2017-04-09: Did You Try Working the Shaft II: It Keeps Happening
- Log: Did You Try Working the Shaft II: It Keeps Happening
- Cast: Sorey, Talise Gianfair, Claude C. Kenny, Ida Everstead-Rey, Ambrosius
- Where: The Lightless Shaft
- Date: April 9, 2017
- Summary: Sorey and friends learn about minecart puzzles.
===========================<* The Lightless Shaft *>============================ The mountains surrounding the small, desolate town of Mirapulse are filled to the brim with mine shafts. While many are still active, with human workers from the town toiling endlessly, there are many that have been abandoned after decades of excavation. This isn't to say that there isn't anything still in these mine shafts, of course, just that the Veruni have nothing left they want from them -- and without the risk of courting the wrath of the Veruni in trespassing, many Drifters have taken to delving into these abandoned mines in look of the mysterious and legendary creatures' proverbial leftovers. The Lightless Shaft is one such abandoned mine, buried so deep that not even the barest shards of light from the outside world can shine through. Old equipment and infrastructure still linger here, perilously keeping these winding tunnels and man-made caverns intact as dirty and debris occasional rains down in silt and pebbles from the ceilings above. Winding cart tracks once carried material from one end of the mine to another but now simply rust; a massive augur juts through the middle of this mineshaft, still rotating slowly but surely with the groaning churn of rock and mineral... and occasionally, here and there, pieces of technology long-forgotten can be found: golems, mechanical constructs from a bygone era, half-hanging from walls and ceilings like fossils from a forgotten age. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFpvWupIyr0
DG: Sorey has created a party! To join, type +party/reset and then type +party/join Sorey. DG: Talise Gianfair has joined your party! DG: Ambrosius has joined your party! DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has joined your party! DG: Claude C. Kenny has joined your party! DG: A party led by Sorey is now entering The Lightless Shaft. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
====================<* CHALLENGE - The Dastardly Descent *>===================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Long abandoned, there are no guards here to defend this mine. No security measures. No; there's just a rope. A long, old rope. Descending into a, well, lightless shaft. What a descriptive dungeon name! Regardless, you better be careful you don't fall and hurt your coccyx on the way down into the abyss. Don't worry, there's probably not any strange man-eating mutants down there. ... Probably. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.
Another day, another adventure!
There had been a recent resurgence in plumbing the depths of the Lightless Shaft among the higher ups in the Ethos, and a new bounty on exploration in the ruin had been posted to the Adventuer's Guild. New information, updated maps, and various objects and relics from the area were being well rewarded.
Sorey had taken a look at the advertisement, and seeing that the party's funds were running somewhat low after the incredible amount of gels and other curatives they had consumed in the face of the evil chicken invasion the previous week, had decided that another adventure through dark and terrifying ruins was just the thing.
He'd posted his own advertisement for a group to venture into the area, signed simply as 'Sorey', and that had attracted enough help that he felt they were ready to venture out. A short trip later, and they had arrived at the entrance to the mine.
"This does seem pretty dark and creepy," Sorey observes, looking down at the entrance. He travels a short distance through the entrance, and then looks down at a rather long and black descent.
"...well, I guess that makes some sense," he observes, pulling out his grappling hook. "I think a new line will probably be a bit safer than using this old thing."
DG: Sorey has used his Tool Grappling Hook toward his party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Last time Talise was here, she fell into a minecart and landed on a cute little Baskar girl.
This time she brought a much longer coil of rope. She tied several knots in it to use as handholds because last time around she kept sliding off the damn ropes. But more to the point, she came along this time because the one heading up the expedition is someone she doesn't know all that well - and whom she's curious about.
Perhaps it's why she keeps glancing in Sorey's direction, and why now she's moving with him past the threshold to the shaft, squinting in the darkness as her eyes adjust.
"It's pretty treacherous. The mine cart tracks inside can get a little confusing, too," she says with a nod to the Shepherd. "This part's not as bad, at least."
Or so she hopes. She pays mind to where Sorey fastens his grappling hook, then slings her own rope out not too far from it, burying the hook in a solid-looking bunch of stone and rock. The half-Beastwoman gives it a couple of tugs before starting to the edge and casting the rope over.
She nods to Sorey, once. "Let's stick close," she suggests.
Then she makes ready to start down. She's got her own rope but she's got Sorey's close enough to grab if she falls off hers. Like she always does.
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny's adventure-related expenditures have gone down, not up, over the last week, as the sudden glut of fried chicken on the markets of Adlehyde and its environs have proved a delicious break to his otherwise slender wallet. Still, the prospect of cold, hard cash is too much to pass up...although the fact that the guy posting the advertisement is already apologizing is probably a bad sign.
The young blonde swordsman leans a little over the edge, trying to make out a floor. "Yup," he agrees with Sorey, then rubs his chin and considers how long a drop it will end up being.
And then he looks at Ida speculatively, which is probably not a good sign.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Yesterday's foray into the Hillside Ruins was profitable, just... not in the way Ida needed. During a meeting earlier this morning, Dr. Bridges, Metal Dragon expert and tremendous thundering asshole, all but accused her of making up her find. The resulting anger has been simmering inside her ever since, despite repeated attempts to calm down, and despite Dr. Oxford's quasi-fatherly attempts to help smooth things over.
Ida does not want things smoothed over. She wants to prove that she can do this.
This explains what Ida is doing here, affixing the emergency backup rope to the rope-hitching post, and eyeing Claude in case he gets any ideas. "Not too much different from last time, then," Ida says, finishing off the knot and giving it a tug. Claude will probably notice that she seems a bit more at-ease with this whole 'physical activity' thing, and while she's still favoring her left arm, it's not as pronounced. "If you'll allow me, Shepherd," Ida says, before grabbing the rope and slowly descending into the depths. She has been treating Sorey like a completely different person, and unless Alisha told him about their meeting, he might have no idea as to why.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent.
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.
Sorey just sighs, and looks at Ida. "It's Sorey," he protests quietly, while checking to make sure his grapple is set up properly. "Even if we were back home, it would still... oh why do I try...?"
