2017-05-07: Spoopy Hollow
- Log: 2017-05-07 Spoopy Hollow
- Cast: Rose, Sephilia Lampbright, Seraph Edna, Marguerite Fatima, Lily Keil
- Where: Port Timney
- Date: 2017-05-07
- Summary: Rose leads a party of Drifers into the Otherworldly Hollow. Not only is everything including the rocks Hellions, but there was a spoopy ghost at the end.
================================<* Port Timney *>================================= Port Timney is the Kingdom of Adlehyde's premier port town. The city hugs the southern coast of the ranchlands and several trains terminate in Ardyne Grand Station at the northern part of the town. Cattle brought from the ranchlands tend to end up in the northern part of town, before their meat and hides are shipped as far as Krosse and Nortune. Timney has the look of an industrial city, without much of the simple style that Adlehyde's other cities are popular for. While it has few factories, it has many workshops and tanneries in the northern parts of town. Most of the people live in between the northern factories and southern docks, in apartment homes of varying quality. The markets are functional, meant to serve locals rather than sell the imports and exports making their way through the port. The docks, however, are something to behold: numerous large piers, fit for both wooden sailing ships and the newer ironclads, extend out onto the blue waters of the South Ignas Sea. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9KZlk_t4Ww
DG: You have created a party! Your Digger status has been reset! As party leader your presence is very important! If you need to leave, please first promote another player using +party/promote <target>. Remember to set your tools before setting out with +tools/load. DG: Rose has created a party! To join, type +party/reset and then type +party/join Rose. DG: Sephilia Lampbright has joined your party! DG: Marguerite Fatima has joined your party! DG: Lily Keil has joined your party! DG: Seraph Edna has joined your party!
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
It had been a bit over a week now since Port Timney was, one fateful night, overrun by hostile animals and even some humans among them. The spiritually inclined had all but felt the Malevolence emanating from them, if not seen it outright, reporting the animals and people to have been made terrifying by the pressure. It isn't surprising that news of this traveled far and wide, reaching even Nisan's church. They say the beasts, when defeated, ran to some series of caverns near the port city. Batical Grotto, they used to call it, before monsters took over and made tourism unviable.
Word also goes that the leader of the Sparrowfeathers Merchant Guild, Rose, has put a call out to the Adventurer's Guild for a couple of competent folks willing to dive in there in search for secrets. But her interest isn't the Malevolence; she can barely perceive it to begin with.
Whether one travels alone or hitches a ride with Rose's caravan, arriving at the grotto isn't hard. It sits there like an open maw waiting to engulf unwary adventurers, and Malevolence leaks out, a heavy sort of mist in the air that oppresses the senses. It tugs at people's inner darkness, if they have any, and the more spiritually inclined one is the harder it is to ignore it. It's almost painful, like a vice around the heart.
Rose explains, as she hops off the caravan, what she's after. "I came here with another group a few days ago. We found... books, maps, notes at the bottom. Someone's watching Adlehyde troop movements, and has a lot of interest in Lahan! It's a village that got destroyed several months ago, but... well, it's probably not good news. I was hoping we might be able to find out more."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia, to those who aren't familiar with the girl, seems utterly out of place on an expedition into such a dangerous place. She's smaller than the average fifteen year old, and her often childlike mannerisms do nothing to counter that impression.
Neither does the fact that she carries with her everywhere a battered and oft-repaired fox doll, hugging onto him and chattering to him cheerfully as they travel.
Still, she doesn't seem to be particularly frightened--concerned, yes, worried about what's been happening here in Timney, certainly, but not afraid.
"I'm Sephilia Lampbright, by the way," she introduces herself to those present. "My dad's a famous explorer, and I'm gonna be one too! And this is my buddy and bodyguard, Lord Chauncey of Foxington." She holds up the doll, expression serious.
If the girl's father is indeed famous, it's certainly not a fame that extends to Filgaia--though the Lunarians around just might have heard of George Lampbright's exploits. Then again, they might not. The world's a big place, and that's when there's only one world to speak of.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
Edna... has mild interest in this case. She wasn't there for the attack on the port, but she was there for the excursion into the grotto. And now, with her invisible ghost self, she's hitching an undetected ride with Rose's caravan. Actually she was riding atop the roof, lazing all by herself. She's quiet, doing nothing to give herself away.
