has been brought in, written on it bullet points for the planned topics. To assist in the flow of discussion, familiar moderators stand in place to help jot things down, carry conversation further should one idea end while another is ready to begin, among other such administrative tasks to organize the forum. Plus, the ICP’s are in constant use all throughout the meeting, with basic announcements about what’s being discussed now, and how more people are still welcome to catch up to the Music Car if they hear something that interests them.

Grab a plate, settle down, and let’s get to work.

(OOC: Specific top-levels will be set-up for ease of tagging. Select ‘Show Top-Level Comments Only’ if you would like to skip ahead! And as much as possible kindly keep to a single thread in that TL, unless a very special or private point has to be made with regards to the subject! :) Of course if you will be tagging the snacks table, the extra suggestions, or the meta-thread, this does not apply any longer.

Also, very important: Please see here for an example format of how documentation of missions can go! It is most relevant during the discussion on information gathering.)

Comments

[nocawsforconcern]

[Enna steps forward. She has a way of drawing attention to herself, when she wants to, and she takes a moment to just approach Najaran. And reach out, and.

Just... Smoosh her cheeks a bit.]

For every one hero who changed history by standing up when they needed to, there were ten thousand who stood up and died, accomplishing nothing. The heroes get songs and stories for worlds and worlds later, but the stories don't tell about everyone who tried to do the same thing, and died.

... If you understand that, and you accept that you'll probably die pointlessly and not manage to do anything, then I don't think it's right to stop you. But if you can't understand that- And if every person who wants to be like you, who hears stories of heroes and wants to be like you, too- Then you need to keep that on. No matter what.

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita's quietened, both thanks to Tidus and because of the other, mostly cooler heads jumping in to talk to Najaran.

And she stays quiet, for this - but Enna might just feel a wash of gratitude through the link.]

[najaran]

"I know I could die," she said, shaking against Enna's hands. "I know that. The Dragons died. But I doin't want to live in a world where people don't try," she whispered. "And the best way to know at least someone is trying to do what is right... is to try to do what is right. Even if I fail. Even if I die. I have to try....." her eyes closed, tears rolled.

"I saw the elves, the nymphs, all that was left. They gave their lives just to buy enough time for those who COULD win to show up. Grandmother willow grew on their strength. No one of them succeeded alone. They all died, all of them... to hold out until the Mistrals appeared. Only on of their names is remembered, and her only by a few of us, mortals who will die soon. She did not give her life to be remembered. None of them died to be remembered They died to try. To do what was right. I don't want to die, but I can't let fear of it stop me from trying. I can't...."

[nocawsforconcern]

[Enna listens to this, and folds her arms. Something about this rubs her the wrong way.]

... Caw.

Come with me. We're gonna fight.

[najaran]

"Wh... what?" she asked startled. She jumped back, confused. Where had that come from?

She shook her head. "Uh uh. No way! People could get hurt. And I don't fight non-Cepters unless they're trying to kill people, and probably not even then. Not with cards anyway. And even if I was good enough with a sword to not use my cards... there is no reason to fight you."

[nocawsforconcern]

[Enna just sort of... ignores the words she doesn't understand there.]

I'm strong, too. I don't have most of my power right now, so it'll be a fair fight.

You don't get the problem at all. But if you're strong enough to beat me, to make me surrender, then you're strong enough to take care of yourself, and I'll fight anyone else who tries to force you to wear that thing.

But if you aren't strong enough to beat me while I'm down to three powers, then you never had a chance at the big problems. And all you'll do is inspire more and more people that the rules, the rules of safety, are optional. Make people want to cut off the life boats. A crew without rules is a ship that is only headed for the bottom of the ocean.

So if I beat you, then you'll have to wear that thingy.

[shadowslipping]

"And I have told you that it is not a matter of simply not trying! This..." Yuume ultimately feels ill, stepping back. "...You are perhaps one of the most dangerous types of people to exist," she says coldly, an edge of fear in her eyes. Her words are so quiet, it would not be surprising at all if they were heard only by Yuume herself. "...And the worst of it is, it's going to take someone else dying before you understand, I'm sure."

Enna of course, is making her challenge to fight from there- plenty strong a distraction for Najaran, and at this point Yuume is quite content to even let such a fight happen. Her arms crossed, she merely takes a deep breath and sighs.

"Rather frankly, while I prefer other methods, she's right- you both have a very, very good reason to fight at this point. This very disagreement concerns the wellbeing of far more than just yourself. You want to say that you only fight if people are in absolutely dire straights? ...You're creating that scenario with your very words, right now. My only request would be that you find another carriage to do so. That, I'm sure, would remove your concern for other people," she adds, looking rather pointedly to Najaran.

If she intends to be so oblivious to the danger she makes for others with her words alone, then Yuume will gladly point out the resultant hypocrisy.

[enthunder]

"To summarise," Light cuts in, "No, we've got no way of tampering with the SCA when we get evacuated like we did in Egret... except for just taking it off, which is gonna get you killed. This thing's already keeping some of us alive, and we don't have any way of getting more to try and evacuate another person, because we don't know how they work yet. If anyone is investigating that, or if anyone has ideas, speak out."

Her arms fold, "And if you two are gonna fight, do it next-door, or save it for later."