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude shrugs. Jumping is probably bad, he supposes, and so he waits until everyone else has gone before shimmying down the rope.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
It was a remarkable discovery to Ambrosius that humans, despite their general...humanity, had a system where one could be paid for delving into ruins. Perhaps it was worth making a request to his leaders for a similar system to be implemented.
In a way he supposed he already was. This was, technically, part of his job of observation. Still, a formal system would be nice.
"My, my...deeelving into the unknown depths...how exciting..." He said to no one in particular, staring into the dark pit before them. This time, he had actually bothered to meet his 'allies' rather than just showing up unannounced, which Ida might find surprising.
Well, Ambrosius was never one to back down from something stupidly reckless. He doesn't bother with the equipment provided, just grabs the one rope already present and descends.
Hopefully it doesn't snap or something.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent. DG: The party led by Sorey 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> Sorey has posed.
The shaft is long enough that several people can head down at once - which turns out not to be the best thing in the world. Despite any warnings that this area isn't too bad as far as ruins go from Ida, it seems the dungeon is out to spite them. Because as the group sets their ropes and gets ready to head down... the ledge gives away.
With the dull rumble of tearing stone, the entire shelf that the party is standing on suddenly breaks off and slides into the yawning black maw of the shadow leading down into the mines. Sorey gives a shout, flailing around to grab onto the rope, but ropes can only do so much for you when you are already falling. The trip down to the bottom is much faster and a bit more painful than anyone would have liked, considering...
But at the bottom, the brown haired young man groans and pulls out a torch. A snap of his fingers causes it to burst into flames, and he looks around for a moment. "Everyone OK!?!" he asks.
Not great to start the run with a fall like that.
DG: Talise Gianfair has drawn a new Challenge.
===================<* CHALLENGE - That's One Big Golem Arm *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Wow. Look at that golem arm, jutting out of the wall there. It's huge. Where did it come from? What did it belong to? Is that a rocket launcher mounted on the wrist? Is that a repulsor cannon in its palm? Just how loaded with weapons can one arm be? How dramatic was this golem's name, when it was a whole golem and not just one sad, really large arm? These are all the wonderful things you can wonder as you wondrously figure out a way to move that really big golem arm because oh hey look at that, its hanging -right- over the doorway. You're a real jerk, golem arm. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise has two ropes at hand. She tied knots in one. She put them close enough that she could grab the other one if she fell off the first.
And she still falls off both of them. Or rather, the ropes fall off her.
"I HATE ROPES," she shouts as she goes plummeting into the depths of the mine.
She lands with a heavy clatter of steel, hitting the ground and rolling for several metres. With a groan, she pushes herself up sloudly, coughing a couple of times. Reaching up to her lips, she winces; she tastes blood, and her tongue doesn't hurt. That's a bad thing.
"I'm fine," she grunts nevertheless, picking herself and dusting herself off with a wince. Looking on ahead, she starts forward right away, refusing to let this damn mine beat her again -
And as she turns a corner, she slams right into something massive sticking out of the wall. She gets an arm up with a gasp and stumbles back. Her eyes widen as she realizes it's a massive arm and there are ARMs stuck to the business end of it.
And then she sighs as she realizes there's a doorway behind it, jammed behind the arm's monstrous metallic forearm.
"We're gonna have to clear this out!" she shouts back. "Let's get to it!" With that she curls her fingers, letting the magic of her gauntlets go through her. She lays into the golem arm with strength far beyond the norm for her; growling with effort, she pushes it from below, attempting to lift much of its weight up and away!
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Ogre Power Gauntlets toward her party's challenge, That's One Big Golem Arm.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius hits the ground with a 'thud'. He lays there for a moment before hauling himself to his feet and brushing off his poncho.
"That was...leeess than pleasant...but I will suuurvive..." He replies, picking up his hat from where it fell and placing it back onto his head. Despite his words, he didn't seem to sustain more than a few scuffs.
He trails along behind the others until their path is stopped by what appears to be a giant golem arm sticking out of the wall.
Very fascinating.
"Do be caaareful...this specimen could be quite...vaaaluable..." He comments.
He holds up a hand. Water swirls in front of it, gradually forming a whirling blade that is sent towards the wall, attempting to extricate the arm without causing too much damage to it.
Of course, even if they could find a way to remove it they'd then have to get it out of the area...but they could think about that later!
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, That's One Big Golem Arm.
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.
Sorey looks around to make sure no one appears to be injured - it was quite a fall - and grins. "Well, not the most auspicious landing, but at least we saved a bit of time." It's a little bit of a lame excuse, but at least they're moving in the right direction at least.
And then Talise finds something... interesting.
"Amazing!" Sorey states, looking rather awed at the massive arm and the attached weaponry. "I've... never seen anything like this. Are these sorts of ARMs common around here?" He looks it over, wishing he could pick the thing over and examine it. Unfortunately that's not really going to be feasible - digging it out would be almost impossible, let alone hauling it back up that shaft. But the explorer is already making a quick sketch with charcoal and paper, getting a rough impression of the arm before he starts helping Talise to push at it.
"...ooof! This... this is gonna be tough..." Brute force is not his strong point.
DG: Sorey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, That's One Big Golem Arm.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny gets up from the fall with a wince, having landed on his ass, which itself landed on a chunk of rock, which invited several of its smaller cousings to bounce off the young swordsman's head. Apparently the guy was right to say 'Sorey' after all. He dusts himself off and rounds the corner to see...a giant robot arm, and also a giant robot ARM. His eyes widen as he looks at it. "Not common," he answers Sorey. "I'm not an expert on Gears, but I think...it's a Golem?" he asks himself, or the room. "It's..."
A piece of /garbage/, he thinks to himself. Seriously, that repulsor cannon looks like a model he saw in a museum once, and those giant launchers would launch giant rockets that are /made/ to be intercepted by micromissile or microlaser point defence systems. Granted, here on Cow Patty Planet, it's probably pretty unstoppable. But...
