2017-03-22: Sacrifice

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  • Log: Sacrifice
  • Cast:Ethius Hesiod, Jacqueline Barber , Riesenlied
  • Where: Sacred Grounds of Linga
  • Date: 499 PC
  • Summary: Jacqueline and Riesenlied descend into the Sacred Grounds of Linga along with Mysterious Stranger Ethius, but the Dig quickly turns sour as they're trapped behind monstrous lines.


<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Several fliers had gone up around town and a notice had been issued through the Guild, all bearing the same message.

"Looking for brave souls for an expedition into the Sacred Grounds!

Are you interested in aiding scientific research? Looking to get your hands dirty? Or maybe you're just looking for some extra gella to line your pockets.

If you said 'yes' to any of the above questions, then we want you! Interested parties should contact Jay for further information." The rest of the advertisement was filled with a variety of fine-print and a list of possible meeting times.

Jacqueline was particularly proud of her advertisement. At the moment her wagon - a run-down old thing painted with garish colors that had faded with time and pulled by a nameless horse - was parked a safe distance away from the entrance to the caves.

She sat at the front, leaning against the back of her seat and idly mixing a few potions for the dig ahead as she waits for anyone to arrive.

Of course they would come. Who could ignore such a finely-written advertisement? Or the promise of cold hard cash, but she liked to think it was the former.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

The flier also appears to have a little dragon paw and a scribble that says 'Come meet a real live dragon!' underneath it.

Odjn bobs next to Jay with her arms folded, looking super excited and equally proud. "We'll have people lined up going 'me, me! I'll even pay you!' before you know it, Jay!"

Riese couldn't help but chuckle faintly at her dragon's antics, already apologising... but, she'd found Linga very fascinating indeed, having purchased a few books and musing at length about how fascinating it was to see the professors who wrote some of the treatises that she read 'long ago' and how it's great to catch up with the newer versions of such venerable published works.

"Riese, you're such a nerd," was Odjn's only comment to that.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

It could also be that some of her would-be taker-uppers, coincidentally, may yet be lingering around the very entrance within the notable caverns to the Drifter community. It's not too hard to find a little something interesting, some item or object of at least passing academic curiosity or worth. Dangerous, but at least a near-guarantee of getting some pocket change out of the attempt if you make it back out of there in one piece.
...
Is that what draws this one, here? Odjn, the close companion of Riesenlied, may spy that familiar mane of white hair, that distinctive silhouette cast by both the bandanna and poncho. The way that, when the wind flows, it's like something of a dancing flame.
...
He hasn't come over to the wagon to say hello. He's holding onto some curious metal-like stone in hand, for whatever reason. Back turned to the others, the mysterious stranger - one Ethius Hesiod - is yet again another curious fixture currently accessorizing the entrance to some ruin or another.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Odjn sliiiiiinks over and... ...bobs next to Ethius' head, and goes, "Boo!" A pause, and then she just about throws herself over in mid-air with laughter. "It's Ethius! How you doin' since last time, bud!"

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Odjn's little addition had made Jay chuckle. She had to keep it. After all, Odjn was right. A dragon was an interesting thing to see. People would come either to see Odjn or to try to uncover her as a fake, and either way they'd be close enough to rope into the expedition or, at the very least, selling some products too. It was a cunning plan.

She spent time discussing books with Riesenlied until she spotted a stranger nearby. A potential taker, perhaps? Odjn is apparently the first one to spot him, as she was already half-way to him before Jay had even dismounted from the wagon.

It seems as if the two of them knew each other. Well, that made things easier.

She strolls towards him, looking him over. He didn't look like one of the scholars from Linga. There was only one conclusion she could come to.

"Hey there, mister. You here about the expedition?" She asks, addressing Ethius directly.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

The usual body language of humans being startled does not come to surface, but whatever object he was holding is stashed back under the poncho in the blink of an eye. Maybe even less than a blink. (The 2D animation of this era of JRPGs isn't that fluid.)

Turning about-face to the sneaky familiar, eyes narrowed ever so slightly. The two of them did not part on uneasy terms, but, there doesn't seem to be much... warmth, in the familiarity of faces and spoken names.

"Ah... Miss Odjn, is it?" He says, holding a hand up to his face for the moment. "How I've been 'doin is of little consequence."

Shady and mysterious, as always... when another approaches, he lowers his hand.

"An expedition? Ah... I am in the company of other curious sorts, once again." His tone of voice is so neutral that one can't tell if he considers this an inconvenience or a boon. "I was about to set foot within myself. If you would have me, I would be happy to assist..."

The familiar and her master could vouch for him and his abilities, in any case.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"He's creepy and he's kooky, mysterious and spooky, but he's a pretty good hand for dungeoneerin', sir!" Odjn salutes and gestures towards Ethius, as Riese blinks and follows Jay to where Ethius and Odjn had gathered together. "Hmm... it is nice to meet you again, Mister Ethius." She nods at Jay, and then flexes herself just a little. "My wing is feeling a bit stiff, but flight should still be possible."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Ah, so it seems he hadn't heard about her after all. Would it be unethical to not pay him, since she hadn't technically offered him anything? Jacqueline considered that for a second, but the moral side of her won out. She wouldn't say anything right away, but she'd at least offer him compensation once they were through.

Odjn's little tune gets a chuckle out of Jacqueline, and it gets the point across. If they trusted him, so would she. She nods, and extends a hand towards Ethius.

"Any friend of these two is a friend of mine. You can call me Jay." She introduces herself, then glances over towards Rieselind. That she was fine with discussing her wings around this man must mean he knew about her. That was another good sign.

"That so? Well, hopefully you won't have to strain it too much." She somehow doubted that would be the case, though. These little journeys always had a way of making things difficult on you.


