[8th/OPEN] Week --: Laboris Gloria Ludi

[Kago]

Welcome to the 8th division collab. As previously announced, we will have two, very intense and hopefully fun weeks of writing to complete this. It is open to any writers with characters in the 8th; this does extend to NPCs, but I ask you to strongly consider whether you will active enough in the thread since we are in a time crunch. And no, you cannot create an 8th NPC just for this collab; they must have been used prior to the start of this.


Please have your characters arrive no later than tomorrow evening as I will be pushing the plot forward at that time. Thanks!

Laboris Gloria Ludi​

As the morning sun crept lazily over the horizon, the soft mist that had settled over the eighth division grounds began to retreat. A cold breeze swept its way throughout the buildings, introducing the first hints of winter to those who were not aware of its coming. Amidst the chilly morning, the Patriarch of the Takimoto clan and captain of the division stood in the main courtyard awaiting his first arrivals.

Three days prior, he had sent word to all members of the division to assemble at daybreak for a division wide meeting. Even though he knew a handful would be late – and some would miss altogether – due to the combination of the early hour and current assignments, the start time was crucial to his plans. This meeting would be his first true interaction with many of his subordinates and his best chance to make a lasting impression. He would ensure everything went as smoothly as possible.

Adjusting the haori draped upon his shoulders, Kago double checked that Hayabusa was secured safely at his side before looking up into the empty courtyard. As the first rays of sunlight trickled onto the stone, he drew in a deep breath and stood up straight. Any moment now, the space before him would be filled with men and women whose lives were in his hands, whose hopes and dreams would be affected by his decisions. Today, he would show them that they were not misplacing their trust in him. He would not fail them.


[251]

 

[Evergloam]

The first to arrive after Kago was a barefoot individual, toes wiggling at the sensation of the soft earth underfoot. Her toes were licked at by the grass blades, soft drops of dew slipping onto her feet to wetten them. When one got past the bare feet of this individual, they'd notice long blonde hair, emerald eyes and a great Cheshire cat grin. Nevada Tegishahara, bright and early like the morning sun.

With a wave, Nevada greeted her captain with a laugh. "Good morning, captain Kago! How are you, sir?" She punctuated the 'sir' with a playful salute, demonstrating the exact same jovial attitude and smile she had when they first met. The sunshine of the Eighth was wearing the normal garb of the gods of death, though her arms were folded into her loose sleeves to warm them. It wasn't nearly as cold as it could've been, or should have, but it was still a bit nippy. With a visible breath that took the form of a puff of white, she turned her head around to look for any other individuals that may have been coming. Was she really the only one there right now?

[196]​

 

[Unholy]

The elderly giant yawned as he entered into courtyard. Taking quick glances around, he noted that he must be early as there was little to no people around. Dellius spotted a few familiar faces though one being the captain and the other being a new recruit. Dellius noticed immediately the girl not wearing shoes, but made no mention of it. There were more important things to consider....like why this meeting was being called in the first place.

He gave a polite bow to both the Captain and the girl and took a position where he would be able to hear clearly. He wasn't hard of hearing just yet, but that didn't stop other people from their usual whispering and noisemaking.

"I'm curious what this meeting is about. I certainly hope this is good news." Dellius thought. He had been teaching Aurelia proper pronunciation of words when the call for the meeting came.

"That's possible....but how often is it a Captain calls a division wide meeting for good news?"

The elderly soul reaper sighed at the zanpaktou's remark for its speck of truth. It was still too soon to judge. Dellius noted Rei Legends had arrived as well though he was looking as relaxed as usual. Dellius shook his head as he stood and watched as other people entered.

[218]

 

[FogOverLondon]

Okita drug his feet as he made his way over the hill toward the designated meeting place, carefully described in his invitation. Being his first division meeting since rejoining the Gotei, he was painfully aware of his underwhelming sense of enthusiasm and managed to awkwardly meet eyes with the Captain. He could feel his netted-ninja-undershirt chafing as the Captain returned to his thoughts, causing Okita to fiddle with the obsidian beads around his wrist.

