INTRO EVENT: Dawn Of A New Age

[tamerunion]

The story which has begun to revolve at full speed
Dyes the earth red
The globe is an empty paradise
Let's save it with our hands...

A new day dawns in the Digital World. Technically, it's been a scant few since Tamers first appeared in the Digital World, but today... today is especially momentous. The reason for that is that today is the day that Tamer Union's mission fully begins in earnest. However, the path ahead will not be easy, and will be fraught with danger for human and Digimon alike.

But maybe, just maybe, these disparate people can work together to save their worlds.

Mission Start
The message is sent through on Tamers' digivices early in the morning. It comes from the leaders of Tamer Union, Sunflowmon and Nanomon, who give the directions to gather in the main assembly area of the HQ. When Tamers arrive, they'll find a group of allied Digimon there; essentially, TU's support staff, as well as Panjyamon, Mummymon, and Bitmon. The reason they give... is that it's time for Tamer Union's mission to begin in earnest.

Once everyone is assembled, it's Sunflowmon who speaks first. "Thank you for gathering here today, everyone," she said. "I apologize for the fact that it's taken this long to bring you all together, but we're ready to discuss Tamer Union's mission. Nanomon?"

Nanomon nods, and walks out in front of her. "Hello," he began. "You are all here because you chose to answer our call. All of your worlds are being plagued by some sort of phenomena, and we know that something in this world is the cause of it. We'd like to talk to you about what where we'd like to start focusing our attention."

He took a deep breath, and began explaining the matter of the strange phenomenon known as "Alias". A horrifying, frightful condition that drives Digimon to savagery, where they loose all sense of themselves and become ravenous monsters. He explains that the phenomenon first appeared on the mainland, and that Sunflowmon's master, Rosemon, sent her to restore Tamer Union in an attempt to solve what was truly behind Alias's sudden appearance.

Once Nanomon was finished, Sunflowmon stepped forward, and began to speak solemnly.

"Unfortunately, by the time we managed to bring you all here, Access Island lost contact with the mainland," she explained. "So our ability to pursue this mission is at present quite limited. What we can do right now is do our best to try and make sure that Alias doesn't spread and take over this island... which is why we need you Tamers to be vigilant and patrol the areas of the island that are open to us to determine if Alias has reached Access Island yet or not."

She frowned, and continued. "Furthermore... Tamers are not yet allowed into all areas of the island. The Digimon of each region aren't all sure they can trust you yet. For that reason, you may only be able to use the Trailmon to visit Panorama Plains, Material Jungle, and Pixel Coast.

"I'm sorry. I know after all this, you must all want to get down to business as quickly as we can. But right now, informing you and asking you to stay vigilant is all we can do. I would advise you all to also try and see what you can do to be helpful in the city... and if you want to try building a life here, you'll have our full support."

There looked to be so much more Sunflowmon wished to say. Unfortunately, she had run out of words, so she simply concluded with: "That's all we have for you. If you have any other questions, I'll do my best to answer them."

With that, the meeting was over. That left Tamers with a couple options: one, to approach Sunflowmon, or discuss the matter among themselves.

A Wonderful Day In Our Neighborhood
The inaugural meeting may have been somber, but the Tamers would find Access City bustling and ready to welcome them when they ventured out into the city proper. It turned out that there was something of an event going on, which seemed to be perfect for those still trying to acclimate themselves to their new surroundings: A massive sale in the business district.

All the shops were coordinating with one another. Stores had their wares at reduced prices, which would be a good way for one to spend the stipend they received from Tamer Union. Everything from food to furniture to entertainment was available, and best of all affordable. Others had free samples ready to give out, which were thankfully more palatable than the food served by Ebidramon at the welcome party.

That wasn't all. For those not concerned with buying up anything, there were shows being put on out in the streets by street performers: "human" pyramids, musicians, magicians, jugglers, just about anything you could imagine. And the Digimon putting it on? They would be quick to drag any observers into their performances, whether they technically agreed to it or not.

Even if the rest of the island wasn't ready to trust offworlders yet, it seemed Access City was more than willing to.

Rail Riders
Some time after the big meeting, Tamers would get yet another message on their Digivices, this time from Panjyamon:

Have you all taken a ride on the Trailmon yet? It's an ice way to get around!
Puns aside, he was right. The Trailmon of Console Station were more than willing to carry passengers to any of the available locations. Perhaps you want to get started on patrolling the island for signs of ALIAS. Or maybe you want to get the lay of the land. Or maybe you just want to go to the beach. In any case, your tickets are free, and the Digivice's version of the Handbook has more than enough information for you to read up on the areas before you go.