DG: Jacqueline Barber's party information reset!

DG: Ethius Hesiod's party information reset!

DG: Jacqueline Barber has created a party! To join, type +party/reset and then type +party/join Jacqueline Barber.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

The hand is taken with a gentle shake. Jay might take closer notice of the tattoos running up his arms - he appears to be a Symbologist, but the way they're arranged and shaped do not match the styles typical to scholars of the area. Really, he looks more like a ruffian! Yet, he sure doesn't speak like one.

"I am Ethius Hesiod. I will endeavor to be a valued asset for our expedition." Polite enough. If Reisenlied isn't chasing him off, he doesn't seem to be the sort to sweet talk someone into a death trap... right?

"Are you nursing an injury, then?" He says to Riesenlied, more matter-of-factly. "I do have a few spare Heal Berries, if that would be of help," he's already rummaging under the poncho.

...Doesn't he have pockets? Normal pants pockets. Why doesn't he put anything in those?

DG: Ethius Hesiod's party information reset!

DG: You have joined Jacqueline Barber's party! Exhaustion reset! Remember to load your Tools for this adventure using +tools/load before setting out. You can't change them once you've entered the dungeon!

DG: Riesenlied has left your party.

DG: Riesenlied has joined your party!

DG: You've readied your Tool, Tiny Odjn! It has 3 uses available!

DG: You've readied your Tool, Angel Wings! It has 2 uses available!

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied gestures kindly to say, "That is kind of you, but it isn't the kind of injury berries can help with, unfortunately. It just needs some time." It's a plot injury, you see."

She folds her arms gently and glances towards the caravan, before she suggests, "I don't ... believe anyone else will be underway, unfortunately. Shall we lock up the caravan and explore the Sacred Grounds?"

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline is quick to take note of the symbols on Ethius's arms as they shake. A Symbologist, then? That was useful. She didn't recognize them personally, but she wasn't particularly knowledgeable when it came to Symbology. Crest Sorcery was her area of expertise, besides potions. Not knowing specific symbols didn't mean much to her.

"Charmed, Mister Hesiod." She says with a nod and a smile before retrieving her hand.

Jacqueline waits for a short time, but eventually she has to agree with Riesenlied. It doesn't look like anyone was coming, though it was just as well. It might make the path ahead more difficult, but that meant less people she had to pay. "Right. Just a second, then." She says.

She walks back to the wagon, securing it and her horse safely before slapping a Crest on the side for security.

"Alright, let's get started." She says with a nod, then starts for the entrance.

DG: A party led by Jacqueline Barber is now entering Sacred Grounds of Linga.

DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.

========================<* Sacred Grounds of Linga *>=========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Annoying Ascent *>=======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The path to the Sacred Grounds of Linga leads your party up a long and        
twisted mountain slope. Bare patches of earth suggest a path once existed,    
but now it seems you'd have to be half-goat to follow it in places. The       
first challenge of the Sacred Grounds, it seems, is climbing your way to the  
entrance.                                                                     
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline leads the group ahead, leaving her wagon behind. She reaches into one of her bags, pulling out a note and looking it over. "Looks like the right place." She says, staring up at the slope that unfolds before them. That in itself could cause trouble. She often found gravity to be amongst the deadliest of foes.

Was it merely time that had worn away the path, or were other forces responsible? Either way, they weren't left with much to work with.

She replaces the note and takes a second to consider her methods. "Well, looks like this is the only way forward..." She says.

She begins to climb, slowly and steadily. It was difficult work, but she had few other options. Fortunately, she had some experience with climbing to fall back on.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Annoying Ascent.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius, as he is prone to be, is more towards the back of the team as they work their way along up the mountain path. 'Path' is generous, as the way the lines simply end, fracture, or otherwise prove difficult to follow seems to give him pause at almost every juncture.

At one curious point, he faces back to the others. He points a line up on high, but then back down low. He might need to be reminded not to look into the sights much, unless there's something there to them...?

He offers little color commentary nor creative solutions to this leg of their journey into the Sacred Grounds.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Annoying Ascent.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied has a wry little smile as she glances up, and then says, "Aah... and here, we find ourselves needing it already." She slips her cloak off -- Ethius and Jay have both seen her without her cloak, where her black and orange wings stretched out wide. Much like how she'd commented earlier, the left one was still extensively wrapped up in bandages, though with an experimental stretch, they seemed... to function.

"Just going to take it easy," as she soared up and sprung into the skies, trying to overtake the cliff slopes and toss a rope down to mark their passage upwards.

DG: You use your Tool Angel Wings against your party's Challenge, Annoying Ascent!

DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Angel Wings toward her party's challenge, Annoying Ascent.

DG: You pass the challenge, and take 8 Exhaustion! You have 8 total Exhaustion.

DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has passed this challenge! The party gained 22 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> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline stalls in her climb upward as she observes Riesenlied flying past both herself and Ethius. This was the first time she had seen her actually use them for flight, but it was rather impressive. How was it possible? The scientific side of her was curious, but at the moment a rope had been dropped down, beckoning her attention and giving her little time to think on it.

With the aid of Riesenlied's rope, climbing the rest of the way was a comparatively easy task. "Thanks for the help." She says with a nod, then looks towards the entrance. What awaited them next?


DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.