The earth seraph merely listens in on what the merchant leader says. It's all stuff she's figured, based on the results of last time. But a follow up would be good. ...Something centering around all this malevolence couldn't be ignored. If they can get even one step closer to figuring out this whole deal, then maybe it will all have been worth it. ...Maybe.
And so, Edna hops off the roof casually, and lands right next to Rose, ready to get a move on. She might hear a rustle of grass and a thump, but there's... no one there?
Weird.
<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
The fall of Port Timney to such a sudden, unknowable force was indeed cause for alarm within the Nisan Orthodoxy once news reached it. The various events around normally peacable Adlehyde had already brought the clergy in the area to be on guard, but this was something that merited being investigated posthaste.
It pained the conclave to no end to hear that the Holy Mother decided to take up this charge. It's far too dangerous a situation for her to go into, they argued...but Margie was one of the closest by, and she insisted that she go forth and witness the matter for herself. Before she could say no, she was already gone.
A somewhat fancier carriage arrives alongside Rose's caravan. Decorated in covers emblazoned with the emblems and seals of Nisan, the single horse-drawn wagon halts next to the others, and out steps the Holy Mother herself, Marguerite Fatima, along with her usual entourage of several worried-looking nuns. Surely such a small and unassuming young girl couldn't be the matriarch of the faith, and surely she wouldn't be here, right?
Margie gives a bow to her company. "My faithful friends, I come on behalf of the Church of Nisan to report this matter back to them. I am Bishop Margie, at your service. Now...where will we begin?" Yep, sure, she's just a bishop then. She's at least been trying to keep the whole 'the Holy Mother is here in dangerous places' thing on the down-low successfully. Sephilia gets a nod. "Oh! Well met again, Miss Lampbright, Lord Chauncey. Please do be careful on our endeavor."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily Keil had been there for the battle, and was there helping to tend to the wounded in the aftermath... But she hadn't felt this Malevolence in full. She did, however, keep track of where they went off. Batical Grotto. The black-haired woman left briefly, and returned to Port Timney. Strictly speaking, this problem is none of her business.
Lily is there when Rose's cavern arrives, staring into the grotto with golden eyes and crossed arm, a pistol at her hip and a satchel over her shoulder. She only turns partway there when Rose hops off of the caravan, the strange aura of this place wrapping around her.
Her eyes flicker through when she sees the grass moving beside Rose, but dismisses it after a moment.
"Hello again, Miss Lampbright," Lily says, as she finally turns the rest of the way around to look at the others. ...She looks at the doll but doesn't greet him; her voie remains low, reserved.
And her eyes move sharply to Rose. "That's alarming. I know there are already foreign governments with movements here..."
But there's this other caravan that she can see now, and Lily tilts her head to look over all the symbols and the nuns. She does appear concerned. She's still concerned at the introductions. She blinks a few times.
"Well..." The tall woman puts her hand over her head and bows her head. "Please, allow me to watch over you." A pause, as she remembers...
"I'm Lily Keil. A retired soldier, and a medic. I've been investigating this grotto myself."
DG: A party led by Rose is now entering Otherworldly Hollow. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Hellion Horde *>========================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- There can be little doubt you have found yourself at the right place if one but looks at the creatures that call this place their home; congregating at the yawning entrance of the Hollow, the animals wandering here are many and varied but all have one thing in common: to the spiritual eye, they are undoubtedly Hellions, warped in ugly and frightening ways and exuding a sickening sensation to all with the spiritual presence to sense it. To get inside, you'll have to clear them out, but you won't go entirely empty-handed: scattered bits of armor, potions and other intact provisions dot the landscape in front of the cavern; given the presence of blood smears and bone fragments, it's probably best not to dwell too long on how these boons got here. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
"I'm Rose!" Rose confirms, if anyone wondered. She might have forgotten to introduce herself? Sometimes she spaces out. Whatever assurance she might have had, as the "party leader", seems to hit the fan as she hears an almost imperceptible thump to her side and glances around nervously. No way, not this again? No, come on, that was just the wind. Or some animal nearby. Or something from the cave. Maybe a really strange bird that makes ground-thumping sounds. There WAS that screaming rabbit in the Berry Caves after all...