[nocawsforconcern]

"I was gonna go to the gym for it." Enna pouts a bit. She knows not to fight in such crowded spaces. "... And if we're not gonna fight, I'll just use Andromeda's powers and seal the ska-thingy to her arm so it can't come off."

[najaran]

"I am not fighting any of you! This is crazy! A duel is one thing but wanting to fight because you disagree with me and then threatening to use your magic to take away my choice?" she shook her head, disgusted.

"We're supposed to be working together, then you decide that you need to prove something by trying to get me to destroy half the train in a fight that doesn't even need to happen? What are any of you trying to even solve?" she started getting angry.

"Lady Najara," her cane said quietly. "Are you Najaran or Zeneth?"

She reeled back like she was slapped, then her eyes narrowed. "Fine. Just fine!" She stalked towards the nearest exit. "My own fault for thinking we were supposed to be a team, I guess," she growled as she tried to leave before her temper snapped.

[shadowslipping]

While she can't say that they didn't just threaten magic...

"Did anyone say such a fight would be so destructive? That in itself would have been in your hands. Did anyone say working together was never the goal? We have, this entire time, been speaking of your actions in regard to the whole," she countered- briefly, but gently, reaching out with an arm to stop the girl. But not for long. She'll bring it back soon enough, and Najaran will be free to leave even before she's done speaking.

It's clear after all, that words will not change her mind. "We are telling you that your words and actions have consequences that can get your team killed, while you insist, over and over, that won't be the case. That somehow, when the team sees your actions, it won't affect their own. So who among us is truly forgetting what being a team means?"

[najaran]

She spun to face the person speaking now.

"Fights with Cepters ARE that destructive! It is why my father would NEVER fight a non-cepter! Some of my creatures would rip through the train just by being summoned!" She shook her head.

"Lady Najaran is also still learning control since her powers have recently increased."

"I want to work with the team, but my choices have to be mine! I am willing to stand with anyone else who wants to stand with me and I won't think ill about anyone who prefers to run. Well fine, I might THINK it, but that'll pass. I'm not asking anyone else to risk their lives, but if I risk mine that is MY choice! Goligan trusts me, my cards trust me. I'm not asking anyone to like me, I'm asking you to trust me to know what I am risking. Because I cannot and will not stand aside and watch someone else suffer if I can protect them! And not acting is not protecting, it is choosing to sacrifice one group for another. And I won't do that. I don't want to die, but I accept that it could happen. And that I will still stand up to protect people." Always.

[adregem]

Roland stands immediately, putting himself in whatever line of fire is being thrown among the three of them stuck in heated discussion.

"All right, this is getting out of hand." He throws his voice sternly and steadily. "How about we just stop trying to escalate this into a fight? How about we stick to talking things through? Yes?" He stares down at those who can meet his eye.

"Najaran, you've said your piece and it's well-received. Thanks for speaking up." Roland adds, nodding to her in earnest acknowledgement. "Your convictions are your own and that's respectable. However, I would caution you to think things through even if you're convinced your actions will only affect you. That's not how this works. That's not how teamwork works, either. If there are misgivings to be had about the SCA's forced evac function, then I'm sorry. No one has answers for you right now. We can reassure you though, that we are all trying to figure it out too. No one wanted to abandon people, no one wants to leave anyone behind in the future either. But if that can't convince you to stay, then please. No one stop her from leaving. She has that right."

The last bit he says to the rest of the passengers listening. If Najaran wanted to make an exit now, Roland would make sure no one can intervene. Regardless, he says one last thing before returning to his post.

"Let's get back to the topic at hand. Or if anyone has any ideas, thoughts, or related issues to bring up. New or to continue the discussion, objectively. The floor is still open. Keep it civil. Thanks."

[najaran]

She did want to stay and discuss the rest of what she could do to help. But if she stayed... no one would discuss anything else, they'd just keep arguing with her. So it was better if she left, so they could talk about what they needed to. And if they kept talking about her even after she left... at least her temper wouldn't flare again.

She fixed her grip on Goligan and nodded her thanks to Roland and if no one else stopped her, would leave.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin gave Najaran and Goligan a warm and sympathetic look as they departed. It was also a meaningful one, it said that Najaran should feel free to talk to him later.

He nodded to Roland, appreciating that Roland was doing his best to moderate and mediate. And then he spoke to the rest.

"I think there are better ways than a personal duel to decide such an important question as whether to go along with the train's decision to evacuate in the middle of a mission. This particular decision requires a lot more knowledge than we have at the moment. I think that trying to acquire that knowledge should be our first priority. Trying to get the train to tell us anything it knows about those deadly shadow-beings would be a start. And we need to know more about the train's situation, because I'm theorizing that it may have jumped from one alternative world or timeline in order to escape that peril, only to find that the shadowy world-eaters can do the same."

He thought about the implications of this. "If we can find a way to destroy that peril, then it probably won't be necessary to deal with the question of whether the SCAs can or should be modified."

And then there was that other question. "We need to know more about tethering. It would also simplify things if we knew whether the train can accept refugees from the mission worlds. I'm thinking that none of us were tethered to the train until it decided to collect us, and it didn't seem to have any trouble with that. Furthermore, it can sever that link anytime it wants to, as we see every platform day when passengers leave and never or rarely return. I don't see why it couldn't tether the people we bring on board in order to save their lives."