"...it's really something," he concludes, then shakes his head. "I'll give you a hand there," Claude offers to Talise, ducking under the arm, stepping to one side of Sorey and then throwing his muscle into it.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, That's One Big Golem Arm.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
One second, Ida is standing on solid stone, and the next, she isn't. She reacts at a sizeable fraction of the speed of terror, grabbing for the rope. She catches it, but like Sorey, she can't manage to arrest her fall completely--instead, she enters into a sort of half-controlled tumble, the rope swinging around wildly and slamming her into the sides of the sides of the shaft. She reaches the bottom and lies still for a moment. Everything hurts.
"I'm alive!" Ida says, hoisting herself to her feet and brushing herself off. She reaches into a pocket, pulls out a trimmed length of gauze with a symbol on the back, and affixes it to a graze wound just above her right eye. Ambrosius points out the arm. Ida doesn't seem to comprehend it for a moment, but then the adrenaline rush fades, leaving her aching even worse and all too aware of how close that was. "It's too big to haul up the shaft, I'm afraid," Ida says, taking her lip between her teeth. "Talise, I think the center of mass is... well, about a foot higher? Try gripping there, it'll be easier to balance." Sorey already has his sketchpad out, and Ida glances over his way. "We ran into more items of the same general make deeper in. My guess is that they're Veruni, but that's going off the old local legend. No one's seen Veruni in this place for over a century, if the local records are correct."
Ida glances over at Claude, then. "I believe that's the term used to describe models of this size--not the most accurate, as we also have records of Golems that are much, much larger."
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, That's One Big Golem Arm. DG: The party led by Sorey has passed this challenge! The party gained 16 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> Talise Gianfair has posed.
As she tries to heft the golem arm, Talise glances at Ambrosius out of the corner of her eye. The way he drags out his vowels like that makes her nervous.
"It's... it's a lot bigger than what I've seen!" she grunts at Sorey, then bunches her shoulders and starts lifting again. The young man's strength helps. So does Claude's; the golem arm begins to give way. The blast of water crashes into the wall, lubricating things a little.
Ida's guidance puts it over the top. Talise shifts her grip. "Sorey, can you push a bit to the left," she advises.
Old metal squeals in protest, rust powdering and crackling away from the elbow joint... but it moves. The old servo there is still strong enough to support the forearm as the group manages to bend the arm up into a flexing pose. It's angled away from the door enough that when Talise finally lowers her hands from it with a heavy breath, she can turn to the door -
And pull it straight out of the wall as she attempts to turn the handle.
She blushes hotly and looks down at her gauntlets, then up, laughing sheepishly and rubbing the back of her neck. "Uh. Ha ha. Whoops."
DG: Claude C. Kenny has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* CHALLENGE - The Plural of Empusa is Empusae *>================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- And that's exactly what you find yourself dealing with now. Fancy that! It's a veritable empusae emporium here, with empusae both big and small and so many wondrous varieties of colors and drill-shaped faces with which to skewer you. You could tell them you know the plural of empusa is not empusas to try to curry their favor, but they probably don't even know what an empusa is (spoiler: it's them) so you're probably just better off killing them all. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny dusts his gloves off on his pants, because three years in a military academy got him used to not having to do his own laundry. "Well, that wasn't too bad," he says brightly, then conceals a grin as Talise rips the door off. "Don't worry about it," he says as he walks through the door. "It could happen to anyone."
He disappears into the next room. About a second and a half later, he reappears.
"Put it back put it back put it back!" he says, eyes wild as he draws his sword. He whirls around in a two-handed block just in time to catch the charge of an empusa, steel ringing out against its vicious claws. Claude whips a horizontal cut at its head and boots it in the chest, but not in time - suddenly there are EMPUSAE EVERYWHERE!
DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Pocket Steak toward his party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise turns back to Claude with a rueful grin and sets the door down against the wall. She's ginger about it.
Then Claude comes running back. She picks up the door again. "But you're standing in the doorframe!" she shouts at him in what can only be absolute despair.
There are suddenly Empusae everywhere and Talise has a door in her hands. Eyes wild, she glances from side to side.
Then she squares her jaw. "Okay, putting it back in a flash," she finally shouts.
Then she hefts the door over her head, winds up, and lawndarts the entire door down the corridor the door once concealed. it goes bouncing awkwardly into a gaggle of Empusas before slamming into a rock wall and caroming back, hitting the floor.
A knife then lands beside it. It's one of Talise's. She threw it into the Empusa crowd not too far behind the door.
Predictably, it's one of the two that come with electricity spells in the hilt. The lightning bomb tucked within goes off with a squealing flash, radiating an explosion of lightning magic at the scurrying foes.
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Bomb Knife toward her party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae.
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.
Ooof! That... was not incredibly easy. Sorey pushed, but he clearly was overdoing it some, and he collapses on the ground to breath heavily for a moment as he finishes shoving the robot arm out of the way. "...alright... just need to catch my breath for a moment..." he gasps. Definitely needs to work on lifting rocks more.
Edna would be glad to help with that, in her own somewhat sadistic way.
"So Veruni ARMs? Interesting..." Sorey makes another note in his book he had made the sketch in - he had been focused more on the Metal Demons for his research, so he hadn't taken a lot of note of the Veruni as of yet. Something else interesting to pursue in his studies!
But Sorey is rather distracted as he walks forward - he doesn't notice the terrible damage that Talise does to the door (they can probably fix it, right? ...right? No?) and instead trails along, making rough drawings and notes in his log book as they continue onwa-
"Woah!" he shouts, leaping backwards as an Empusa comes hurling out of the darkness at him. He draws his sword, the resin treated wood flashing as he returns his book to the slot on his belt in the same motion. He lashes out once, twice, and then as he slashes a third time a crackling bolt of lightning runs along the edge of his blade as he strikes at one of the oncoming creatures.
"Did you run into these last time as well!?!"
DG: Sorey has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
The door...comes right off the handle? Frankly, Ambrosius wasn't expecting that. Perhaps it was simple old and decaying...or perhaps that woman was a good deal stronger than he expected. Something to keep in mind.