 ========================<* Sacred Grounds of Linga *>=========================
 ========================<* CHALLENGE - Bandit Band *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
A group of bandits appears to have been using the winding tunnels as a base   
camp, to hide themselves from what passes for the law near Linga. As your     
party approaches, they draw swords and rush to the attack!                    
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Treasure=========================================

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Strangely, Ethius doesn't seem to have followed the rope up. Did he fall? No, it'd be noisy. Did he find another way? He should've called after. However, there is a far more pressing concern ahead as the flight-blessed Reisenlied and intrepid apothecary Jacqueline come upon signs of a camp. There's a fresh fire, over there, cooking some stew. A laundry line between two trees, having to rely on the light of the sun to be dried. There also happens to be brown-clad bandits in long stocking caps wielding swords, as well as--

--Oh, no, the rest can wait.

"The hell is that?"

"Some lady with wings? Ain't never seen none of that before..."

"You idiots! That means we've been found!!"

The shouting continues much this way, all preceding the drawing of swords and a blind, furious rush to try and push them back off the mountain to their deaths (or you know, run 'em through, that'll work).

Moments later, there are chanting sounds that Riesenlied and Odjn may remember hearing before. The familiar lights of symbols, and then...

A giant cloud of dust spreading throughout the open air, courtesy of a thrown bag of it, providing a temporary smoke cover.

"My apologies for falling behind," comes the voice of Ethius as he draws forth his quarterstaff. "Now, as we were..."

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Bandit Band.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied glanced about and frowned as Ethius fell out of sight, though the fact that he hadn't called for help probably meant that he was okay. That's generally how the mysterious stranger worked. Though speaking of...

"Hmm. We aren't the only ones here after all," Riese surmised, and before long, the funny thieves have gathered and shouted at each other, drawing swords to surround them. She glances at Jay, then draws her sword as she readies for battle--

--and then smoke covers the area. Ah, just right on time.

The clash of steel upon steel erupts through the area as Riese begins to engage them; she's quite skilled on her own, though she doesn't appear to be going for the kill. "You've no chance against us," she warns one, who appears to begin to cower, and then slips her side-sword through to disarm him in a flourish. Her eyes flash for a moment as she stares down the rest of the crowd.

"Surrender, and we may yet spare your lives, brigands."

The imperiousness in her voice was cutting, and she didn't seem mirthful at all.

DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bandit Band.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline frowned. There was herself and Riesenlied, but where was Ethius? She glanced about, but he was nowhere to be seen. Did he somehow overtake here? She continues on with a frown, but Riesenlied alerts her to the presence of others.

Others that, apparently, are not happy to see them. "Well, this is a bother." Jacqueline mutters, a hand lowering towards the pouch of crests at her waist. In short order, however, the air is suddenly filled with smoke. She was concerned at first, but a familiar voice leaves her relieved. Jacqueline wasn't sure where Ethius had come from, but she was glad for his aid.

She invokes the spell inscribed on her Crest, conjuring tendrils of earth from the ground that shoot out to bind any unwitting thieves who aren't fast enough to escape from them.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bandit Band.

DG: You fail the challenge, and take 13 Exhaustion! You have 21 total Exhaustion.

DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has passed this challenge! The party gained 17 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.

DG: Riesenlied has drawn a new Challenge.

 ========================<* Sacred Grounds of Linga *>=========================
 ====================<* CHALLENGE - Driving Mist Daze-y *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The fungal growths along the wall that have been providing illumination       
suddenly begin discharging mycetic spores so thick that they're almost a      
cloud. With some quick thinking, you may be able to protect yourself and      
advance forward. If not, you've heard stories about these funky mushrooms...  
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

The bandits did not stand a chance. They were numerous, sure, and they were confident in their numbers. Their numbers weren't, on the whole, small. By the count of anyone who had the presence of mind to do so, there were eight. With the dust as the cover, they divide and conquer. The earth spells from the Crest Sorceress finishes what the Symbologist begins, half of them tripping over themselves and ultimately getting disarmed.

The other half, they are shown that the winged woman's judgment is no error - they are, ultimately, no match. The one she makes a show for disarming cowers as the other three will, ultimately, have to be subdued one way or another.

"D-Don't kill me! Ya made yer point, toots!" He pleads. He begs. "I'll give yas anything ya ask for, just lea--"

The quarterstaff sticks into their back by one Ethius Hesiod. There's no excitement in his eyes - coldly executing the one that Riesenlied would have spared outright, if she were meaning to keep her word. Blood drips from the tip as he draws it back out. That's quite some force to impale someone with a blunt object...

"I believe there are others present," Ethius remarks, "we would do well to move through with due haste, lest we draw further unwanted attention." An execution steeped in cold reason... just like that. The way he strides forth, this suggests a tactic he is more than familiar with.

All is not doom and gloom - out in the open, one of them left an incomplete map of the local area - that'll save them some work in getting through, or finding a new adventurous route to go down.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied's expression turned to one of surprise when the bandit she stared down suddenly slumped to the ground, impaled by a certain symbologist's blunt object. She stepped back, and stared towards the white-haired man with an ambiguous expression. "That was not necessary, was it?" she quietly comments, glancing back to Jay. Perhaps her expression read 'please be on your guard', for a second, though she proceeds with the information the bandits left them with...

"Hmm," she muses as she traces a finger through the map. "It looks like there are some native fauna that have hallucinogenic effects -- the bandits' journals describe some of these effects. But if we chart a course through..."

She drew quickly on a quill, and posited her proposed route to the two. "Let's go."

DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Driving Mist Daze-y.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

A certain sound reaches Jacqueline's ears. She had been busy checking to make sure that the binding earth trapping the bandits would last long enough to get out of here, so she did not see Ethius approach the now-dead bandit. Instead, she turns her head to notice his quarterstaff shoved through the man's chest.

She stares for a moment, somewhat horrified. Not so much at the carnage, but at the rather heartless way it was enacted. She had seen such things before and knew that, at times, they were necessary. But to slay an unarmed foe, just like that?

