2017-02-18: Magic Carpet Ride
- Log: Magic Carpet Ride
- Cast: Hiro, Lucia, Jean, Lemina Ausa
- Where: Ruins of Memory
- Date: 02/18/17
- Summary: Hiro's band of miscreants boards Lemina's magic carpet expecting a ride down a mountain, not to the Blue Star. They crash land in the middle of ancient ruins, and...
DG: A party led by Lucia is now entering Ruins of Memory. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* Ruins of Memory *>============================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Entering the Depths *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The exterior of the Ruins of Memory has been well-combed. Drifters have cleaned out the huge ground level, which is easily moved through. However, as you approach the deeper parts, you can find a great hole leading into the depths of the ruins. It will require caution to enter the depths in one piece, but the rewards may be worth it. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.
Lucia is comfortable around ancient artifacts, being one herself, but when Lemina's flying carpet malfunctioned and fell UP instead of DOWN--
--SHE WAS NOT PREPARED.
It accelerates faster and faster, out of control, until Lunar is a distant memory and the Blue Star is getting real big, /real fast/. There's a lot to see, great expanses of desert and water and mountains and battle scars, but they're just going too quick to be able to get a good look.
Though tears are ripped from her eyes by sheer velocity and her banner of hair is fast becoming a lethal weapon for anyone sitting behind her, the inscrutable woman spends the trip quiet.
Unfortunately it isn't the good kind of quiet -- it's a dull-eyed sort of calm, not atypical for the still-weakened curse victim. She does seem to be passively helping, though: the void of space wouldn't have been very healthy for anyone, but she's emitting a faint blue light which suffuses the carpet and its riders, keeping everyone safe, warm, and breathing.
No mean feat of a contribution, really.
By the very, very end of the flight, as the massive planet zooms in to become a massive hole, there isn't much of that force field left to absorb impact. And Lucia's still just staring blankly forward.
DG: Lucia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Entering the Depths.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"WAUGH!"
"HIRRRROOOOOOO!"
It's a long chaotic journey. Imagine the longest fall you've ever had, then imagine on several magnitudes of order greater as they leave the stratosphere of one world, through the dark of space and then unto that of the next.
A myriad of colors spin like a kaleidoscope from dark to bright blue to so many more, blue hair getting into his eyes, orange cloak. But he can tell they're getting closer to the ground at least! Mostly because it's looming larger and larger every moment. A great abyss in the middle of a stone structure.
Instinct more than any real plan drives his actions next, as he grabs the coils of rope off his belt and swings the grapnel out just as the ruins grow too large to ignore.
If it catches something, then maybe his descent will be more controlled- maybe he'll even be able to briefly catch one- or even some of them with an outstretched hand-
At least until the velocity of the descent far outstrips his strength. Even if it does catch hold, all it does is cause their trip down to slow as he continues to slide down. Hemp fraying and burning his hand until-
He reaches the 'end of his rope'. And then he'd fall more with a thud like impact.
Not long after in either event-
There's a pained voice in the dark, "I think I ruptured my spleen... and I don't even know what my spleen does! Everyone-" And then a mess of pink fur barrels into him. "-Mmfkay?"
DG: Hiro has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Entering the Depths.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Unfortunately, it's Lemina's job to actually control the extremely out-of-control carpet, and right now, frankly, that's a disaster if there ever was one.
She can't spare any concentration to notice Lucia's blank stare, or... even anyone else's panic, really; flying this thing takes a /lot/ of mental effort, even when it seems more interested in flying /itself/ than anything else.
She can't even divert her focus long enough to /shout/; instead, she keeps all her attention on keeping the carpet semi-stable. Despite the fact that she's only met everyone within the last couple days, she just has to place her faith in them.
Unfortunately, this means she can't really do anything to save /herself/ from the impact until the last few moments; she's gotta keep the carpet stable.
... At least she's not sneezing -- that would be a disaster at /any/ height.
When it gets /too/ unstable, though, she's got to bail; /Hiro/ has already swung his grappling hook, which means Lemina turns instead to Jean...!
DG: Lemina Ausa has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Entering the Depths.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Jean had a very open mind about this whole magic carpet thing. She's certainly never been on one, and she's certainly never flown, so she was very curious about how it would work, in the practical sense. ...She was also interested in making sure Lemina was left in peace about it.
But the green-haired woman found herself floating up ith the others, suddenly gripping tightly on the carpet beneath her, white-knuckled, eyes widened as she looks around sharply--
She has to duck amidst whipping hair, and her ponytail is something of a blade. They go farther than they should've gone, farther than makes any sense, and it's beautiful and frightening and then they're on the other side of that blackness and--
falling
- quickly
- down
As the stones crash past and Jean spots the hole, she looks quickly around. She sees Hiro and Lucia, and then she sees their poor pilot, and...
Lemina turns to her as Jean is looking at Lemina, and she sets her gaze. "Hang on!" Already sitting close to Lemina in the first place to watch the magic, she slips closer, waits until the others are off, and grabs hold of the blonde to kick off of the carpet, her back towards the ruin wall. It knocks the wind out of her and sets her rolling, letting her diffuse some of the impact on the way down.
DG: Jean has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Entering the Depths. DG: You pass the challenge, and take 8 Exhaustion! You have 8 total Exhaustion. DG: The party led by Lucia has failed this challenge! The party gained 2 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.
Their long fall up ends as it began, in chaos.
The carpet is a real sport to support interstellar travel, but even it decides that it can't bear the strain, and, right above the hole, flips over, dislodging its passengers entirely (which mostly means Lucia, since Hiro had bailed and Jean had bailed with Lemina)! Then it, too, bails, soaring away into the skies of Filgaia. WHAT A JERK CARPET.