That being said, there's some goings on that might catch one's eye. A bunch of shifty looking Digimon are riding the Trailmon more than usual. Not only do they make a ruckus on the train, they're going in and out of cargo cars both prior to and upon exiting the train. Do they have permission to do that? And why are they off in such a hurry, and in such large groups?

In any case, this looks like an ample time to find out.

This prompt can be used one of two ways: players visiting the various areas to search for signs of Alias or just because they fancy doing so, or to pursue the Goblimon mystery. If you'd like to pursue the former, you can either NPC them yourself (the Goblimon would turn out to just be everyday troublemakers), or you can request an NPC below and possibly get involved with larger matters!

Comments

Rail Riders

[aetherweaver]

There's immediately a scythe that blocks the incoming club, and Nara'a casually knocks it aside. He might not be able to use all of his abilities here - he's experimented a bit - but he's still plenty strong.

"I don't think so." He looks to Hajime and the other Goblimon. "And you two, cut it out. Can't we resolve this in a more civil manner?" His tone is light, but his armor suggests he means business.

[chalicejoker]

The scythe and armor suggest to Hajime that this would perhaps be a more entertaining person to fight than the Goblimon. "I thought not using weapons inside a train was the more civil manner." But he does release the Goblimon he'd just managed to get into a headlock. It scrambles to its feet.

"They started it," Cutemon says. "They were being mean to people!" He waves the club he's still holding around, coming close to teetering over as he does. It's almost as big as he is. "Swingin' around clubs! Threatening to shoot fireballs! Being big and scary!" Well, they're big as far as Cutemon's concerned, at least.

The Goblimon that had gotten blocked by the scythe is, at this point, looking very much like it wants to just try to slip out of there unnoticed.

[aetherweaver]

In fairness, he sheathes it again immediately. "Fight weapons with weapons."

He looks over at Cutemon and frowns. "You might want to put that down. You might hurt yourself..." He turns back to the Goblimon just released by Hajime. "I think you've both learned your lesson. No making trouble on the train, you got it?"

Botamon wibbles on the side, his big eyes wide in admiration of his tamer. "Nara'a..." The poor thing looks close to crying.

[chalicejoker]

"In this instance, it was faster not to." He hadn't even transformed. The Goblimon, in his estimation, gotten off easy. At the comment that Cutemon might hurt himself, Hajime's immediately grabbing the club and taking it from him. He does not hand it back to its owner but instead chooses to toss it over his shoulder like a piece of trash. It lands safely on an empty seat, where its owner is forced to go retrieve it after giving Nara'a a sheepish nod.

The other Goblimon just grunts, "Uh-huh, uh-huh," before getting the heck out of there as well. He briefly considers diving out a window before just using the door.

[aetherweaver]

He watches the pair go and sighs. "... I can tell that it was faster... I suppose I'm more used to weapon-based fighting." He shakes his head and goes to sit, carefully adjusting his armor so he doesn't scratch the seat. Botamon bounces over to Cutemon and smiles wide.

"I'm Botamon! This is Nara'a." The tamer's ears flick back and he smiles a bit sheepishly. "That's right. And what are your names?"

[chalicejoker]

Hajime takes a seat of his own, pulling Cutemon into his lap so the little Digimon can't go and get into more mischief. Like Hajime himself wasn't the one getting into more trouble there.

"I'm Cutemon!" Because of course Cutemon's going to handle the introductions. "And this is Hajime! It's nice to meet you both!"

[aetherweaver]

Cutemon... how very apt. He nods and flicks his tail for Botamon to nuzzle against as he sits next to his partner.

"It's nice to meet you, too. I take it you're going to go investigate in the jungle, too?" It's been some time since he's been to a proper jungle rather than a forest. They aren't exactly common on his world - not in the lands he's visited, at least. "You at least seem capable of defending yourself."

Mostly.

[chalicejoker]

"I thought it would be good to get away from the city for a bit." The city is far too peopley for Hajime's tastes, even if said people are Digimon.

"And he wants to try to fight anything that's causing trouble!" Cutemon adds. He's shameless. "Gonna take it down before it can hurt anything!"

[aetherweaver]

"I understand. I didn't grow up in a city... I know how it can be stifling for some people." Some cities are more open and easier to deal with, but the walls of some get to him sometimes.

"And... huh. Are you an adventurer, too?" That's totally all he is, yep.

[chalicejoker]

"I'm a photographer." Just a totally ordinary normal run-of the mill perfectly human photographer. Yep. "But since I don't have a camera here, I've got to find something to do with the time."

"We're gonna save the world," Cutemon says dramatically. "It's the best use of time! Since you gotta have a world to keep having time."

[aetherweaver]

"... Photographer?" Cameras aren't really much of a thing where he's from. If anyone has them, it's probably the Garleans - but he's no expert on Garlean technology.