She rises to her feet without a word and meets Riesenlied's eyes. She doesn't speak, but Jacqueline's eyes are agreeing with her.

Though somewhat shaken at first she continues on, now somewhat wary of Ethius. They were on the same side right now, though, which meant that it was best to keep things that way.

When they reach a certain pathway, Jacqueline frowns.

"I've heard of these too. Not any good for potions, sadly. I'd pick some up, but, ah, I don't want a reputation for bein' THAT kind of merchant." She says, then removes several thick cloths from one of her bags and wraps it around her nose and mouth. These were the cloths she primarily used when experimenting with new kinds of potions, to protect herself from breathing in any fumes that might have negative effects on her. Hopefully, the spores wouldn't be so potent that they could breach even that. The other cloths are then passed out to the other two, just in case.

She nods in agreement with Riesenlied's plan, then prepares to set forth.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Driving Mist Daze-y.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

That the man doesn't nod, or otherwise vocally express any additional defense to his choice of action might say well enough about how necessary he felt it was to snuff the life out of the straggler. Not an inch of remorse to be found, coloring in one of many blanks about this man in the color of blood...

The subject at hand trends towards the tunnel full of brightly-glowing fungi, and what those who have come through before have written about them as Riesenlied leads the quartet further down into the Sacred Grounds.

Ethius now stands a short ways behind Jacqueline, weapon in hand, lightly dragging it across the stone floor. He looks straight ahead, as though attempting to stare too much into the illuminated fungi. Though he already has the bandanna around his face, he accepts the extra cloth from the herbal expert just in case.

One prays he's not about to shank /her/, as he takes something out of his poncho.

"Could our sight be trusted, if--"

Spores.

Thinking quickly, Ethius goes through another chant, bringing the quarterstaff-bearing hand closer to whatever else he's carrying as he taps the glass with a finger. A spark of electricity later, another light joins them from the lens. This lens would be familiar to the winged warrior and their familiar.

"It's... it's thick," he says, but thankfully with Jacqueline's actions they won't be slowed by a coughing fit or whatever other terrible effect, "but I believe this path might yet lead us through--"

His eyes begin to water.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Driving Mist Daze-y.

DG: You pass the challenge, and take 3 Exhaustion! You have 24 total Exhaustion.

DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has passed this challenge! The party gained 22 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> Riesenlied has posed.

Fortunately, with the map and Jacqueline's quick thinking of using effectively filtered cloths, Ethius is capable of leading the way and finding a path through the precarious maze of mushrooms and... none of them would be particularly victim to their more... interesting effects.

This time.

Riesenlied coughs a little, as she pulls the cloth down at the other end. "I notice the concentration of mushrooms decreasing," she announces. "I believe this is the end of their natural habitat." And onward...

DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.

========================<* Sacred Grounds of Linga *>=========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Minor Miners Minor in Mining *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Down this corridor, you find a pair of centuries-old skeletons - miners,      
from the looks of them, their tools lying where they last fell. A             
barely-legible map suggests they were trying to dig their way around a        
particularly fiendish section of the Sacred Grounds...is it worth trying to   
finish the job? The tools are right there...                                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline follows along quickly behind Ethius as he leads the way. She hadn't seen that particular technique before, but it seemed rather useful. She was, on the whole, not a fan of Symbology, but perhaps it had more merit than she thought. It helps to increase his standing in her eyes somewhat after the incident not long before, though he has a way to go before she will fully trust him again.

The group continues onward, and Jacqueline stops suddenly at the sight awaiting them at the end of the hallway. A pair of skeletons bearing tools lay on the ground. How long had they been here, and why? She kneeled down next to them, looking them over. This far ahead, it was hard to figure out what had killed them. Was it exhaustion? Were they attacked? Or were they betrayed?

The last thought gives her some pause. If the mushrooms had been there, even hundreds of years in the past, then maybe...

She shakes her head. No, no. While she was here to solve mysteries and make discoveries, that particular one would have to wait.

While she ponders their grim fate, she spots a discarded map nearby and scoops it up.

Unlike the one Riesenlied had found, this one was old, and worn with age. And yet, it had important information on it. The writing was difficult to decipher, but once she had it figured out it seemed to allude to danger ahead, danger that whoever wrote this map felt should be avoided at all costs.

"Take a look at this." She says, rising to her feet and showing it to her companions.

"There may be a shortcut here, if we are willing to do a little work." She says.

Unfortunately, physical labor is not a strong suit of hers. While she is not weak, she's not built for a task like forcing one's way through a stone wall. While she could lend her Crests to the task, control was an issue. She didn't want to bring the cave system down on top of them. She would have to be cautious with her spells, perhaps detrimentally so. But right now, spells for moving earth were all she could offer.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Minor Miners Minor in Mining.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied proceeded with an inspection of her own while Jacqueline read the map, nodding to herself. "There are many risks that miners face," she expresses. "It may not necessarily have been an attack, and these skeletons are very much old..."

Which means that they have information that local sources may not have had for years.

She snaps her fingers, and Odjn sighs as she picks up the pickaxe to croon, "Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go," and started whistling a familiar tune...

DG: You use your Tool Tiny Odjn against your party's Challenge, Minor Miners Minor in Mining!

DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Tiny Odjn toward her party's challenge, Minor Miners Minor in Mining.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius is now, certainly, much more appreciative of the extra cloth filter he's been given, as he's in the process of trying to deal with his irritated eyes even as the lot of them escape the worst of what those nefarious mushrooms have to offer. The pause he takes in which to deal with his personal aftermth encounter with the fungi maze o' fun allows the others merciful space in which to distance themselves from someone who appears willing to take a life entirely out of convenience for the mission.