All the newcomers were drawing curious eyes of those already in attendance and to lessen the oddity of the moment, he matched eyes with a few of the other Shinigami before mustering a silent wave, followed by a nonchalant, "Yo, Senkurokawa Okita reporting for duty."

Attempting to draw his tangled fingers away from the string-beaded bracelets, he ran his fingers through his onyx-colored hair and silently took his place among the gatherers.

[146]

 

[littlepriests]

wtf

sorry guys, it seems thar France hates me with his wall sockets ans stuff... i'm in on this, but i'll try to go over it again as soon as i have my pc...

It seemed it was as if he had not spoken with his Captain just a day or so before, but Ole had welcomed the wide reunion as an opportunity to meet old friends and new ones. Since the Eighth Division had not been his home for long, the Russian expected to encounter unknown faces, notable members of the spellblades which he could take an example from.

When the blonde mathematician stepped into the gathering area, a sense of expectation swept over him. That sensation made him over-active with excitement, although his higher functions brain was still in charge of the whole decision process.

Looking around the premises, the former monk recognized a few known faces, but there were various others he could not pin a name upon. With a short, stiff bow of courtesy in the direction of the assembly, and mostly towards the Captain itself, the scarred shinigami moved in the direction of a female bare-footed Soul Reaper he already had the opportunity to confront with.

Ole's figure was uncommon, even by shinigami's standards. As he moved throughout the Eighth Division's outside area, the one-eyed spellweaver nodded towards those that had saluted him before.

Closing in on Nevada's position, Ole asked, "Hey Nevada, how are you?" Then as if he wad talking to someone specific, the maimed spellbinder added, "Ole Bishoff, at your service!" Hence he waited for the giant and onyx-haired shinigami's response.

[ 235 / 235 ]

 

[Mystydjinn]

Woah... I never seen this guy before, wonder what his name is. A certain highlight-toting, spiky-headed, raven-haired spellblade had walked over to the crowd of people, thankful it wasn't early and looked around at the strange cast of characters surrounding him. I didn't even know this many people were in the eighth.

So as per usual he took the most direct approach, and decided to ask the giant before him who he was, "Who are you?"he shouted loudly to the man, as he walked towards him, "Are you Eighth?"

 

[tminus31]

He's baaaaaaaaaaaack

Hmm, not too many showing up today. Can’t say I blame them at this hour.

Suzuki Setsuna, Ninth Seat of the Eighth division, was sat in a tree watching the people gathering below. Left leg swinging underneath him and twirling Senshin in his right hand, the redhead looked from each person arriving to Kago, looking all resplendent in his nifty new haori. Setsuna almost raised a hand to the massive scar bisecting his face but stopped.

“Heh,” he muttered, tapping Senshin’s hilt as he sheathed the blade, “might as well go make my presence known.” Standing up, he jumped down from the tree and ambled toward the crowd. Grinning widely he passed through the group, pausing briefly to size up the huge guy. Shaking his head, the young man strode confidently toward the Captain.

“Good morning Captain-sir!” he cried, giving a joke salute, “Ninth Seat, Suzuki Setsuna reporting for whatever the hell you will be putting us through this fine morning!”

[161/161]​

 

[Unholy]

He was slightly startled by the greeting before, but the old man gave a humble bow and smiled.

"It is nice to meet you, Mr. Bishoff. I'm-"

But before he could answer, a loud voice had gotten his attention. It was practically hammering his ear. Dellius turned slowly with a look of irritation but it soon subsided as he sighed.

"It is customary to give your name before asking for another, but since it has already come to this, I may as well ignore custom."

He turned his body to completely face the raven haired soul reaper.

"I am Dellius Carthans and I am indeed in the Eight Division...though that may change in the future."

The old man gave a curt bow to the boy.

"Ignoring that detail, what is your name?"