Jean gives a master class in how to survive a deadly fall; make no mistake, if she hadn't started to control her descent, things would have gone far, far worse than they already did. With Lemina grasped close to her, as close as any treasure, she's able to keep the magess largely safe -- and give her a soft landing.
Jean, meet rock bottom. Rock bottom, meet Jean. Lemina's bottom, also meet Jean.
And Hiro's hand flies out and grasps Lucia's. Her fingers feel long and soft and gentle, unsuited to the violence he once saw them wreak at the Blue Spire.
They are also warm.
But the moment of connection is fleeting -- they get separated when they get jarred off the rope, and Hiro hits the ground with a mighty THUD. Lucia seems primed to do the same, but at the very last second she flares a brighter blue, her red robe (also her hair) billows around her, and she lands lightly as a fairy.
Somewhere along the way, she lost her hat. But she conjures another one (or resummons the original?) out of nowhere with casual ease, settles it firmly on her head, and glares into the darkness.
"We are not supposed to be here," she says flatly, stringing together more words than usual.
There's a pause. Her eyes flare, burning with passionate zealotry.
"We are not supposed to be here!"
Uh oh, she's stuck on repeat.
DG: Hiro has drawn a new Challenge. ============================<* Ruins of Memory *>============================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Rubble Pile *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- A massive pile of rubble, consisting of small rocks and crushed pieces of wall, has fallen into the way of head. Some work to clear it may be the only option! =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
That moment of contact, brief and warm is everything that Hiro would have wanted. But he has no time to comprehend it, enjoy it. No time to even get flustered before he's impacted. At least Lucia- touches down gently and the others seem safe enough?
"Where exactly did you learn how to fly Lemina!? You almost got us killed!"
"Awww come on Ruby. Don't be so hard on her. It wasn't a /smooth/ ride, but it was actually kind of fun."
Picking himself up while Ruby flaps around to get a sense of his surroundings, he rubs his sore back, and takes the time to help the others up if Jean and Lemina haven't already.
"I didn't know you could float Lucia. The magic you still have is pretty nifty." He rubs the nape of his neck against rope burned hand, winces, then looks at his other, briefly growing flushed, before he takes in their surroundings. He doesn't really comprehend what Lucia is saying, or why she's saying it over and over.
"Don't worry Lucia! I'm sure it won't take us long to get out of here. We can't be that far off course. Besides- this place looks-"
Despite the pain, he feels this surge of glee at the thought of being in some place obviously ancient. Maybe it hasn't even been explored yet! What they find here could change everything about what they know on Lunar, "-looks like we'll have a great time sorting through this place."
The wall is collapsed though, and the haphazard pile of crumbled stonework and masonry and rubble is pretty steep. Hiro whistles. "It'd take ages to dig through that with my hands though. Lemina- you must have all sorts of incredible magic at your disposal." Other than the magic tester though and a flying carpet ride he hasn't seen it. "Incredible is a word for it." "You think you and Lucia could blast through it if Jean and me lend a hand? Ruby?" "Nope! Count me out! My flames don't have that kind of range." "Oh right."
It wouldn't be long after that he'd coordinate a squall of wind to try to shove aside the lesser rubble.
DG: Hiro has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Rubble Pile.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
When Lemina lands, it's with a surprised look on her face and a slight glance to one side; she offers a surprised, "I didn't expect the rocks to be this soft," she says, taking a moment to get herself comfortable and even recline a bit, taking some of the weight of the world off of her newly-aching butt.
Then she looks down.
Scrambling up to her feet, she rubs at her backside exaggeratedly, mumbling something unintelligible about the landing. Then, a little more loudly, she adds, "Where's my carpet? That thing's been in the Ausa family for..." She looks /up/ this time, out of the hole seeing it fluttering away. "... Mega-ugh," is all she can really say to that.
And now, of course, it's time to get in an argument! The first one of a new planet. Lemina shoots Ruby a dirty look, and folds her arms, calling back, "Only almost! And hey -- I can't be held responsible for magic older than I am!" She scrunches up her nose, looking away with a 'hmf.'
This gets her looking, instead, at the pile of rubble ahead. Lemina takes a second to rub at her aching head -- honestly, for her, the biggest casualty of the crash, except maybe the carpet. Controlling that thing is /hard/. "Yeah, /no kidding/ we shouldn't be here," she says to Lucia, shaking her head. "So I guess... let's work on /not/ being here!"
Hiro butters her up, and Lemina finally allows herself to smile. "That's /right/," she says, proudly. Naturally, she does what she does best: chuck ice at the rubble, then fire... then more ice... then more fire.
DG: Lemina Ausa has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Rubble Pile.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Jean meets rock bottom. It is in many ways exactly what she expected it to be. It is cold, it is hard, and it scrapes against her calves. It's also rather painful, even if the pain of falling down rocks isn't unfamiliar as pain goes.
Still trying to catch her breath, Jean finds that Lemina isn't... moving. jean's own arms have fallen to either side. "Right," she breathes out with a laugh at the crack about the rocks, and starts to sit up, drawing in a deep breath and suppressing what she can of the signs of pain.
"Hey, cheer up Lemina! We're all okay!" A tilt of her head, "Does that mean you know where 'here' is, Lucia?"
"...Right, I can lend a hand." Jean springs back up to her feet and steps around to the side of the rubble, waiting for spells along the way. Then she'll step in to get rocks out of the way with her bare hands.
DG: Jean has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Rubble Pile.
<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.
Lucia isn't very good at emotions, but her skinny frame plays host to a native, instinctual anger that -- as with her serious potential for violence -- Hiro's only seen once before, at the Blue Spire... when she spoke to her invisible friend that called itself Zophar.
It rolls off of her now, in invisible waves of doom, as she stares up at the hole they just fell into. Her gaze is so piercing, it's easy to imagine that she's looking even further than that, through the top of this place, through the sky, all the way back to... Lunar.
Or not.