The blonde-haired swordsman disappears into the room, only to suddenly reappear being chased by...some manner of unusual creature. Their party fights back, and with all the lightning going around, Ambrosius gets an idea.
"Waaatch yourselves..." He says, the only warning before he channels more water.
This time, he sends water gushing towards the empusae, drenching them to give his allies' lightning attacks against them some extra zap.
Refreshing and dangerous.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Deluge toward his party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Good, that part articulated, just like Ida thought it would. Her eyes widen a little as Sorey collapses, and she rushes forward to offer him a hand up. Even if it means putting more weight on her already-aching body. Ow, ow, ow.
"Something of an educated guess, Shepherd," Ida says. "I wish we could take it with us--" Unfortunately, Claude quickly runs into more empusae, and this time, Zed is not here to act as a convenient target for them. "We did, in fact. Nasty little creatures--" Ambrosius knocks them back through the simple expedient of summoning water out of nowhere. Ida takes a step to the right, takes a breath, and forces her aching muscles to work. In a flash, Devil's Due clears its holster. The Demonbone weapon roars, once, twice, three times as Ida fires. There's less of that superheated-metal smell this time.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Devil's Due toward her party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae. DG: The party led by Sorey 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> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Between the door and the bomb knife, Talise manages to kill a few of the empusae outright and spoils the momentum of a half-dozen more, effectively cutting the encounter in half for a few critical seconds. In that time, Sorey's lightning-enhanced slashes, in combination with the soaking Ambrose delivers, puts paid to the rest of the first wave. Ida opens up with her Devil's Due, and Claude - bleeding from a light gash above his left eyebrow - draws a single-action repeater from the holster at his belt, adding his six rounds to the mix.
The remaining empusae evidently discover a pressing engagement elsewhere at this point, and run screeching through the door back the way they came. "Ooph, that could have been worse," Claude mutters as he removes a steak from his pocket and shoves it into his mouth. "Srr uff ow?" he asks as he reloads, his words stifled by a mouthful of pure beef. Half of the steak still dangled out from his jaws as he chews.
DG: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Fire in the Hole! *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Don't you just love blowing things up? Don't you just love it when someone does most of the work for you already so all you have to do is pull the trigger? Well, there's a big hole in the wall here, just begging for something explosive to be shoved in there so it can do what explosives do best. And just look at that crate of mining supplies, too, just begging to be rooted through to find something explosive to shove into that big hole so it can do what explosives do best. Or you could just punch your way through the hole. Whatever. It's your life! =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
With the room clear of empusae, something becomes obvious once the smoke clears. There's a hole in the wall. And just beyond it was...something. Perhaps a shortcut? Or maybe it was the den of the empusae, and they would just attack if some invaders showed up. Either way, it caught Ambrosius' attention.
"Aaah...what's thiiis...? How faaascinating..." Ambrosius muses, strolling over to it.
"On the other siiide...perhaaaps..."
Though there is a perfectly serviceable crate of explosives and mining supplies nearby, Ambrosius hauls back a fist and slams it into the wall as if expecting it to surrender to his superior might.
It didn't work last time he tried this. Was he really expecting it to work?
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Fire in the Hole!.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Yeah, they were all over the place!" Talise shouts as she picks up the door again and starts bashing Empusae with it.
Once the horde of them has been mopped up, she exhales and tosses the door aside. It hits the wall with a heavy crash and topples over to sit at an angle, out of the way for now. With a blink she looks over to Claude. "Y'alright there?" she asks as she reaches back to draw her sword, ready for whatever's next.
What's next turns out to be a whole in the wall. Frowning, Talise...
...lets Ambrosius go first. He gives her a weird vibe, with those drolling vowel sounds and that hood. She can't help but think he's about to scuttle up to her in the dark and start gnawing on her fingers or something.
"Well. It isn't big enough to go through. Yet," Talise says as she sighs and slings her sword again, sliding it back into its sheath with a rasp. Instead she slams her hands together and rolls her shoulders as the magic of her gauntlets once more begins to flood through her.
She lets Ambrosious pound on the wall. Then she walks up and slams /her/ fist into the wall.
It takes a large chunk out of the edge of the hole.
"I'll soften it up for you!" she shouts back as she begins slamming her fist into the wall with punch after punch. Each blow leaves crumbling fist craters in the rock - and a network of cracks cobwebbing out from each.
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Ogre Power Gauntlets toward her party's challenge, Fire in the Hole!. GAME> Claude C. Kenny looked at you. Talise Gianfair(#646PenACc) Talise Gianfair is a fairly tall woman at about six foot one or two, with a fit, hardened build that's still feminine but with a sense of strength and toughness about her. She looks like someone who spends a lot of time outdoors. She also doesn't try to hide her heritage, from the pair of little dark strikes cutting across the caramel complexion of her cheeks to the shallow elfin points of her ears. Her dark umber-brown hair is cut short and swept back, the style loose, tousled and masculine. Despite thr rough-cut style her features are fairly pretty, her eyes a striking green colour and her cheeks healthily rounded, her lips full and soft-looking and her nose slightly upturned. She could be called attractive even without makeup. Smiles seem to come easily to her; when they do, she often shows off hints of longer-than-normal incisors. She's dressed fairly ruggedly, as if ready for an adventure. Her upper body is covered by a sturdily-woven white tank top, fitted to her figure snugly enough to highlight an impressive bust; it's sleeveless, exposing the strong, compact definition of her arms. A pair of black-and-steel gauntlets slide up her forearms and cover her hands. At the waist, she wears a broad brown leather belt with a few knives tucked into it on one side, a sheathed sword hanging on the other. Her pants are loose and cut from an orange-brown fabric, patched down the lower part of the left leg. At each knee she wears a kneeguard that matches her gauntlets; her boots also match them reasonably well, heavy and plated. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/77306333/talise_004c.jpg GAME> Talise Gianfair looked at you.
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.
This sort of thing wouldn't be a problem if Edna were along. Although she hadn't... really been interested. And so Sorey looks at the wall for a moment, and then at Ambrosius. He tilts his head slightly, and asks, "...so do you have some super strength gloves like Talise does?" he wonders curiously. He can't really see why they would punch the heck out of the wall without something like that.