Rose shakes her head, returning to the introductions. "I'm happy to have you, miss Lampbright and lord Chauncey," she even takes a half bow for the doll, playing along. "And you too, miss Margie! I'm guessing you've been lured by the talk of Malevolence?" Rose can't see or feel it much but she's slowly being made to accept it's a thing that exists. "And I'm sure we'll need your expertise, miss Keil! There might still be hostile monsters in there."
And now it's time to get closer to the cavern. The closer the party gets, the tighter the vice of Malevolence gets. Air is heavy, almost hard to breathe, and it'll get much worse as people progress inside. It's bearable, but inconvenient. Unless you're like Rose and utterly oblivious to the supernatural.
The cave entrance is, unluckily, guarded. A dozen creatures wander-- to the naked eye, they are large centipedes, a few wolves, rabbits and a few rats. To those who can perceive Malevolence, they are much larger, warped, sporting glowing eyes and emanating a sort of purple-ish mist, their hostile features and natural weapons made deadlier.
Rose can't see all of that, but she can tell the animals aren't behaving normally. So she whips a couple of smoke grenades out and hurls them towards the cave entrance to blind the beasts and distract them. "Let's make short work of this and head in! It was like that last time too, I guess whatever the issue is, it wasn't that big lizard at the bottom..."
DG: Please provide a more specific Tool. [Smoke Grenade] DG: Rose has used her Tool Smoke Bomb toward her party's challenge, Hellion Horde.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
"Well. Isn't this just lovely."
Edna murmurs as she comes upon the sight of the hellion horde. ...Sigh. Always with the hellions. Considering that it's always something like a 30-70 chance whether or not she can be seen, the blonde decides to handle things the usual way. ...Step aside and let everyone else rush in. Because really, why not? They'll be the first line of defense. Perfect.
But she should help, shouldn't she?
Sigh, fine.
Edna raises a foot, her umbrella opened up against a shoulder. Then she stomps, causing the ground nearby the horde to break apart as several stone spikes jut upwards rather dangerously.
She's helping. A bit.
DG: Seraph Edna has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hellion Horde.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia makes a face of horror at the usually quite docile animals displaying such warped and horrible behaviors. "I'm not sure I like this stuff...but Chauncey, let's do it!"
The doll is held out in front of Sephilia, and suddenly bulges and practically bursts to several times his original size; Sephilia ends this process riding in a backpack on Chauncey's back. "Don't worry, buddy, I'll patch you up if you get hurt! Now--Chauncey Chop!" She points, and the pair of them charge in.
Oh, maybe that's why he's the bodyguard.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Sewing Kit toward her party's challenge, Hellion Horde.
<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
The Malevolence tugs at Margie's chest as the party heads deeper and deeper into the eerily abandoned Port Timney. The smile on her face fades to a slightly terse frown...anger starts to well up, and she breathes slowly and deeply to dispel it.
"...no...no." The Holy Mother mutters to herself to ward off the grip, but it's tougher than expected.
Those animals, whose souls are twisted fully by the Malevolence, prompt Margie to halt in place once they come in sight, and slowly she backs away, their auras writhing and spiteful to the sight. "...My...apologies if I am not of much use against these...Hellions, you called them? ...Lily, Rose, Sephilia, I'll be counting on you for these, for the most part..."
Edna's peculiar tactic catches Margie's attention - she hadn't noticed the dour girl with the parasol. "Oh! ...Miss, that's quite a marvelous technique you showed there. However did you accomplish that? I...do not believe I caught your name though..."
A swarm of the larger centipedes decide Margie makes for a good target, and with a light yelp, the Holy Mother backs away and procures a curious orb from within her robe. "Everyone, close your eyes for a minute!" She tosses the orb into the crowd of monsters...and with a loud *POP* it explodes with a brilliant flash of light, serving to help blind and incapacitate the Hellions.
DG: Marguerite Fatima has used her Tool Flash Bang toward her party's challenge, Hellion Horde.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Right," Lily answers Rose when she's acknowledged, sure that there will be hostile monsters in there. There were the last time for her. Malevolence is something she's been made to consider too, and part of it definitely appears to be monsters being everywhere. "Then just stay behind me," Lily answers Margie when she says she'll be counting on them.