"Yes," she acknowledges tightly to Hiro, without looking at him or at anyone. It's unclear what she meant -- 'yes' her magic is nifty? 'Yes' it won't take us long to get out of here, we can't be that far off course? 'Yes' this place looks like a great time to explore?
But his can-do attitude, and Lemina's, and Jean's, finally spur her into further speech.
"We are on the Blue Star," she explains in the same sorrowful tone that an ordinary person might use to announce that your cat just died. "We are on Filgaia."
She just kind of stands around while wind, fire and ice blast away, brooding inscrutably, and it's only when Jean takes a break that she casually gestures at the rubble and a blue-and-white explosion fills the zone.
DG: Lucia has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rubble Pile. DG: The party led by Lucia has failed this challenge! The party gained 2 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Lucia announces where they are.
Hiro was in the middle of the incantation for his spell.
It takes a few moments to comprehend what Lucia is saying- "Wait-WHAT!?"
And that is the moment his spell goes awry, causing more actual dust storm than wind. Setting him and Ruby to sneezing in moments and obfuscating vision. Explosions continue the trend of taking the rubble pile by storm. But between his miscast spell blocking everyone's vision and these stones being sturdier than they imagined-
The rubble pile still stands, it's just a bit shorter.
Hiro is pretty sheepish right now, but he then walks over to Lucia amidst the cloud of falling dust and, "You're serious? We're on- the Blue Star?"
You know those dreams you had as a kid of visiting fantastic places? What if one of them came true? Unfortunately it came true at a time when they need to be on /Lunar/!
"Wow. That's-" "Terrible! Just how are we going to get home?" She may be glaring at Lemina in particular, "Hey let's not panic- or point fingers Ruby. If we're on the Blue Star- I mean- we'll just have to find a way off it. Lucia has to know a way right? She came from here! Let's just get through this and we'll sort it out from there. Jean maybe if you climb up there you can give the rest of us a hand?"
The Rubble pile may be a bit smaller- but it's no longer impassable and at this point the party sort of has to climb, and squeeze through it. It's rough going on unstable, ever-shifting footing, but between helping each other they get through and-
DG: Lemina Ausa has drawn a new Challenge. =============================<* Ruins of Memory *>============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Gargoyle Statue *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Those who built this place crafted a mighty gargoyle statue to guard over this room. Wings spread out, fanged mouth open, and claws held wide, it looks fierce indeed. It does not attack, but when you try to walk past... a barrier of red light shimmers into existence and keeps you from going further. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
"We're on what." Lemina closes her eyes, trying not to pull a face -- which is, itself, pulling a face, so good work on that front. "I have stuff to do! Magic guilds to rebuild! Suckers to ex --" she pauses here, catching herself before she says something /too/ pointed.
Pulling away from the rubble, Lemina lets out a long-suffering sigh and says, "It's no use, everyone. There's way, way too much rubble to clear all the way..." Then everyone else is squeezing through, and Lemina just purses her lips. She /really/ doesn't want to have to push through -- but it looks like she's going to have to.
When they reach the other side, though, she's eager to move past -- so much so, in fact, that she sprints forward... and right into a barrier of red light. Landing on her butt again without a Jean to sit on this time, she mumbles, "O -- ooww..." Her attention lands on the gargoyle /now/, at least. "Hmmm..." she starts. "It looks like there's something we have to find in this room before we keep going..."
Reaching into one of the pockets of her dress and pulling out a pair of reading glasses, she declares, "Search the room for anything unusual -- switches, inscriptions, anything! We're not going to let something like /this/ stop us -- right?"
DG: Lemina Ausa has used its Tool Reading Glasses toward its party's challenge, Gargoyle Statue.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
"What!?" Jean blinks, eyes widening with a stare at Lucia. "We're on..." It distracts her too, from her efforts to move rocks and rubble. It's such that she almost doesn't notice when Lucia blasts apart more rock.
"Of course... We can do better when we get out of here. But..." A shake of her head. "Nevermind. Yes, Hiro, I can help." Jean slips up to the top with an easy climb, one-two-three and then te rest of the way up. She'll do just as asked, and then soon--
She has things to do back on Lunar, too. Too many things.
Jean follows after Lemina and then pauses, seeing her fall and gives an eye. "Something to find..." Stepping out of the way of the others, Jean peers around the room, looking for... anything. But there's a lot of 'anything' to look through.
DG: Jean has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Gargoyle Statue.
<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.
Lucia doesn't seem to feel too terrible about everyone's shock and awe, or how it totally ruins their efforts to move forward through the rubble. Then again, it's hard to tell what she's feeling at all.
And whatever floating magic Lucia used to soften her fall, it doesn't enjoy a reprise when it comes time to scrabble over the rubble. Hers is very slow going; she falls often, and also seems to be getting really interested in weird things, like 'a rock' and 'a rock' and also, when she passes it, 'a rock'. She has to be gently shaken out of whatever meditations she's having on these bits of rubble, over and over again. It's not fantastic.
When the shining energy barrier zaps into place, though, she's either totally nonplussed or else totally blase, unable to understand what the problem is at all. Maybe she can't see the color red, like a dog? But then what does she see when she looks at herself? Either way, she strolls forward like she's on a village street, glances at the gargoyle like it's her next-door neighbor, and nods, inscrutably.
One gets the feeling that nod was not really in answer to Lemina's pep talk.
If she asked a silent question to -- to the gargoyle, or the room, or maybe the world itself, she receives an answer: the pendant on her chest glows, not gold as one might expect, but with white fire all its own. It burns without heat but with great intensity.
Her voice is much the same, as she answers Hiro (and by extension, the group) both matter-of-factly and with the characteristic urgency she feels about her mission: "The same way I traveled to the Blue Spire the first time -- from the Black Spire. We must return to Lunar immediately. I must find the Goddess Althena."