"Save the world, huh? That's a pretty big undertaking. A lot on your shoulders... are you up to it?" Botamon mercifully remains quiet, just watching the other pair.

[chalicejoker]

"Photographer," Hajime says. "I take pictures of things." Perfectly normal human with a perfectly normal human profession, that's him.

"It's not just us," Cutemon says, "it's everyone here! We're all gonna do it! Together!" He pauses. "It's just that me and Hajime are gonna be the best at it."

[aetherweaver]

"Like drawings?" He's trying, okay.

Aw, Cutemon. You really live up to your name. "I don't know about that. Some of the others might be more experienced at that than you are..." Botamon looks up and meeps quietly. Does he mean... ?

[chalicejoker]

"Like an image of the world as it is. An exact image." Hajime does have a photograph on him, but since it is a special photograph, well, Nara'a has not yet leveled up their acquaintance to come even close to unlocking that level of backstory. He must soldier on, ironically enough, without a visual aid.

"Hajime's real experienced!" Cutemon's very insistent. "So that evens out me being real young!"

[aetherweaver]

"Huh." Definitely something that a Garlean would have, in his opinion. Still, that's not exactly a problem.

"I see. It's good that we've got experienced people. I think we're going to want to have those kinds of people for this. It sounds... pretty big."

But first, ancient temples! Knowledge! ... Probably being chased out by something big!

[chalicejoker]

"Big enough to pull people from different universes, I suppose." Hajime still doesn't really get it. He doesn't really like it. "We're just waiting for something to happen I suppose."

Cutemon's got his face pressed up against the window now. "When are we gonna get there, anyway?"

[aetherweaver]

"Yeah. It sounds a little similar to something I've seen before but with data instead of..." He waves his hand for a moment. "Never mind. I don't need to get into technical aetherology studies. Does your world even have aether?" He really can't be sure - he'd thought every place did, but this place seems to use data instead.

It reminds him of Omega, a little.

"I think we're still a while out... I haven't been this far, but there aren't jungle plants around the train yet."

[chalicejoker]

Hajime can only stare. "I don't even know what an aether is." That answers that question.

"Do you think they show up slowly, or do you think it's just a big surprise and you're suddenly surrounded by jungle plants?" Cutemon asks seriously. "I've never been!"

[aetherweaver]

"... It's." How does he even explain. "It's the fundamental 'stuff' that makes up everything. There's three main types - the mind, the soul, and physical aether. It's really quite fascinating, and it's a field of study with a lot of different -"

Botamon nudges his tamer, who flushes a little pink. He rubs the faint scar that crosses over his nose. "R-right. Sorry. I get a little too excited sometimes."

His Digimon turns his attention back to Cutemon. "I don't know. I've never been either. I guess there might be some slowly? Who knows! It's an adventure..."

[chalicejoker]

Hajime does not know how to deal with this level nerd ramble and briefly considers hurling himself out the window of the train before reminding himself that it would alarm Cutemon, who does not realize that he is immortal. "It's fine." Please do not keep going on and make it not fine. "I suppose everyone has something they get excited about."

"It's easy to get excited because we're going on AN ADVENTURE!" Cutemon can barely contain himself.

"He gets excited enough for both of us."

[aetherweaver]

His tail swishes at the word 'adventure', and he smiles broadly, his fangs on full display. "You're right to be excited about adventure. The prospect of it is enough to set any adventurer's heart racing with excitement. Who knows what we'll find? Hidden knowledge? Ferocious monsters? It's anyone's guess!"

"F-ferocious monsters? Do you really think we'll..." Nara'a frowns and gives Botamon a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

[chalicejoker]

"We'll help fight any ferocious monsters, too!" Cutemon strikes a pose with his hands on his hips. "...or at least Hajime will. He's good at stuff like that! But I heal him up after."

"Comes in handy," Hajime says.

[aetherweaver]

"That's good! I... admit that I don't have much talent for healing magick except for some emergency spells... but maybe I should seek out a healer next time I go exploring, just in case."

"I don't want you to get hurt..." "We'll be okay. I'm pretty hardy, after all. I've been adventuring for a long time." And saving the world besides, but here? Here he can be just another adventurer.

[chalicejoker]

"It's important to take care of yourself!" Cutemon says. "And if you ever get too banged up, I can heal you too! I can heal everyone!"

"Don't overdo it yourself," Hajime mutters while wondering why he's ended up with a Digimon that's so...bubbly.

[aetherweaver]

"He's right. You need to take care of yourself, too." It's not a bad idea, though. "I'll have to look and see who can heal around here."

Surely there's someone trained in those sorts of things that's around here. There's always at least someone around.