[132]

 

[Mystydjinn]

The teen soul smiled for the first time that morning, and bowed in response, "Miyazaki Hikaru, Unseated of the Eighth division," then he righted himself and and looked the large man in the eye, "Nice to meet you," and held his hand out to shake. Hikaru had decided he liked this man, his reiatsu was a nice burgundy color, that was non-threatening, and calming to look at.

Most people here had crazy looking reiatsu, Adelaide's had been a sad red color for a while , brightened, then darkened again after his match with her; Ren's was a lilac shade, and had darkened a bit; and Adele's reiatsu was as fickle as the wind, always changing along with her eyes; however this man's reiatsu was a cool even tone.

Finally someone the idiot isn't going to piss off,Queenie exhaled in relief.

 

[Kago]

Sorry everyone for the delay. Life events forced me to be away from a legitimate manner of posting this.

Since I delayed this, the end date shall now be Nov. 9th. Please let me know if you want the div bonus to be applied for this week or for next week.



Kago nodded simply in return to Setsuna, making sure to contain his disapproving opinions behind a stoic expression. Once the main courtyard had filled with most of the division and the murmurs and shouts were steadily increasing, he raised a single hand and cleared his throat. The moment of truth was finally upon them.

“Thank you all for coming out at such an early hour,” the captain called out loud enough for the entire crowd to hear. Immediately, all discussion ceased and every eye was glancing in his direction. “As you are all well aware, the Eighth Division – our home – has had many personnel changes recently and I believe that we should become reacquainted with one another. What better way to accomplish this than to have a friendly competition throughout the entirety of Seireitei.”

At the mention of this, hushed whispers arrested the members of the Eighth. “Now then,” the nobleman shouted to drown out the conversations before they grew out of hand. “This competition will be a team based scavenger hunt. I have already taken the liberty of assigning individuals to a two-person team. Each team has been assigned two items to be collected and a single task to be performed using said items. Failure to find your first or second item will prevent you from accomplishing your task, especially since each item contains a clue to the next item.”

Just then, Ayame appeared from the entrance to the courtyard and began placing long pieces of parchment in well-spaced intervals around it. “Furthermore, I will be wandering throughout the competition area, observing each team’s progress. Those who show promise, even if they fail to accomplish their goal, will be eligible for promotion. Likewise, those who are currently seated may lose their rank.

“Finally, once your team has completed their tasks, report back to Ayame,” he gestured toward his secretary as she joined him reluctantly at the front of the crowd. “Please refer to the lists posted on the walls to find the name of your partner. When you are both ready, Ayame will hand you the clue to your first item. Good luck to all.”


[356/607]

Very IMPORTANT; READ!!!

Now then, here are the teams:

Setsuna/Tminus and Hikaru/Minja - Team 1
Dellius/Unholy and Nevada/Gloam - Team 2
Ole/Priests and Okita/Lambo - Team 3

And just in case I disappear/can't write/too slow for you, I give you permission to write Ayame handing your team the envelop only. No banter.

Here's the first clue for each team:

Team 1
Sleep comes to those who wish to dream,
Although it may be forced on others.
If you wish to find the item I mean,
search the home of Yang's brother.

Team 2
Rubies set a heart on Fire
and send the desires of men wild.
This item draws other women's ire,
and cannot be worn by a child.

Team 3
Darkness envelops all but the light;
Humans were given this item as a gift.
Myths remind all of the gods' spite;
technology from the one suffering on a cliff.

Try solving the clues on your own in-game. I will let you know what the item is after you've given it a fair try.

As always, PM me with any questions.

 

[FogOverLondon]

The squad answered almost entirely in unison to Captain Takimoto, "Yes, sir!"

Okita's yellow, wolf-like eyes roamed over the gatherers as they formed lines in front of the lists, disassembling the lines in favor of a crowd. As he stalked casually through the fringe of Shinigami, wading through the crowd to the list, he scanned for his name.

"Ole...Bishoff?" He said, half hopeful that his partner might hear his own name.