DG: Lucia has used her Tool Lucia's Pendant toward her party's challenge, Gargoyle Statue.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Hiro cracks his back once they're on the other side, but is delighted by what he's seen. "Wow. These are sorta like the Guardians at the Blue Spire." "Hiro please! Don't jynx us like that! You remember what happened when they woke up right?" "Eheh- it's alright Ruby- I'm sure it's not like that at-"
And he almost runs face first into a field of red light, scrambling backwards, huffing and puffing.
"-Whoa!" He offers a hand to the less fortunate Lemina who fell over, though if she doesn't take it he's not offended. "You alright Lemina?"
After a moment, Hiro picks up a rock and tosses it at the red barrier and- watches it clatter to the floor. "That's pretty solid alright. Huh wait- I think Grandpa Gwyn mentioned something like this-"
Under his cloak, Hiro reaches into a pack, pulling out a notebook, and starting to flip through the pages, "Hiro- you still have Grandpa's notebook!? You know he doesn't like you taking his notebooks out of his library!" "Aww come on Ruby. He'd understand- he'd be thrilled even! And besides it's for a good cause- he sent us off on this mission with Lucia after all. You think he wouldn't want us to get through this-aha!"
He turns to a page of Dragon-headed statues lined up in a similar formation, a drawn squibbly blue field. As he peers at the diagrams and the arrows and the diagrams, it gives locations for possible hidden switches, and a short lexicon of common runes. Granted this was all on Lunar but-
"Yeah Lemina, I think you're definitely right. Let's see..." His hand begins a complete search of the outside of one of the gargoyles, searching for hidden buttons and switches- rough edges that might indicate all the while examining the book for better ideas of where to look. "... there's gotten be something."
Though he pauses for a moment in his search to just watch Lucia at work, when she answers, and nods- "Huh. Well then once we get out of here we'll have to take in the lay of the land. The Black Spire can't be too far off right?"
Oh how little does he know.
DG: Hiro has used its Tool Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook toward its party's challenge, Gargoyle Statue. DG: The party led by Lucia has passed this challenge! The party gained 27 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Lemina takes Hiro's hand, though she's slow to do so. Maybe if he'd had a banknote in it she would've been quicker.
The good news: Lemina finds an inscription near the base of the gargoyle! The bad news: she has no idea how to read it. It does indeed come with switches and buttons, though -- and once she finds that much, she points it out to the rest of the party. "Well, uh... have at it, everyone," she says, with a good-natured laugh.
Jean's exploration of the room yields a chest full of healing potions, while Hiro and Lucia work through the puzzle with a mixture of solid dungeoneering experience (some of which might not be Hiro's) and the guidance of Althena.
There's a very faint 'bwommmmm' noise, just barely audible. Lemina knocks on the invisible barrier once -- and finds nothing. "Phew! Hopefully that was the way out," Lemina says, promptly jinxing it for everyone before saying, "Let's keep moving," and moving to do -- well, just that.
DG: Jean has drawn a new Challenge. =============================<* Ruins of Memory *>============================== ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Spartoi *>============================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Undeath is a terrifying state. None know what creates it, but ancient soldiers within these halls have not found peaceful rest. As you approach, skeletons stir. They rise, clad in long-tarnished armor and holding curved blades that are chipped but still sharp. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
"Lucia to the rescue! I guess you know your way around here, huh?" Jean, for one, is relieved by Lucia's answer.
...She's also interested by what Hiro says, but the book probably goes right over her head in terms of content, and she doesn't begrudge that. It's good tht they have more of an explorer. Something...
"Right. Getting out of here is the next step." But there are healing potions and Jean definitely takes one, even if she's been putting on a good front. "Okay. We can keep moving," Jean agrees with Lemina. "I'll hurry up a little."
It's deathly quiet except for the scraping of something against stone, in the next room ahead. It's around a bend that it becomes clear what's there; a whole crowd of armored skeletons in tarnish and corpse odor. They hold chipped, still-sharped curved swords, and lurch around the room... until the group comes into their view. They immediately start lurching forward.
"Oh, no you don't," Jean answers, and uncoils a ribbon from her arm, taking the other end in her other hand, and starts a dance around then, quick then slow, to grab their attention and keep them distracted as best she can.
DG: Jean has used its Tool Silk Ribbon toward its party's challenge, Spartoi.
<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.
Lucia is too regal and distant to shrug at Jean, but her unfocused expression is vaguely affirmative. As she follows the others down the hallway, she doesn't contribute another word to the conversation, not one. It's kinda rude.
At least she isn't constantly stopping the group this time. Indeed, she doesn't seem to be paying much attention to her surroundings at all -- she doesn't blink at the skeletons clattering towards the group, or... do anything about them.
She's in the very back, so... maybe she's worried about hitting Jean and the others with friendly fire.
But battle rages into full swing, right in front of her, and Lucia continues to just... stand there. She doesn't even seem to be watching; her eyes are glazed, tracking nothing that can be seen by the others, maybe nothing, period.
Finally some skeletons make it past the line to threaten her personal space, and she murmurs, seeming dazed, "POWER." It has the resonant overtones of a brilliant speech, an intricate litany, but it was just a word, a single, impossibly potent word. Was it even in the common tongue? Everyone understood it, but...
In response, a shield of blue light forms in front of her, sketching itself into being one line at a time. Then it disappears. And though it presumably affords her some protection, it doesn't stop the leading skeleton from plunging his sword straight into her robes.
DG: Lucia has used her Tool Althena's Aura toward her party's challenge, Spartoi.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
The good news is they get through fairly easily between the three of them working together. Lemina is already proving herself to be so useful. "Hey good going Lucia! Makes sense you'd know your way around ruins on the Blue Star right?"