As Odjn cheerfully tackles the wall of rock in a way the Symbologist may yet find familiar, he steps in a ways behind the others as he finishes wiping out his eyes.

"Should your friend tire before they reach the end, I might be able to do something concerning the rest of the stone," and what might that be? He takes a hand to his face. "Though I am hesitant to do so without knowing for certain what lies on the other end, I could melt the rocks down, with ample time, clearance, and confidence in there being enough ventilation for any dangerous fumes..."

Enticingly dangerous!

"If you believe it would be more expedient... I see little concern with taking the other pickaxe alongside Miss Odjn," which is probably the preferrable outcome. He looks able-bodied and it would perfectly distract him from being able to horribly murder any of them while their guard is lowered, as he takes the other pickaxe in hand.

It's their call, but either method works for him - especially in the wake of such a hard worker like Odjn!


DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Minor Miners Minor in Mining.

DG: You pass the challenge, and take 5 Exhaustion! You have 29 total Exhaustion.

DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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.


DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.

========================<* Sacred Grounds of Linga *>=========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Jumping Jellies *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The wall fungus has spread to the floor of this part of the Sacred            
Grounds...and it's exceptionally slick, to boot. Making your way through      
this part of the halls will require some careful coordination.                
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"Yeah, I get what you mean." Jacqueline says with a nod of understanding towards Riesenlied. Odjn's little mining song gets a little chuckle out of Jacqueline, though she gets the feeling that she'd heard it somewhere before. Something in her mind tells her that it is best not to go too far down that road.

She is, somewhat understandably in her opinion, a little hesitant to encourage Ethius to start melting things - things that might at some point include them, accident or not. She pauses in her casting, but she is making little progress in clearing out stones anyway.

"Don't know the make-up of this place, I'm afraid. Probably best not to risk it." She replies with a shrug. It probably would've been fine, but...well, in this case, the harder way seemed like the wiser option.

While it is difficult work, through the efforts of Odjn and Ethius the wall soon breaks away, revealing a new way forward.

"Well, look at that, you two. Vindicated, after all these years...hope that gives you some solace, wherever you are." Jacqueline says quietly as she stares down at the abandoned skeletons.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

The most respect Ethius seems to give is to simply return one of the pickaxes to one of the skeletal hands that, in wake of having had one removed from their grasp, appear to be giving a thumbs up. Maybe it is simply out of kindness for whoever else might head down this way, assuming a cave-in. Kindness, from him? No, more like a professional courtesy, rather than any inherent sentimentalism.

Moving onward...

The tunnel inward leads to a decline, and soon, into a wide-open area covered in its entirety with the luminous mushrooms. They're a little brighter than their wall-clinging cousins from further back, their light dancing across the room with every drop of water that splashes upon them.

Ethius takes the lead, and finds himself slipping to a seated position as one foot comes down upon the very first. He hisses in pain.

"How careless of me," he says as he stands up and back, "please be aware of your footing..."

He squints.

"The floor is illuminated as though we were standing out in the afternoon sun. I cannot ascertain if the path forward is, in fact, hiding chasms." It's as he says - it's bright, and slippery, and if any one of them lose balance, there is an unconfirmed but real risk of taking a fall should any of these glowing fungal growths be masking holes in the ground.

He has precious little to offer beyond what is obvious before their eyes, simply using his quarterstaff as a guide while shuffling his feet slowly.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Jumping Jellies.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied knelt by the remains of the miners and made a motion with her finger, as if she were closing an eyesocket as she whispered, "Rest in peace, you two. Your work has been completed." For whatever other ideas Riesenlied may have, desecration of the dead is not one of them. Contrary, her respect for those who have fallen could not be greater and more sorrowful.

This, perhaps, would be a rather odd point in hindsight, much later on.

She winces as well as Ethius slips a bit, holding her hand out. "Careful," she looks towards the floor and lets out a hum of thought. "Yes, I see now... it is a rather precarious way downward." She flexes her wings again, testing them.

"You sure you can do this...?" Odjn muses in worry.

"I'll be fine," Riese answers in turn, giving the little dragon the length of rope to start helping herself down. Slowly, the woman beats her wings to generate a cushion of air by which she can descend down gently upon... a little bit at a time, though she's visibly straining and wincing the more she goes down. She takes little glowing sticks and tosses them onto ledges to serve as markers for the others.

By the time she's near the bottom, she suddenly takes a sharp drop-- "Ah!"

"Riese!"

She drops hard onto her knees, but it wasn't high enough to be fatal. "I'm fine! I'm fine..."

The metal had barely regenerated since a few days ago. The impurities greatly affected the rate in which she could regenerate from her wounds... it was a great difficulty for someone like herself. She really had to be more careful.

DG: You use your Tool Angel Wings against your party's Challenge, Jumping Jellies!

DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Angel Wings toward her party's challenge, Jumping Jellies.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline holds back to let the others proceed first, and she's glad she did. Not only is the floor slick, judging from the way Ethius slips as he tries to proceed, but according to him there's the possibility of hidden pitfalls. Perfect.

"Thanks for the warning." She says, looking over the path ahead with a frown. You had to expect a pitfall or two in a cave system such as this, but she wasn't interested in being the one to discover them the hard way.

She proceeded cautiously at first once she had determined he was alright, but when she sees Riesenlied fall it adds a hint of urgency to the situation. She reaches into one of her bags and rummages around, eventually removing a bottle of pale-green liquid. She removes the cork and downs the lot before replacing the bottle.

When she begins to move again it is with surprising speed and accuracy, her feet somehow finding gaps that are less slippery than the rest. There was still a ways to go, however, so she hopes she would make her way down before the effects begin to wear off.