And then Talise steps up, and smashes the barrier with her rather outrageous strength.
"Well, that's definitely a start," Sorey comments, and grabs a convenient pick axe to help bash at the opening. He's not sure if the brute force approach is the best, but he's willing to play along for now. Maybe they can get through without too much trouble, and it seems like those Empusa might have been one of the biggest threats in here.
He does pause and looks at Ida for a moment, and adds, "Miss Rey," he states, putting emphasis on the overly formal title. "You're not even from Lunar. It's not like you need to be using my title." And you're being weird now, too.
DG: Sorey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Fire in the Hole!.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
"Mmmf," Claude C. Kenny answers Talise as he holsters his repeater and swallows the last of his steak. "Little thing like this will close up in no time," he says, shifting his headband down a little on his forehead to ensure it covers the wound to aid with clotting.
Ambrosius's solution to the problem tracks absolutely with Claude C. Kenny's. He's been punching rocks for years, even before he got to Cow Patty Planet, and the Beastwoman Talise looks to be cut from the same sort of cloth. But where she uses gauntlets and magic (not that he recognizes the latter as such), he just closes his eyes and focuses his chi, pouring it into the palm of his right hand.
Which begins burning red.
Y'know, with an awesome power.
"Coming in hot," he announces as he takes a bit of a running start. "BUUUUUUUUUUUUURST KNUCKLE!" Claude shouts as he drives the hand forward.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Fire in the Hole!.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida holsters Devil's Due, and strides into the room, stepping carefully around the Empusae corpses. "I have half a mind to bring some of this back," she says, noting the little cache of supplies. As Talise and Ambrosius get to work on the hole--Ida is completely unsurprised to see the strange guy just /punch/ the wall--she starts poking through the mining supplies. Sorey walks up to her. She blushes a little at what he says, but it's kind of hard to tell in this lighting. "Apologies," she says. The others continue to wail on the wall, which provides some nice cover for the little side conversation. Ida lowers her voice anwyay. "I had no idea until Alisha informed me, and the last thing I'd want to do is disrespect a holy man on a quest to save his people." Ida comes up with what's presumably a block of explosives, given the big red warning label on it, and gets ready to set it into place once the hole is wide enough.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fire in the Hole!. DG: The party led by Sorey 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.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"Yes...my gloves are symbolooogically enhanced...Not as potent as...Miss Taaalise's, however..."
Ambrosius replies, lying through his teeth.
Hopefully they didn't bother to actually check to see if he was lying. Perhaps he should go make some adjustments to them at some point just in case he was forced to prove himself in the future. It was too late for that at the moment, however, so for now he would just hope they took him at face-value.
Still, their leader's conversation with Miss Everstead-Rey is an interesting one...he stows those away for later. They might turn out to be important.
The hail of punches and pick-axing soften the wall up, and then with one 'BURST KNUCKLE' from Claude the wall explodes outward.
"Aaah...faaascinating..."" Ambrosius comments.
This looked to be a shortcut of some sort. It would likely be a great help.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has drawn a new Challenge.
===================<* CHALLENGE - Light for the Lightless *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- When Veruni abandon something, they really abandon it. Power and electricity haven't been circulating through this mine shaft for ages, and machinery that would take an inefficient amount of humans working themselves to death to haul out have just been left behind. What this means is that there's still a power generator lingering around to help light the way through the lightless shaft. Hurray! Unfortunately, it's also left behind on an inexplicably tall, jagged platform soaked in darkness and eroding rock. Boo! Well. Best get to getting to it, so you can have the light you need to get out of this place and into the next hellish scenario! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The wall crumbles! The team advances, walking into a large, roughly-hewn antechamber littered with mining detritus--the remains of minecart tracks still cling to the floor, and minecarts sit here and there, most of them overturned and neglected. On a wall is a boxy device--one Ida's seen before! She lights up a little at the sight of it, clearly recognizing it. "Up there," she says to Sorey. "That's a generator. It makes electrical energy--you can think of it as lightning--and sends it into those spherical objects, which light up. It's very convenient, if we can get it working." Which, of course, means getting to it. Ida takes a moment to study the cliff face. She finds a set of handholds, and starts climbing up the old-fashioned way.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Light for the Lightless.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise pounds on the wall a couple more times before pausing, blinking as she looks back at Sorey. "Didn't you ask me not to use that title anyway? I've just been going with that."
Then Claude gives the wall the Shining Claude Finger. Talise blinks at him, and cracks a wide grin. "I knew I liked you for a reason," she says as she straightens with a roll of her shoulders, pushing one hand through her hair casually.
She steps through the hole. With a blink, she frowns and takes stock of the room. "Oh, hey, I remember this place. We got Ruby to just fly up there last time," she says, gesturing towards the generator and nodding over to Sorey. "Yeah, we've gotta get up there and throw that switch and it'll light the room up. It's really interesting."
She reaches over her shoulder for a rope.
Then she pauses and remembers what happened to her rope. Her eyes darken.
"...If you climb up that side you might have an easier time," she says as she heads over there to feel around for a handhold or two.
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Light for the Lightless.
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.
Thankfully Sorey has a spare rope! Not to mention an extra hook - he always keeps a few of them in his pack, as sometimes you need to leave a rope and grapple set for a return trip. Which will come in fairly useful here, he isn't sure he wants to try and climb back up when the route is that unstable.
He listens to the advice from the veterans of this place, and looks up. "Doesn't seem like it's gonna be too hard of a climb," he comments, whirling the heavy metal hook on the end of his line for a moment as he gazes upwards.
Everyone else had smashed the wall down, so this seemed like it was probably his time to shine!
A single cast of the rope, and the claw goes up and over the ledge. He gives it a solid tug to make sure that it set properly, and looks back.
"Hopefully this won't be too much of a problem..." he states, starting a climb upwards.