Perhaps he imagines Lucia's life before this one of a daring hero of Filgaia- blasting apart monsters with rain of plasma from the heavens, discovering, and knowing so many of the secrets of this world. The thought may make his heart pound just a little bit.
Putting the bad news is that in the next hallway- the dead rise. And one of them instantly takes a swipe at Ruby, "Hey bonehead! Lay off!"
Swerving out of the way, a gout of fire lets him know that was a bad idea. However- fire isn't quite enough, as it just keeps on swinging. "It's alright Ruby- leave it to-" But Jean surges into combat. "-us." It's so different from how she was just a few short days ago, so hesitant to show off her skills. Hiro feels a swell of pride at her flashing, dancing ribbons in this rhythmic dance- "Wow." - which emboldens him to rush in after her.
It starts with him unholstering his boomerang, giving it a toss, as it arcs to try to rattle a few skulls, and ends in him catching it, while rushing forward and unsheathing his sword to dodge, parry and- block? "Uh oh-" "What do you mean Uh-Oh?" "Can't find my-" Which results in him having to make some desperate parries with his sword, his flow thrown a little off by the sudden realization.
He lost his shield during the flight.
But a skeleton is advancing on Lucia, and suddenly he whips forward and darts to the side- "Lucia!" -as a skeletal sword clatters to the ground- right in front of her to try to intercept that blow before it lands and drive it high-
His image of her as a world-roving adventurer isn't thrown off at all. She just isn't used to the loss of all of her sorcerous powers yet, right?
DG: Hiro has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Spartoi.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
No rest for the wicked, it sees -- Lemina's glasses afford her a near-immediate reaction to the skeletons as they head into the next room, and she hops back as fast as her little legs can carry her. "Mega-/WHOA/!" she says, pulling out an umbrella and flaring it out on reflex. It isn't much of a defensive tool -- but it's the best she's got right now.
Unlike Lucia, she springs into action immediately, beginning a long spell chant. She focuses on the middle-most skeleton of the pack as she does it; she has to make a /bit/ of a guess about how they're going to move -- but as long as they just move in toward the party, well, she can't be /that/ far off...
"You're toast!" she declares proudly as she finishes her spell, lobbing a big gout of flame into one of the skeletons that then explodes into a bigger burst on impact. It's not enough to stop one of them from reaching her and giving her, at the bare minimum, a few scratches -- but between her umbrella and spotting them early, she's not in /too/ bad a position...
She makes note of Lucia's spell for later. That's something she /has/ to learn. ... she /can/ learn it, right?
DG: Lemina Ausa has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Spartoi. DG: The party led by Lucia has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Unfortunately for Lucia, the sword of the leading skeleton plunges into more than just robes, but into her side. It is no more forgiving than was the ground for the rest of them during their fall.
The 'bonehead' meanwhile attempts to strike back, and trades blows with Hiro, but it's the one tht struck at Luca that Hiro destroys first. Lemina's spell meanwhile renders a bunch of their foes toast all at once, and the last Jean slips forward towards, trading ribbon for fans and whirling in place to hit it one-two-three.
Thanks to the group as a whole, the skeletons are gone, and Jean closes her eyes, centering herself. Her eyes snap open, "Are we all all right?" She does what she has to do, for her part.
She's ready to move forward as soon as they're ready.
DG: Lucia has drawn a new Challenge. =============================<* Ruins of Memory *>============================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Puzzle-Locked Doors *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- When you enter this chamber, the door ahead of you and the door behind you slam shut. Forcing them will be a long, arduous process. Perhaps something in the room will unlock the doors? =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.
Perhaps the saddest thing Lucia's done today is fail to meaningfully react to getting stabbed. She just looks down at the wound -- then over at Hiro as he dispatches the skeleton -- and then continues to stand there, not quite slack-jawed but definitely indifferent, as she drips blood and the fight comes to its climax and then to its end.
Afterwards, she invokes another word of power: "HEAL..."
It bathes Hiro in blue and white light.
Her wound continues to drip as she wanders through the carnage into the next room. In the lead, she is heedless of any traps, and the heel of her boot /definitely/ hits a pressure plate.
The doors SLAM shut, the rear one nearly cutting Ruby in half (though she's able to skitter inside -- and you haven't heard a skitter until you've heard an aerial one).
Lucia stares at the doors, then at the group. She seems to finally be coming back.
"You are strong, for humans," she murmurs, a truly helpful observation for the puzzle at hand.
Her pendant is glowing again...
DG: Lucia has used her Tool Lucia's Pendant toward her party's challenge, Puzzle-Locked Doors.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
The skeleton is dispatched- "Good work everyone- Wow Jean. You were really something out there!" -and he's bathed in white light- "Thanks Lucia!" He smiles, but he assumed she healed herself too. He doesn't realize until a few moments later given the color of her robes, as red drips behind her- that, "Lucia! Wait- Lucia! You need to heal yourself too!"
"Hiro don't bother! She's off in her own world again!" "Don't bother, she's bleeding all over the floor!" Doesn't she feel that!? Once again Lucia surprises him, they'd been in quite a few battles together but there was always this sense of otherworldliness that baffles her. He knew she felt pain! That curse made sure that he knew.
And yet into the room- her foot steps on a pressure plate. And a door slams shut, "Alright- Uh- Look sure we're strong and you're strong too but-" Out comes the notebook again, he's flipping through the pages rapidly to the section on traps... but every so often he's looking at Lucia and fretting. Maybe her glowing pendant will heal her? He hopes so.
DG: Hiro has used its Tool Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook toward its party's challenge, Puzzle-Locked Doors.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Lemina is among the first into the room, with only a few scratches for her trouble with the skeletons... though her umbrella is a little tattered. That'll need fixing later. ... hopefully the Blue Star still knows what umbrellas are, right? Who /knows/ what this planet is like. "I'm fine," she offers Jean, folding up her umbrella for now and putting it away. Away where? Inventory space. It's fine.