"Are you alright?" She calls down to where she saw Riesenlied fall, somewhat concerned.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Invigoration Elixir toward her party's challenge, Jumping Jellies.

DG: You fail the challenge, and take 4 Exhaustion! You have 33 total Exhaustion.

DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has passed this challenge! The party gained 22 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.

DG: Riesenlied has drawn a new Challenge.

========================<* Sacred Grounds of Linga *>=========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - OWLBEARS OWLBEARS *>======================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Part owl, part bear, and part hate, an owlbear is a giant monster with the    
body of a bear and the head of a very angry owl. Also they use swords. An     
owlbear - the Linga Academy-approved word for a gathering of owlbears - of    
owlbears owl out in fury and barrel their way toward you, swords waving.      
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Injure===========================================
==== <Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed. ====

Riesenlied nodded, flexing her wing and wincing as Jacqueline and Ethius made their way down, fortunately safely. Jacqueline's concotion was quite effective at making her more vigorous and able to tackle the challenging wall of slippery slime, and Ethius was also quite capable of making his way down with a keen and supervising eye.

"Yes, I'm sorry," Riese apologises, as she stands up. "I really would have to leave it alone for another week or so, perhaps... it is best to not tempt fate."

There's a rumble from the chamber in the distance, and then the owlbears were bearing down upon them. It grinds its two swords together menacingly, clashing steel with a shower of sparks, and then screeches and lunges at the group -- forcing Riese on the defensive already as it presses against her and forces the winged warrior to defend with her own, much smaller sword.

She winces, and grapples against the creature as she looks to Jay and Ethius. "Don't mind me, just strike it while it's got its back to you!"

Her eyes shimmered for a moment, as she intoned in a softer, dark whisper: "You shall heel, creature. Do you know the wrath that you attract?" It was about all she could do -- her strength was about to give way.

DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, OWLBEARS OWLBEARS.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius, for his part, does not flinch when Riesenlied takes her fall. A hand over his face, he appears to choose reason and stoicism over passion and excitement - but Jacqueline's own is to her benefit as she races through, dislodging a few mushrooms in her path to make it easier for the last of the three to find his own steady footing. With the markers placed by Riesenlied, those two can move to try and assist her.

The path, indeed, brings them ever lower and lower. One slip, and any one of them could have been down for a spine-breaking ride to a brightly-lit grave. On the plus side, Reisenlied only needs to be able to pull herself up a three foot tall ledge from where she rests in order to reach the next tunnel to whatever may lie next.

For his part when he first makes it down, Ethius wordlessly holds out his left hand, leaning over the edge in which to try and offer assistance to the enigmatic one gifted with flight moments before the Owlbears arrive. He has the same look in his eyes seen when he took out the surrendering bandit. Does she trust his help? With most of his face masked, no telling language can be gleaned beyond those same eyes seen when he straight-up executed someone.

The encroaching Owlbears render the issue moot. So, he helps himself down into the same elevation as their injured, fallen friend. He's a Symbologist, one whom tactically would often choose to fight at a distance. The way Riesenlied grapples with them, it would seem friendly fire is impossible to avoid without extra care.

The same dispassionate eyes, again. Is he about to write her off as a loss, with her injury and precarious situation?

He leaps forward into the fray, planting the quarterstaff against the ground. Holding onto it with both hands, he spins about in the air, kicking outward with his feet.

"Tornado Strike!" He calls, looking to knock at least one or more of the owlbears back to give Riesenlied some more breathing room, at great personal risk. He does not appear heavily armored.

He has no special instructions for the apothecary among them. Is that trust?

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, OWLBEARS OWLBEARS.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"I agree. Don't wanna overwork it too much, then it'll never heal." Jacqueline says, touching down next to Riesenlied. The potion had begun to wear off and she slips slightly, but she manages to remain standing. With two of them accounted she turns to watch Ethius descend behind her, and observes as he offers Riesenlied his assistance.

Was he doing it out of a desire to help her, or just because it would slow them down to force her to do it on her own? Jacqueline studies him with a frown, but she doesn't say anything outright.

She is about to offer help as well when she is interrupted by the sound of massive bodies barreling towards them. It seemed that their descent hadn't gone unnoticed. With a curse Jacqueline whirls around, removing a bottle of foul-smelling black liquid from her bags - monster repellent - that would be familiar to Riesenlied.

She observes Ethius knock some of them back, then nods in acknowledgement. The cork is removed and the bottle is swung around, splashing two lines of liquid across the floor. Her aim here was to scatter them in a manner that she hoped would keep them seperated, giving them a chance to fight back without having multiple beasts on them at once. The empty bottle is then returned to her bag, replaced by a Crest different from the one she had used before.

She begans casting the inscribed spell repeatedly, sending bolts of lightning crashing down upon any owlbear that gets too close. It seems conjured lightning can still strike even in here, at least.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Repellant Vial toward her party's challenge, OWLBEARS OWLBEARS.

DG: You fail the challenge, and take 16 Exhaustion! You have 49 total Exhaustion.

DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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> Riesenlied has posed.

Ethius' swirl of powerful wind helps to scatter the Owlbears, and gives Riesenlied the opportunity to skim very quickly across to get herself to a less precarious place. Jacqueline's bottle gives them some breathing space, the repellant rather visibly causing them to recoil in disgust -- enough for lightning to strike at them over and over again.

However, it's clear enough to the group that their efforts aren't enough -- they're still standing. It'd take quite a lot of effort to bring all of them down...

"Let's proceed onward," Riese makes a snap call. "The miners' map indicates that there's a clean break between this chamber and the next." She turns to test her theory, and sure enough, there was an emergency-release door that would let them at least distance themselves from the monsters...

DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.