DG: Sorey has used his Tool Grappling Hook toward his party's challenge, Light for the Lightless.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius recognizes the devices, of course. Primitive, compared to what they were capable of now, but superior Veruni engineering meant that it would likely still be functioning, should they manage get to it.
Fortunately, though it is a surprise to him, Ida also seems familiar with the devices. It saves him from having to think of a plausible way to explain them without making it seem like he knows more than he should. He decides to leave the technical aspects to her, instead satisfying himself with finding his own way up. Though, after Sorey hurls a grappling hook up, Ambrosius just decides to follow him.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Light for the Lightless.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
"You must lift something crazy," Claude answers Talise admiringly, having no idea she's cheating with magic (or, at least, is cheating with magic exactly as much as he's cheating with chi).
The talk of a generator brightens CLaude's eyes; heck, if it's got a compatible port he might be able to use it to get some more juice into his electronics. He smiles and...then remembers where he is; ias such, it takes the young man from Earth about five seconds worth of Ida's explanation to remember he should pretend not to know how electricity works. "Oh, uh...okay, that sounds doable," he says, surveilling the platform with his eyes. Talise and Ida begin working their way up through various handholds. Sorey uses his rope. Claude circles around toward the cavern wall, which is not so much jagged as it is sheer, with what looks like a single outcropping about two thirds of the way up the platform's height. He rubs his chin. Probably doable.
Claude crouches, chi surging into his legs, and then he bounds upward with significant force and an even more significant "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" that gets him to the ledge. He hauls himself up, wriggles a bit to set himself, then tries again, hoping he's not going to either a) overshoot or b) land on someone's head. Oh well, problems for later.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAH!"
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Light for the Lightless. DG: The party led by Sorey 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> Talise Gianfair has posed.
On her way to climb the column, Talise flashes Claude a toothy grin. "So must you!"
Climbing up the rock face, Talise digs her hand in, groping around for a solid handhold. She strains up to the next one. It takes her a moment but she's able to find the familiar grips she used last time.
'KYAAAAAAAAAAAH'
She looks up, startled. Just in time to see Claude C. Kenny hurtling through the air...
...and landing on her head. She tumbles off the rock column, flailing wildly and plummeting back towards the ground.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude lands on Talise, then face-plants into the rock. "Rngh..." he mutters, then falls backward. "Oh crapbaskeeeeeeeeeeeets"
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The climb up is a little rough, but doable--Sorey's grappling hook loops around one of the generator's thick metal 'legs', giving everyone a much sturdier platform to work with than the one at the mine entrance. The ground crumbles a little beneath Ida's feet as she boosts herself up. Claude does not help matters, as his mistimed leap sends Talise back down to earth. "Talise!" Ida cries, abruptly reversing direction and sliding back down to assist.
The generator, meanwhile, has bright red text of some sort on a shimmery panel on its side. It plainly reads, in antiquated Veruni: PRIMARY RELAY CELL IN HIBERNATION
ESTIMATED TIME TO REVIVAL: 128 HOURS
CONTACT QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
But then again, there's nobody here who can read that, is there? Either way: generator looks dead, which is bad for everyone, especially Claude (if he doesn't have a solar backup charger or soemthing).
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The climb up is a little rough, but doable--Sorey's grappling hook loops around one of the generator's thick metal 'legs', giving everyone a much sturdier platform to work with than the one at the mine entrance. The ground crumbles a little beneath Ida's feet as she boosts herself up. Claude does not help matters, as his mistimed leap sends Talise back down to earth. "Talise!" Ida cries, abruptly reversing direction and sliding back down to assist.
The generator, meanwhile, has bright red text of some sort on a shimmery panel on its side. It plainly reads, in antiquated Veruni:
PRIMARY RELAY CELL IN HIBERNATION
ESTIMATED TIME TO REVIVAL: 128 HOURS
CONTACT QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
But then again, there's nobody here who can read that, is there? Either way: generator looks dead, which is bad for everyone, especially Claude (if he doesn't have a solar backup charger or soemthing).
DG: Sorey has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Spartan Spartois *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There's really not that much going on with these guys. They're skeletons. They wear some stock iron armor. They all have short-swords. Pretty utilitarian, all said. One could say they're rather efficient what with carrying only the bare necessities, but all in all, they're sort of boring in the end, aren't they? Maybe something to consider later, since they're probably about to try to stab you now. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.
Sorey swings wildly as Claude leaps up and then goes... back down, the Shepherd barely managing to avoid the two of them. He clings to the wall, and shouts back down: "You two OK?" Hopefully he can get the generator working after all this...
He looks at the screen, and then down at the rest of the party. "I don't think there's anything actually alive about this device!" he calls down. "It says that it needs another hundred and twenty eight hours before it can start back up again, I think!"
If he's interpreting the words correctly. Sorey goes back to look at it, and then he hears a noise.
Turns.
"Oh that's not good."
A moment later Sorey leaps down the wall, using his rope to barely slow his descent. "GET READY!" he shouts, pulling out his sword.
A wave of skeletons comes down the top of the wall, clacking and landing in heaps of bones and iron armor. The Spartois rattle as they rise to their feet, hefting old and rusty weapons as they move forward with a jittery, unnatural motion.
Sorey draws his sword, a flash of blue flame running up the wooden blade as he lays into the closest of the undead creatures. "Any idea about which way we can go from here?" he asks of the veterans. "These guys don't seem too keen on letting us remain!"
DG: Sorey has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Spartan Spartois.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise lands with a heavy thud and rolls out of the way. She's too dazed to even try to catch Claude.
Groaning, she presses her hand to her head and pushes herself to her feet. "That sucked," she grumbles as she looks over towards Claude, momentarily tempted to chew him out. She opens her mouth -
- Closes it. She can't stay mad at that face.
Instead she just stands and draws her sword with a steely whisper. The green stone set into the pommel glints as she brandishes it. "I'm-- I'm alright," she assures Sorey, though she's a little unsteady about it and her eyes are somewhat clouded.
The clatter of skeletons startles her. She shakes herself, dropping a heel back and readying the Rastaban Sword, falling into a defensive stance as she inhales. The skeletons tear in; she lets them bear down on her.