As she gets her bearings in the newly-locked room, Lemina -- still wearing those glasses, and for the moment seeing no reason to put them back away, given the circumstances -- purses her lips a bit and listens to Lucia. "... So, uh, Hiro," Lemina says, sidling up to her fellow adventurer. "Is your friend, you know, always a mega-weirdo, or did she hit her head on the way down? Jeez, she's not even trying to hold it in..."
If you have time to editorialize, Lemina, you have time to look for blocks to move and floor switches to hit! Which is of course exactly what she does, hopping on every other place on the floor that looks like it could be a pressure plate and shoving... things, in general. Dungeons are weird.
DG: Lemina Ausa has used its Tool Reading Glasses toward its party's challenge, Puzzle-Locked Doors.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
"...It's really nothing to praise me over," Jean answers Hiro, glancing away again. It's easier in the moment to focus on Lemina who gives her an answer, since Jean still doesn't know Lemina terribly well.
Jean doesn't say anything about Lucia's bleeding; she just looks in some alarm at her... and seems to let it go, for whatever reason thta she doesn't give. Shortly they're inside a newly-locked room instead, and Jean turns, looking around. "Lucia goes through a lot," Jean says to Lemina. "I'm sure you've got your weird points like anyone." But she has no particular skills to help here other than attention to detail. So, Jean gets to it; bending at the knee she starts searching around.
DG: Jean has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Puzzle-Locked Doors. DG: The party led by Lucia has passed this challenge! The party gained 37 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.
Hiro doesn't glean much from all his stares at Lucia -- maybe that's the true purpose of that flowing, blood-red cloak that comprises the iconic centerpiece of her wardrobe. But Gwyn's notebook gives him exactly what he's looking for -- the sketch of a pattern that Lemina has already half-picked out from the stone tiles on the floor. They make quick work of how they're supposed to step from there, and send Jean through the sequence.
But instructions without understanding don't yield sufficiently precise results. There's a moment of confusion -- were Hiro and Lemina mistaken? -- and then Lucia repeats the sequence, in an eerie echo of her ally. The dancer is far more graceful -- the aptly termed mega-weirdo just walks it like she's walking down the street.
It takes her to the other door, and when it makes a grinding sound but doesn't open, her green eyes flash with a hint of impatience, and her hand appears from outside of her robe, and lifts her pendant a little higher, brandishing it demandingly.
...the doors slide open.
Lucia's wound drips again, and she blinks, intaking breath sharply. Maybe she forgot about it.
"HEAL," she intones, and it probably goes away. No more drips are heard, anyway.
Words are. Well, a word. "Soon..."
It's not a word of power; it might be a word of prediction.
DG: Hiro has drawn a new Challenge. ============================<* Ruins of Memory *>============================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Sealed Doorway *>======================= |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The door at the end of this hall has a great lock on it. Unfortunately, no key was ever to be found inside of the ruins to this point. Perhaps it was stolen or perhaps it was lost. It is no matter - the door must be broken down through other means. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Oh come on Lemina. It's not like that. Lucia is just really..." He thinks up a word, "...determined." Ruby however flies close to Lemina's ear and murmurs, "It's exactly like that."
Hiro is pretty quick to show Lemina that sketch- helping her with her half worked out theory. And then it becomes fun. He might have even played around a little bit hopping from one tile to another. But right now he's a little too worried about how Lucia /isn't/ worried about her wound. Thankfully, the doors slide open and Lucia seems to remember she's bleeding. He breathes a sigh of relief- not making any more fuss now that that's handled, cheering up instantly as they stride into the next room.
Across the room, trying to be mindful of more pressure plate type traps by the way his eyes are scanning it, he moves over to the next room and across it to the door which looks like layers of metal. It has a giant lock, with what looks like has an even more elaborate mechanism. "Uh- anyone find a key? See a key? No?"
Hiro scratches the back of his neck, "Well- Plan Bust it Down that is." Hiro takes a deep breath, then dashes at it, trying to ram his shoulder into it and- doesn't even shake the metal but almost drops him to the floor. "Ow- Ow- geez- that's sturdy. Was hoping the hinges would be more rusted by now!" He rubs his shoulder with a wince. "Alright- looks like it's Magic Time-" He grins at Lemina, "-Or Mega Magic time in your and Lucia's case."
Taking a step back- he waits for the others to begin their incantations- then adds his trying to time it with the others spells so that they'll synergize and hopefully blast it down, "Ferocious Winds!"
DG: Hiro has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Sealed Doorway.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Lemina replies to Ruby, before they head forward. She looks across to the door, allowing herself a... /little/ relief that Lucia has bothered to heal herself. She doesn't know the other woman that well yet -- but there's something about an unattended wound that's just nervewracking!
Jean gets a reply, too. "I'm so normal I'm mega-normal," Lemina -- who made these idiots go through a haunted manor, skulking around behind them in a cloak solely so she could throw it off dramatically when they defeated her Magic Tester, just hours ago -- says. Even she can't keep a straight face about it.
So they've come to... a door without a key, huh. Lemina's up for that.
"The Magic Guild of Vane," Lemina says smoothly, with a smirk on her face, "has records of a spell that will open any door." She lets that sit for a moment, then says, "I don't know it and I don't... rrrreaaaally care to learn it," before just chucking a giant ice lance at the door, crying out, "Ice storm!"
Well, it's certainly /a/ solution.
DG: Lemina Ausa has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Sealed Doorway.
<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.
Lucia stares at the door, and its lock, and her brows knit, just a little bit. Something about it troubles her. She can't articulate why, or maybe she won't...
Regardless, she watches Hiro bounce off of it, then the boy and magess start casting in concert. It might make complete and total sense for her to join them, but -- well, maybe that's why she does something else instead.