But almost immediately, Okita realized that it was the man he had unintentionally ignored a moment ago. Ole wasn't the tallest, but his blonde hair stuck out like a sore-thumb. Finding himself to be of mostly-average height himself, Okita knew it wouldn't be hard to spot either of them.

He began waving and yelled out, "Ole!" until Ole Bishoff had clearly looked in his direction and then pointed to where Ayame had laid the scroll-scrawled clues.

[148/294]

 

[Mystydjinn]

Hmm, Setsuna I've never heard of him before...Hikaru looked around for his partner, then mage turned around and looked over his robed shoulder, and grasped his red, sword handle the silver chain hanging limply, "Oh, there it is." Hikaru drew his long blade, and stared at the ebony metal.

Despite its dweller's snarky attitude, the young man found solace in the blade's nightmare black metal, Take a picture, it'll last longer.

And there was that wonderful attitude he had been talking about, the scarlet-eyed boy scowled and shoved the blade back into its sheath, then turned to a man with a large scar on his face, and startling hair similar in color to his own eyes, "Hey, do you know where I can find Suzuki Setsuna?" Hikaru stood with a wide stance, unconsciously expecting a blow, and rested his arm on the hilt of his blade.

 

[littlepriests]

Ole had not finished greeting everybody around when the Eighth Division’s Captain showed himself. Given the number of new recruits, himself considered, it was not a weird occurrence, but the former monk would have liked more time to understand who he was going to call comrade, even if not the time to socialize. The words of their superior were kind, but the Russian could not disregard the feeling that there was a sort of distance in the Captain’s stance and demeanour.

A competition? he asked himself, raising an eyebrow. The blonde mathematician listened to the rest of the explanation with as much attention as he was able; after all, that was a sort of professional bias. Two-men teams, two objects, one task, each item brings to the next, both needed for final task. Check! Ole pondered constructing his personal to-do list.

The Russian considered the match-up that the Captain had taken the liberty to make. Okita, eh? he reflected to himself, I have yet to meet this one. Where might he be? Luckily, the other shinigami was calling his name and pointing a finger in the direction of Ayame at the same time. There he is then, he added mentally.

The one-eyed shinigami took the parchment offered to the two of them and shared it with his companion.

“Hmmm, I’ve never been very good at riddles,” Ole confessed without shame, “but do you think that the last line refers to Prometheus? Could it be we need some fire?”


[ 248 / 483 ]

 

[tminus31]

Min, Setsuna's scar covers his whole face, top left to bottom right fyi

Oh joy, Setsuna thought, rolling his eyes as he listened to Kago’s explanation, bet he’s looking forward to busting me back to unseated. This was what they’d all been gathered for? It sounded like both a lot of fun and a lot of trouble. Shaking his head the Ninth Seat ambled over to the team list and looked down it... only to be brought out of his reading by a voice behind him.

Did he just ask me if I knew who I was? This kid, he looked back at the notice, Miyazaki is gonna be some trouble. He turned back and looked down at the kid.

“You’re speaking to him,” the redhead replied, “and you don’t need to ask me twice if I know who I am. I’m quite certain that I do. Anyway, you seem like a smart kid, I think I’ll let you take charge for the initial part of this, that cool?”

[156/317]​

 

[Evergloam]

A team? Was it her and Ol-

Nope. Her and the old guy. A quiet groan left the girl's lips as she looked around the field of people and watched the only two people she knew get paired up with others. A frown evolved into a pout as she stood in place. She and Ole were the best team there was and she couldn't be with her monk friend? Pout.

"Dellius?" Nevada called out, one kind soul pointing out where the elderly shinigami was. She walked over to him, crossing the distance rather slowly. Usually, she wouldn't wait to be paired up with Ole or Hikaru in hopes of having a bit of fun with their scavenger hunt, but with an old guy? She'd be worried more about him breaking his hip than finding the item. Not that she cared about seating rank anyway, she just wanted to have fun. And fun was something old people hated with all their Oldy McOld hearts.