"Head down the passage they just came out of and go right!" she shouts as a Spartoi lunges - and she moves to swat the stroke aside, bringing her backswing attack to try and sever the skeleton's spinal columm. Planting a heel, she whirls to try and take the arm off another, then snaps a boot out to try and take out a leg. It's equal parts elegant swordsplay - not too dissimilar to the style of Althena's Guard - and dirty fighting.
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Spartan Spartois.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Interesting. Ambrosius's brow furrows as he glances over the console.
"I've never seeen a language...such as thiiis...how faaascinating..." He comments, once more lying through his teeth.
Well, nothing they could do about it now. Not that there were any qualified service personnel around here to handle it.
Well, besides him, but this technology could be really finicky and he didn't want to give himself away, nor wait 128 hours for the cell to revive.
Unfortunately, all the noise they made in getting up here seems to have attracted some company. He turns to face them with a frown.
Like before, he raises a hand and sends water down towards them. There's no lightning going around this time, but it's at least enough to push them off-balance to make an opening.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Deluge toward his party's challenge, Spartan Spartois.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida's face twists into a thin-lipped grimace. Part of her despairs at what Sorey just said--is this place trying to kill them all? But then...
Something rattles. Ida is bruised and bloodied and exhausted, but she's been falling back on her mother's training so often that sometimes it just kicks in even when she's not aware of it. The moment her body registers that noise, she's turning to face the door, drawing her revolvers, lining up an angle so she can lay into the enemy without shooting Sorey, Claude, or Talise in the back. All of this, before she's even realized she is being attacked by strange skeleton-warriors. She should probably be scared, but her body isn't giving her the chance.
Ida opens fire, aiming for what would be center-mass if these things still had flesh on them.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Spartan Spartois.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude lands on his back, gritting his teeth in pain as his phase gun digs into his spine from its place of concealment int he small of his back. So that's a thing. "Aw geeze, landed on my...wallet," he grumbles, getting back up to his feet wearily. He starts scarfing down another mid-dungeon snack, and gets about two-thirds of the way through it before skeletons start charging in. Talise steps up to the front, giving Claude enoguh time to chew, swallow, and wipe his mouth with the back of his sleeve (see: previous remarks about teenager and military laundry services).
Once the Beastwoman absorbs the initial impact of the charge, Claude moves in, leaving his sword in its sheath. "Meteor Palm!" Claude roars as he steps past Talise, driving a truly ridiculous number of punches into one of the Spartoi, a blue-yellow (not as in green, as in blue and then yellow) glow flickering around his fists as he strikes. He sucks in a breath and focuses his chi, driving both hands down into the cave floor. "TEAR INTO PIECES!" he shouts, sending spikes of rock blasting outward to bowl over skeletons.
This may make life exciting for the people up top on the platform.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Pocket Steak toward his party's challenge, Spartan Spartois. DG: The party led by Sorey 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> Sorey has posed.
SKELETON WARRIORS.
That's really all that can be said about this situation, because apparently there was a whole room of the things up there, and they continue to pour down onto the party. It becomes clear very quickly that they are not going to be able to fight off a small army of the things, and Sorey points back towards the exit that Talise had pointed out. "We gotta go! These guys are bad news, and there's too many of them! We need to keep moving!"
Yes, they are certainly boned if they stay here. Sorey waits for the last of the group to pull back before he follows himself, the chattering skeletons not too far behind.
Thankfully they are relatively slow, being skeletons and all. It doesn't take too long for the party to leave them behind, but actually *losing* them takes a while longer, as the undead are tenacious. Sorey stops and looks around, asking, "So... where did we end up?"
DG: Not everyone in the party has acted yet. +act/complete can only be used once the whole party has acted. DG: Talise Gianfair has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* CHALLENGE - Crazy Cart Carnage *>======================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Isn't it strange how mine shaft trolley tracks get more and more convoluted and frustrating the deeper you get? And yet, that's very clearly just a common mining practice, as this final, rusty track line proves with terrible ease. So maybe you'd be better served trying to figure out the proper path to line up the tracks to launch the card into those final barriers to your ultimate destination while hoping you don't get even one of the countless junction shifts wrong to start all over again instead of disparaging a classically infuriating mining tradition. It's a cultural thing, you wouldn't understand. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Tire===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Turns out that Talise can't fight quite as well after having a man land on her head. She manages to take a skeleton or two down before one of them slips through and manages to hack into her side, another nicking her shoulder. She chokes back a pained cry into little more than a muffled 'ghhk' and pivots away, backing up towards the exit and whacking at another skeleton with her sword, hoping to hold the damn thing off. She's bleeding fairly heavily but fights through it.
Eventually the number of skeletons gets to be too much. Growling, she checks to make sure all her allies have gotten past her - and then she drops back and slams one gauntleted fist into the roof of the cave, once, twice, thrice. The passage trembles - and several large chunks of rock slide away, collapsing into the corridor behind her to hold up the skeletons.
Staggering and holding her hand to her side, Talise huffs as she catches up with the others. "Everyone alright?" she asks as blood runs through her gauntleted fingers. She looks up, face a bit pale as she observes what's before her.
Mine cart tracks stretch off into the distance, racing across a vast chasm. There are several of them. They criss, they cross, they join in dozens of places. There are many, many switches.
In fact there is a large bank of switches close at hand. Many of them have been set improperly. There are no directions for how to set them right. Only a blinking green light far off in the darkness suggests where one needs to go.
Talise's face goes even paler.
"This fucking room," she breathes in absolute despair.
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Crazy Cart Carnage.
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.
Sorey looks at the incredible number of switches and mine carts for a moment, considering the fact that this looks like a puzzle of absolute madness. He tilts his head slightly, and considers the layout for a moment.
Then he pulls a book out of his belt. Not the one he had been using for records, but another one.
"According to the Celestial Record," Sorey comments, flipping through several pages. "These sorts of puzzles are designed to keep drunken miners away from sensitive areas in order to ensure that any damage to the mines is minimized." He looks around for a moment, and flips several switches experimentally. He watches the tracks change, and makes notes in his other book, tracking how the path changes.