She looks at Jean -- /looks/, fully-focused, dialed in for what feels like the first time in ages, and the full weight of her attention is a heavy burden to bear.
"POWER."
It lightens quickly though... because the dancer suddenly becomes a whole lot buffer-feeling than normal. There is the brief ghost of a sword erupting from beneath her and traveling up her. It is not a violent phantasm, but rather a sigil of potency -- blue tinged with green, and suddenly Jean is filled with the strength of Lucia's convictions.
And /that/ is a lot of strength.
DG: Lucia has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sealed Doorway.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
"Mega-normal, huh?" Jean doesn't make fun of Lemina. She just makes the one comment. That's it.
"No, no key," Jean agrees with Hiro, and lets out a breath as she sees Hiro try and fail to just bust it down to start with, which was admittedly close to her own plan. The two are then casting spells themselves, and it doesn't leave a lot of room until...
Lucia is looking at her. Jean turns her head, blinks as if to ask what the attention is for, but then she hears that word, /feels/ that word, and if she can't see the spectral image then she doesn't need to see it to understand what it means. She feels stronger, more powerful, and she wonders what she should feel about this.
"...All right. I can..." Jean steps forward, and eyes the door, looking for points that the other two have weakened, or shown to be weaker thanks to their abilities. Then she widens her stance, and...
"Hah!" She starts striking with her hands at those points.
DG: Jean has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sealed Doorway. DG: The party led by Lucia has failed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
The wind causes the ice lance to accelerate! It shatters into the door. Freezing in into bright blue- Jean's Lucia empowered strength careens into the frozen door and!
It doesn't budge.
More spells and attempts by the party and-
Eventually Ruby spews a gout of flames at the lot making it red hot.
Hiro is huffing and puffing by now, "I'm pooped Hiro. This door isn't budging!" "Alright everyone, seems we have to find the key- let's-"
FIVE RANDOM ENCOUNTERS OF SKELETONS LATER
A sword crashes into a skeleton and makes it fall still. "-keep-"
THREE MORE PRESSURE PLATE CLOSING DOORS
Lucia opens a door. "-going surely-"
TWO MORE GARGOYLE BARRIERS
Jean finds a switch! Take that hidden puzzles. "-we'll find it soon-"
THAT DARNED RUBBLE PILE
Lemina teaches a rubble pile who's boss, by exploding it again. Something metallic schwings out and Ruby catches it in mid-air, "Found it!"
"Good work you two." "If it took any longer I'd be picking out grey hairs."
AND BACK TO THE DOOR
The party is fairly exhausted by the time Ruby proudly slides in the key, and Hiro gives it a turn. Into the room they go something is glittering- "Looks like we found some treasure!"
UNTIL-
DG: Lemina Ausa has drawn a new Challenge. =============================<* Ruins of Memory *>============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Rolling Boulder *>======================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- One massive, final hallway awaits. It may seem deceptively simple, as it leads to an open doorway. Through there is a suggestive glitter of something -- perhaps treasure, perhaps somehting else - and it might seem that you only have to walk to your prize. Until, of course, you hear a click and then a thundering crash. A massive round boulder drops down from above you - and starts rolling, ready to crush you under it! =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
By the time they get back to the door, Lemina is exhausted; she's put away her reading glasses for fear of having them get broken or back-blasted while she blows something up, and, frankly, she just wants to get out of here. They're close to the exit -- and, for that matter, to /treasure/, it looks like.
Needless to say, she starts down the hall toward the treasure rather than just making a beeline for what seems like it might be the exit -- and that's when it all goes pear-shaped. There's a distinct clicking noise in the floor, and Lemina pauses, pulling her foot up. No spears... no doors locking...
Instead: a boulder starts rolling toward the party, /and/ the treasure.
"Aaaaaah!! Run!" Lemina cries out, starting to beat feet as fast as she can. She can't just leave well enough alone, though, when there's treasure... which means she /also/ tries to yank the treasure box along with her with her Thieves' Staff, a mighty telekinetic yank drawing it across the floor along with her as she sprints, and encourages everyone /else/ to do the same.
DG: Lemina Ausa has used its Tool Thieves' Staff toward its party's challenge, Rolling Boulder.
<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.
FUN FACTS ABOUT THE DOUBLE LENGTH DUNGEON CRAWL
- Number of Times Lucia Heals Herself While Unwounded: 8
- Number of Times Lucia Runs Away In The Middle Of A Fight: 3
- Number of Times Lucia Casts An Offensive Spell: 0
- Number of Times Lucia Casts A Useful Spell At All: 1
"POWER," she said, and Lemina felt her magic /explode/ out of her when she detonated that rubble. They're lucky she didn't slag the key.
- Number of Times Lucia Casts A Useful Spell At All: -1
NOW
Lucia is also tired -- she gives off a sense of inexorability, of endless continuity (if highly limited patience), but Hiro and Ronfar and Ruby know better, and now Jean and Lemina do too. There's a strain to her face that her robes can't hide, and her eyes are back to their typical dullness, with an atypical focus on the floor.
She doesn't even /notice/ the boulder. Someone will have to drag her out of the way. The good news is that when they do, she will lift bodily from the ground and can be towed like a big red kite.
DG: Lucia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rolling Boulder.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
It's a challenge to stay positive after all that backtracking, but Jean largely manages it--it's just possible to see the edges of her smile at points while she goes. At least she was able to find a switch herself, though. Regardless Jean's tired too, and it's demoralizing to have failed.
But they're in a nicer, kinder room until *click*. Jean immediately steps back, looking around for--for what Lemina spots first. She can't believe Lemina is going for the treasure. She can't believe it's working. ...She's not going to stop and entertain those thoughts. Instead she bolts, running in heels in ways that could make a shoe-lover jealous. She spins a fan out and hurls it as she goes, letting it bounce back and hurling it again, both for support beams that can hopefully help slow the boulder down for all of them.