========================<* Sacred Grounds of Linga *>=========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Punishing Piston *>======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
With the owlbear of owlbears defeated, the treasure you have sought lies in   
the room beyond! Unfortunately, the door to it is already closing, thanks to  
some ancient mechanism triggered in the fighting. If your party can manage    
to hold the door open long enough, someone might be able to slip through and  
grab it, but it's been a long dungeon and you've had no time to rest since    
the fight...                                                                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

The owlbears prove a powerful foe. Jacqueline wondered, if, perhaps, they were angered by their damaging of the mushrooms on the way down. Did owlbears eat mushrooms? She couldn't think of what else they would find to eat down here, besides unexpecting travelers like them, and it would explain why they seemed so determined to stop them.

At this point, discretion seems the better part of valor. She nods in acknowledgment with Riesenlied's suggestion, and turns to runs toward the door she had pointed out.

However, as they draw close, it begins to shut. Had the ancient mechanisms finally, and rather inconveniently, given out over time due to age? Or wore owlbears simply intelligent enough to operate the machinery within? They were apparently intelligent enough to bear swords, it wasn't too far of a stretch to say they could figure the machinery out, as well.

There she went, overthinking things again.

Not wanting to be trapped in a room with angry, possibly hungry owlbears or trapped within whatever room lie past that door, another Crest comes out. This is the same one she used to restrain the thieves from before, and now she uses it to try to pry the door open. "Quick! Force it open before it closes completely!" She shouts, a little out of breath from all the casting she's been doing today.

The tendrils of earth come out and grab onto the door, but they were not made to pull things. The only thing they can do is buy time for the others to come up with a better plan.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Punishing Piston.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Metal demons don't usually tire out. They have an internal reserve of power strengthened by the quicksilver within their blood, powered by the process lost to those not of the Photosphere.

Riese is... tired, and hurries towards the door and nods as she snaps her fingers, Odjn clamping onto the right side of the door and pushing for all she's worth.

To be fair, for a particularly tiny dragon, she seems to be immensely strong, grunting and exclaiming, "Pushin', pushin', pushin'!!"

DG: You use your Tool Tiny Odjn against your party's Challenge, Punishing Piston!

DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Tiny Odjn toward her party's challenge, Punishing Piston.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

For his part, Ethius pays for choosing to value physical strikes over Symbology. He gets struck around a few times, eventually forcefully ejected a ways away where he rolls into a pained crouch and a little red on his brow. He wordlessly follows along with the plan to back off.

As they all come to the point where their prize may yet slip out of their gasp due to the closing door, Ethius scrambles to personally move to affix himself against the closing door.

"I see... nothing exposed..." Ethius' voice starts to crack under the fatigue, along with the injuries suffered from when the Owlbears smacked him around for daring to go toe-to-toe with them. He goes to one knee trying to keep the door from closing entirely. "I cannot halt its closure... for long..."

He leaves it at that, saving what wind he has in his lungs for putting his reserves of strength to use in keeping the door helped up. Between himself and Odjn, and Riesenlied's injury, there's only one person among them who might yet be able to go in there and grab it themselves--

"Miss Jay," he pipes up, "if... you will..!"

...Or he can spell it outright.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Punishing Piston.

DG: Jacqueline Barber is too exhausted to continue!

DG: You pass the challenge, and take 100 Exhaustion! You have 149 total Exhaustion. You can't carry on and must retreat!

DG: Riesenlied is too exhausted to continue!

DG: Ethius Hesiod is too exhausted to continue!

DG: The party has failed this challenge! All party members are now Exhausted. Your party can no longer continue and is forced to retreat!

DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has been fully Exhausted by Sacred Grounds of Linga!

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Odjn's arms are straining as she exclaims, "I can't get a good hold on it! It's still closin', Riese!"

Ethius' own grip is starting to slip as the piston continues to mercilessly push -- and then the both of them feel that moment when their strength has finally met its limit, and the two are forced to step away before they're crushed by the closing mechanism. The chamber closes, with the treasure behind it... and with the swarm of owlbears still marching in slowly behind them.

It seems that they were trapped.

Backed against a corner, exhausted, and with many of their resources expended...

Riesenlied stepped back with a grimace on her face, squinting. "My apologies, Mister Ethius, Miss Jay. I definitely overestimated my limits in coming on this dig, despite my injury... and I let us down." She took a deeper breath and stood firmly as she turned to face the horde, stepping in their direction.

Was she mad? Was she going to sacrifice herself to buy them some time?

"H-hey, Riese, what're you thinking?!" Odjn balks.

An effulgent glow surrounds Riesenlied's chest. The enigmatic winged woman slowly ascended into the air, her body arching backwards as she adopts a nearly reclining pose. Rather suddenly, surprisingly, something burst out of her chest -- it keenly resembled the bejewelled hilt of an ornate sword. She lays hold of the sword's hilt, easing a curved silver handguard and massive black blade from within her. Red liquid, resembling blood, poured to stain her clothes as she did so.

"That's too dangerous, especially in your condition?!" the dragon looks incredibly panicked.

The tip of the blade graces the open air, and she brandishes it in a graceful flourish, cascaded in the light of the Sacred Grounds of Linga.

"The treasure room is out of our reach now..." Riese haggardly expresses to her companions, "But we may still be able to make it out with our lives. I'll provide the necessary distraction."

She descends into the battle -- the sword is nonsensically large, pitch-black and made of some mottled black metal of warped, impure quality. She strikes as the nearest of the creatures, a resounding crimson clash arcing with her blade; there was an eerie howl, and the very spirits of the sacred place buckle at the seemingly dark, tainted nature of the weapon.