"This will probably take a little bit," he admits, and then gets back to the task at hand.
He is fully determined to beat this puzzle, no matter how difficult it may be!
DG: Sorey has used his Tool Sorey's Celestial Record toward his party's challenge, Crazy Cart Carnage.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Huh, Claude thinks to himself. This...sure is a really complicated puzzle.
....
The sort of logical exercise one might expect a college graduate to excel at.
.........
"I'm going to go take a look from up high," he says. "Maybe the solution will be clearer from there." Claude takes two steps and then hops up toward a raised platform, then up again toward a crate sitting on top of that raised platform. Like seriously, dozens of tracks and switches and god only knows what. It would taker a lot of time and effort to figure it out.
.........
/Or/ he could consult a FAQ.
Claude drops into a crouch and slides his tricorder out of his jacket pocket as discreetly as he can, letting it scan the entire cavern and process the correct path, then work out which...oh darn it.
"HEY CAN SOMEONE JUST LIKE HIT EACH OF THE SWITCHES ONE AFTER THE OTHER SO I CAN SEE WHICH OF THE THINGS THEY MOVE?" he calls out with parade-ground volume. "THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL AND STUFF!"
DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Tricorder toward his party's challenge, Crazy Cart Carnage.
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.
Sorey hits all of the switches in order.
Again.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Fortunately for Ambrosius, his presence on top of the platform puts him at a safe distance away from the Spartoi. The call for retreat is sounded, however...and the accursed things seem to be climbing their way up anyway.
He makes his way down, using climbing Spartoi as platforms to simplify his descent before following the others down a path...that leads to an odd sort of puzzle.
"Aaah...how faaascinating..." Ambrosius comments, glancing towards Sorey as he reads through his book.
Yes, Ambrosius, everything is so /fascinating/. Would you focus on the situation at hand instead of spouting catchphrases?
"Their work eeethic...could use a little improoovement, to be sure..." He comments, walking up to the array of switches.
"Hm...peeerhaps..." He gives a few suggestions as to how to proceed, but they soon veer off into ideas completely unrelated to the task at hand.
Good job there, Ambrosius.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Crazy Cart Carnage.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
"THANKS!" shouts Claude, who hadn't been paying attention because he was too busy trying to pull a tricorder out of his pocket without making it look like that's what he was doing. "Man, I dunno why that guy advertised that he was Sorry, he's a pretty good dude," the blonde swordsman mutters as he inputs the data into the computer he uses when thinking is too hard, which is a lot of the time.
................
- ding*
"UH.....I THINK IT'S SWITCHES ONE, THREE, FIVE THROUGH EIGHT, TEN AND TWELVE!"
.........
"MAYBE!"
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Reloading," Ida says, about halfway through the skeletons' assault. She fumbles one revolver into its holster, slides the chamber out of the other, and starts loading bullets one at a time. Her hands hurt. The tide is starting to turn. Sorey calls a retreat, and Ida runs along after him, glancing back far more than is wise on uneven ground. By the time the group makes it into the clear, she's exhausted, and she all but collapses against the wall. She takes a good few minutes to catch her breath.
Talise's despair is palpable. Ida looks up, and sees--
The carts.
Ida sets her jaw, reaches into her pack, and pulls out her mother's journal. Given the fact that she is within a hand's-breadth of just curling up in a fetal ball, it takes effort to find the relevant section. Ida does it anyway, because she is from Guild Galad, and when you grow up there, you learn to be calm and stoic even when life is breaking down all around you. (Afterwards, when no one is watching, you try to cry and find you can't, and turn to drink.)
"One, three, five through six, eight, ten, twelve." That's one switch off from what Claude got, Ida thinks. Wait--how did Claude get what he got? Is it that strange glowing talking object Ida's never gotten a solid look at?
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flora's Notebook toward her party's challenge, Crazy Cart Carnage. DG: Talise Gianfair is too exhausted to continue! DG: Sorey is too exhausted to continue! DG: Claude C. Kenny is too exhausted to continue! DG: Ambrosius is too exhausted to continue! DG: Ida Everstead-Rey 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 Sorey has been fully Exhausted by The Lightless Shaft!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
The team gets to work on the switches. Several grinding sounds can be heard off in the distance as various rails shift their alignment, tracks lining up with each other to direct carts in certain directions. As for Talise, she keeps away from the minecarts. It's a smarter move than what she did last time.
Finally they decide on the proper alignment and jump in a cart. It trundles along the rail, racing along. It jukes to one side, then the other, then turns down one fork, then swoops down another. Things seem to be going smoothly. That green light blinks in the distance again. Talise is grinning as she grips the edge of the cart. "We're gonna do it!!"
And then the mine cart hits switch twelve... and it goes the wrong way. It swoops down a side path.
Talise's expression falls.
So does the cart. It swoops down a deep, deep, deep incline, like a roller coaster. It builds momentum, speeding to insane velocity - and then it starts up a familiar climb, speed carrying it up towards a rectangle of light in the distance.
"Althena preserve us," Talise breathes.
And then the light is upon them - and for the second time in as many adventures down the Shaft, the mine cart erupts out through a hillside. Just like last time, it sails through the crisp evening air in a glorious arc, shedding adventurers as it sails. Everyone tumbles through the air, free as birds. And then gravity takes over.
Far below, a small tent can be seen.
"It smells delicious, Grandmother," a little Baskar girl in cute pigtails says with a bright-eyed smile as she stands on her tiptoes to peer into a bubbling stew pot.
The kindly old grandmother smiles. "It's almost ready, dear heart."
And then the grandmother looks up to the sky. This time she's set up her stew pot /behind/ the tent.
Nothing is coming. She smiles as she ladles the stew out. "Here you-" And then she stops. Both of them listen.
"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
The mine cart falls out of the sky and crashes through the Baskar tent. Five adventurous heroes land amid the wreckage.
Grandmother Baskar comes to her feet and plants her hands at her hips.
"Grandmother, Grandmother, it keeps happening," wails the little girl.