"It's good exercise, right!?"
She doesn't stop running, she just keeps throwing as she sees opportunity, keeps checking for friends slowing down.
DG: Jean has used her Tool Throwing Fans toward her party's challenge, Rolling Boulder.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
It's a glitter of treasure, and while Hiro would normally be all for rushing to it, he's kinda suspicious. Especially when he hears a clicking noise in the floor. Suddenly wary- he turns and gapes as a giant boulder starts rolling down. And Lucia looks like her eyes are all but glazed over.
In a panic at the thought of all of them being suddenly squished, but Lucia being in the most danger- Hiro rushes over her, puts an arm around her- and starts to beat feet, but given how he's moving with Lucia in tow he can only keep a few strides ahead of it down the ramp it's descending, "Lucia move move move!" "HIRO HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A DRAGON PANCAKE BECAUSE I HAVEN'T!" "Ruby! No Grapnel, Red alert!" Right! Leave it to me!
Fortunately, due to Jean's assistance, the support beams slow it down enough that they're not crushed outright. Hitching open one side of his pack and flaring his cape while running, Ruby descends to grab the spare length of rope in her maw, then shoots forward- wings flapping furiously in a blur of pink.
She zooms around an ensconced unlit torch set on a higher ledge, and encircles it once twice thrice and loops it through- "Everyone grab on!" Ruby spits and rubs a paw across her mouth
The young teen holds onto the other end with all his might to support their combined weight, shifting his arm around Lucia's waist and once it grows taut, swings forward, and the two of them starts to swing further down the ramp, shifting his legs immediately to hold to it- giving people who need it an opportunity to leap up and grab the swinging rope, while the boulder- would hopefully keeps rolling underneath. Hangers on that jump on after may need to climb pretty furiously
DG: Hiro has used its Tool Ruby Being Helpful toward its party's challenge, Rolling Boulder. DG: The party led by Lucia has successfully explored Ruins of Memory! =============================<* Ruins of Memory *>============================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Ancient Tomes *>========================= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Discovery |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Some of the rooms on the deepest levels of the Ruins of Memory are libraries. This room is stacked to the ceiling with shelves. While many of the books have crumbled to dust, several are yet salvageable. The contents, at a glance, are novels and comedies from the Metal Demon Wars era - on social issues, rather than history, but they may well find a home with a serious scholar. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
The party /just barely/ manages to out-climb the boulder -- just barely, because Lemina insists on doing it one-armed while using the Thieves' Staff to keep the treasure with her with the other, like a brat. Slowing the boulder with the beams is probably what makes the difference, in the end. Once it passes, they're free to head into the next room, Lemina bravely hugging her newfound friend: treasure.
By the time the group is in the next room, however, her expression has soured, because the treasure consists entirely of sets of spectacles. At least they'll be able to identify monsters...?
Speaking of this new room! The bad news: it's not the exit... /yet/. That's still a few doors down.
The good news: It's a totally safe place, and the only things between /this/ room and the exit are trivially-explodable Balloons.
Lemina, for her part, chooses to get lost among the shelves almost instantly, saying, "This is... this is incredible! Thes books are so, /so/ old...! Like, /mega/-old!" There's a beat, before she adds, "The Magic Guild of Vane thanks you, Blue Star, and you, treasured provisional members, for your generous donation to its already-expansive library."
<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.
Lucia, still in Hiro's arms, glances down at him and... her lips curl in the tiniest, tiniest smile. But it's nothing compared to her expression when she sees the books, later.
How can one face hold so much grief -- and so much hope -- at the same time?
"I would like," she articulates with grave clarity, "To read them. Please."
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
As a rule, Jean doesn't like trivially explodable anything... But this room is nice. It doesn't pique her interest all that much except for being safe, and she immediately picks a spot and sits down on the floor to rest her feet. "Ahh..."
Grinning at Lemina, she almost says something before she looks over at Lucia when she's so serious, sees her face.
"...I'm sure that won't be a problem. Right, Lemina?"
It's better than Jean expected from the boulder. ...Or from falling into a pit.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Lucia's expressions are subtle, which is why the smallest one is like fireworks exploding in his chest. A furnace in his face. "L-Looks like we made it!" "Thanks to me!" "You're the best Ruby." But he's not looking at Ruby right now.
He grins so wide, as he lets her down then himself. He's lingering for a few seconds as he rubs to the back of her neck. But then he follows, as Ruby comes not long after, with the loop of rope in her mouth. It's not long before she hands it over to Hiro.
But there's a room full of books. "Wow- I bet these are full of stories from this world. Stories from your world- Hey Lucia!" He wants to ask if he can read them- but then he sees her face- lined with so much grief and hope- hears her plea.
And the cheerful grin fades from his face to become a more serious expression. "Tell you what. We'll trade off. Lucia then Lemina after-" And he gives this little shrug, "-but hey- once you read about them Lucia, could you tell me all about them?"
His cheer returns, "I always love a good story. I think I'd like it even more coming from you."
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
"Well... yeah. I mean, we need to know what kind of books they /are/, don't we?" Lemina says to Lucia and Jean, and -- slightly begrudgingly -- gets out of the way. She's more than willing to let Lucia have first crack at any books from the Blue Star... even if she /does/ intend to get at least some of them back to Vane eventually.
"Let me know if you don't want to read any of them right here and now," she adds, after a second. "I'm more than happy to carry the wisdom of the ages! I promise I won't sell it to the first library we find here or anything!" A pause, before she adds, "Does... the Blue Star have libraries...?"
That headscratcher seems to stop her train of thought.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
A few seconds pass of him beaming so brightly. Lemina asks a really good question, what is Lucia's world like? What's the Blue Star like?
And then suddenly a thought occurs to him-
"Uh- hey everyone- where's Ronfar?"