"This is the Fallen Sword that seeks a new world!" she announces boldly to the creatures. "If you so seek a disgraceful death at its edge, then come, creature!"

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline attempts to get through the doors, as Ethius asks of her. Not to leave them behind, but in hopes that there would be another switch on the other side. However, she feels her spell weaken and break as the door, apparently made to resist the efforts of a human, a tiny dragon, and some earth. It shuts in front of them, though not before everyone trying to open it gets to safety.

Jacqueline sighs and presses her forehead against the door. She could hear the owlbears approaching them. What could they do about this? Was this where they were going to die?

She frowns and glances towards Riesenlied as she takes responsibility for everything.

"What? Hey, no, no...this ain't your fault. Mine, if anything. This was my idea. I lead us here, even knowin' you were hurt." She says, trying to reassure her. She could do little to help with the door. If she was stronger, maybe she would've been able to provide a little more help. Maybe she would've been able to get it open. But now...

"We can get through this. We just need to..." She turns around so that she can address everyone, but Riesenlied has already begun to move.

"Wait...stop! We just need to think! You don't have to-" Jacqueline's word were caught in her throat before /something/ came over Riesenlied. She was levitating and then...it happened.

Jacqueline took a couple of steps back, pressing her back against the hard metal of the door. What was going on...? Just who or what was Riesenlied? That couldn't be normal for Beastmen.

Temporarily frozen with fear, Jacqueline was unable to do any more than just watch. Her feet failed to listen to her.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

To his great chagrin, Ethius is forced to tumble back when he can no longer fight back the piston's closure. He is but a mortal human being in good physical shape - stellar, even, given the circumstances - but without a clear look at the mechanisms guiding the door's closure, he had only naught but his own reserve of stamina to fall upon, and it is not enough.

"Miss Reise, I do not believe this yet concl--" Reprimanding? Consoling? He never gets to finish the sentence for when the woman who proves a greater mystery than himself takes towards the hordes. He already has a hand on the other Powder Grenade, as if preparing for the worst when the owlbears come closing in.

What comes next...

"What is--" Ethius spits out the sentence fragment at such a harsh volume that one may be wondering if someone else slipped into the chamber to commentate. The seemingly unflappable man of mystery's eyes widen at the impossible sight, of such incredible mass being drawn with so little exchanged in its retrieval. (Or, say, the fact such a thing /can come out of a person at all/.)

He moves in front of the apothecary, quarterstaff in his left, his right arm spread out... in front of Jay's face. (Is he trying to stop her from looking?) He holds his posture there, as though just as uncertain about the next course of action...

No, it's not fear, for him. It's something else, but he can't put a finger on it. It's not something to casually dismiss the sight of. The idea of seeing something like this, but everything surrounding the idea of 'seeing' remains a headache-bearing blank.

It may also be due to the cut to his head from getting thrown back like he was.

"We must leave." As is the stated intent of this woman whom bore a weapon from oneself - for this eye-catching aberration of anything the other two might consider normal, it would seem her intent is that of sacrifice. There was another path they almost took, were it not for the owlbears and Riesenlied's precarious situation following her fall...

"Come." The word is spoken forcefully - commanding, even, willing to take Jacqueline by the arm if she finds herself unable to move, making use of the small break in the owlbear ranks to move towards the three-foot ledge leading to another path that might yet take them further away.

With her help - unsettling in nature as it might be - Ethius guns to lead both himself and Jacqueline as far away from danger as the two can get within the Sacred Grounds.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

A roar echoes through the Sacred Grounds, with an owlbear's corpse collapsing not so much in two, but dissipating into a crimson ebb polluted by the motes of blackness that leak off the Fallen Sword.

The winged warrior catches Ethius and Jacqueline retreating from the corner of her eye, but the relish of battle was something all demons -- no matter how much they tried to poise themselves as noble and above it all, no matter how they wanted to embrace the idea of coexistence and nonviolence -- savoured, such that they could see naught but red in the midst of their battle reverie.

Riesenlied descends into the midst of several more creatures, and a circular brandish splits more creatures into corpses, all of them devoured by the ever-spreading taint.

There was silence, for a long while.

They were gone. Or at least, Riese hopes they were gone. She wouldn't want them to run into any other trouble -- not mushrooms, or mazes, or other creatures that plagued this area. This was a grave miscalculation. There would be rumors. She'd struck fear today, when she didn't wish to. She went against the orders, and she went against... herself.

"Riese... it's over."

She pauses as she lifts her head up, in the midst of the wreckage she'd caused.

Odjn was floating in front of her, looking rather despondent.

"Can't you tell...? Everything about you's reading red to me..."

She looked down at her arms, bloodied, the black blade of the Fallen Sword smeared with the stain of those she'd tried her best to spare before. She let go -- and the brutally large armament quickly disappears, evaporating into what looks like similar motes of inky darkness... and back into her. What had come out as light only cast shadows in turn.

"I'd best... return for now, you're right..." Riese didn't sound any happier. "I'm sorry, Mister Ethius, Miss Jay. I truly am."

She knew they couldn't hear her, but for her, it was the thought that counted... or so she hopes. She dropped her side-sword, which had shattered in two during all of the frenzy and combat of earlier. It was all she could leave behind, really. Perchance to leave a false corpse behind, or...

"... I need a warp back," she announced to no one in particular... and then the two started to fizzle into nothing but motes of light, warped back to the safety of the Photosphere.

There was little left but the gore of carved-out owlbears should either of them return; the blood had long dried, the stench was awful. There seemed to be truly little in the way of remnants for Riesenlied, no corpse nor blood to be found.

Though if one were to look closely, the cuts would be stained in a red substance with the consistency of viscous blood, which discolored like rust in the sunlight...