"I'm Nevada." She offered a slight bow in respect to the man before righting herself, holding a small sheet of paper in her hands with their clue to their item. She raised it to her chest level and read it, a confused look coming across her face. What was the answer to this riddle? And why wasn't she any good with riddles?

'Rubies set a heart on Fire
and send the desires of men wild.
This item draws other women's ire,
and cannot be worn by a child.'

"Are you any good at riddles or are we stuck in the same boat?" A sheepish smile came across her features as she held the paper out to Dellius.

[254/450]​

 

[Mystydjinn]

Hm, so this is the ninth seat. I don't like him much but his reiatsu's a nice color I guess. Hikaru frowned at his superior's comment, but decided to ignore it. "Sure, I guess. Lets go get our clue then." Hikaru started towards the front of the crowd, trying not to be irritated by this man's nonchalant attitude.

Kinda reminds you of someone doesn't it? his blade asked smirking, someone with raven black hair, and orange eyes?

That dude is nothing like me!

Of course he's not, the long haired woman laughed.

Exactly, I'm more responsible.

Sure you are.

 

[Unholy]

After shaking Hikaru's hand, his attention was brought to the captain. What he heard was not at all what he was expecting.

"A scavenger hunt?"

Ginsei-sama roared with laughter at the old man's surprise.

"I guess we were both wrong."

"Well this is an opportune time to get to know my comrades. Better to know them now than later."

The spirit let out a grunt of approval as he prepared himself for activity.

The elderly soul reaper heard his name being called and turned around. It was the shoe-less girl from before. After she introduced herself, he gave a small bow and introduced himself as well.

After hearing her response, he scratched his head.

"Do forgive me, but I've never had any luck with riddles," Dellius said hanging his head. He remembered that his master was great at riddles, but he could never guess even the simplest ones. He reread over the riddle in his head.

"I could be wrong but I believe the first part of the riddle may just be a distraction of sorts. What sort of item does a woman hate that a child can't wear?" Dellius folded his arms as he thought.

[197]

 

[FogOverLondon]

Meanwhile, standing on another edge of the circular courtyard, Okita sighed.

"Much past a reference to fire, I'm not sure what it could be implying. Let's read it again," He said.

Darkness envelops all but the light;
Humans were given this item as a gift.
Myths remind all of the gods' spite;
technology from the one suffering on a cliff.​

He mulled for a moment, waiting as both he and Ole contemplated the clue.

"I mean, It's a scavenger hunt - the item is obviously fire, but what more can we do but get some fire? Maybe 'suffering on a cliff' refers to Soukyoku?”

 

[littlepriests]

Ole considered what his companion was saying, before agreeing, "Yeah, we also need to find the place were the second object is located. Soukyoku Hill may be the place."

A short pause followed, while the Russian mulled over the idea of fire. "You know," he proposed then, "there are multiple kidou which may produce fire. Just off the top of my mind I can think of the Hadou Yakekoge or Inflamari... and between the Bakudou, there would be Ghost Fire."

"Do you think we should get to Soukyoku Hill and see what happens there?" the former monk asked, looking around to see how the others groups were faring.


[ 108 / 591 ]

 

[Evergloam]

Of course Dellius wasn't good with riddles. Of course.

She stood in place, thinking about the first clue. Something about rubies setting hearts on fire. Was it just that black and white, and it meant actual ruby gemstones? Then the next line. Something that drove men wild. In her seventeen years on Earth, she never saw a man go wild over some rubies. Nor did she ever find a woman who hated the gems. And children could wear them like a necklace or something. So what was red, hated by women, couldn't be worn by children and men went wild over it?

"Maybe it's a really slutty dress," she mumbled aloud, figuring it was something to start. Men went wild over dresses if they were short, showed cleavage or some other stuff that just drove their nether regions wild. Children couldn't wear them because it was wrong to put a child in a naughty dress, and it wasn't meant for children. Women might have hated them because said women had a sense of self respect or would be disgusted by the appearance.

"If that's not it, I'm so lost on this riddle."

[192/642]​