"There's nothing to like about it," Lily comments to Sephilia, and glances down at her arm before she starts with longer strides towards the mass of monsters. She doesn't pull her firearm, instead raising her hands before her. Something about this place sends a chill down her spine, feels slick like oil.
But oil burns. Red-orange mystical circles burst around her hands as a torrent of brilliant flames crashes towards a group of centipedes. Lily works to clear a path with her magic, although--
"Your Excellency...?" Is Margie... Okay? Who is she talking to?
She does close her eyes as requested, though.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hellion Horde. DG: The party led by Rose has passed this challenge! The party gained 21 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> Rose has posed.
Earthen spikes pierce and immobilize many of the hellions, and they turn out to be rather easy targets between the smoke bomb and the flash bang of the "bishop". Let's not question what a bishop is doing with grenades in her robes, but admittedly on Filgaia that sounds like it's just smart. This makes it rather easy for Lily's flames to consume some of them, and then Sephilia's doll goes to town. Rose is watching in a mix of interest, amazement, and OH GOD WERE THOSE EARTH SPIKES, NOT AGAIN!!! which is a pretty healthy balance of emotions to have. Maybe she mis-saw due to the smoke and flash bang.
Yeah that had to be it.
No wait Margie is talking to... no one.
Oh no.
Calm down Rose, don't yell at the very nice priest lady with BOMBS IN HER ROBES about ghosts, just... move on, accept the ghost is in your life now. Nope, it's not working, she's visibly fretting.
Introducing Rose's superpower: bouncing back.
"WELL!" she exclaims, as the last of the Hellions withdraw either inside the cave or as far as they can get from the meat grinding action going on, "It looks like our way ahead is clear, so let's go!" Whatever's in there has to be sufficiently distracting to take her mind off Seraphim.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Forecast Calls For Slime Showers *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | -------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >------------------------------------- This cavernous chamber is immense. Sprawling and full of natural, beautiful crystalline structures, the rocky ceiling to far up and full of striking stalactites and lovely, undulating oozes... wait. What? Yep. Clinging to the surface of the cave's ceiling are so many Hellion oozes it's hard to even see the surface. And they're all... dropping... down. Yep. It's raining highly-corrosive, gluttonous oozes en masse. Like angry dropbears, but ravenous, writhing gumball blobs. It's probably a good idea to start running. Fast. Like... now. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Margie apparently isn't the only one seeing ghosts--Sephilia protests in defense of the invisible person! "I think she's just shy, it might be kind of mean to ask her like that!" she says. Chauncey's been shrunk back down as the group advances, and Sephy is indeed patching him up as she goes, evidently used to that kind of repair.
"Wooooow," she says as she sees the cavern, eyes wide. As she's reaching for her journal to sketch the natural beauty before her, she notices...
"SLIMES! EW, EVIL GROSS SLIMES!" she yells, and makes for the other side of the cave--and safety--as fast as her little legs can carry her.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Forecast Calls For Slime Showers.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
Eww, what are those things? They're like... blobs of droopy ooze. Like gels! But they look off. Rose glances around the room, before gauging whether or not she can make a toss. She settles on trying, withdrawing rope and a metal hook from her bag.
"I'm pretty fast on my feet! I'll try to distract as many of them as I can while you guys can..."
Can what? Oh, right, she didn't toss it yet. Rose flings the hook up towards a set of beefy looking stalactice, hoping they'll hold. You know what's faster than running through an immense chamber? It's going WHEEEEE on rope that's hanging from the ceiling, provided you have a running start.
The rope is for Margie and possibly Lily, though. Rose herself will actually run through the trying gauntlet, intentionally trying to bait the oozes that might get in the way of those using her rope and hook. It's kind of a gamble, but...
DG: Rose has used her Tool Grapple Hook toward her party's challenge, Forecast Calls For Slime Showers.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
Well. That worked, but also sort of didn't. Edna tsks as the spikes jut up and then send a wayward hellion barreling her way. Annoying. She brings her umbrella down and hardens it with earth magic. The thing bounces off of it, then lands to the ground lifelessly. ...Hm. Yep. It's gone. That takes care of that. With a roll of the eyes, the blonde girl reshoulders her umbrella.
Right about then, Marguerite asks her a silly question.
"..... ....."
Edna's cool gaze slides aside to regard Margie, then Sephilia, then she looks on ahead and speaks, "It's nothing worth making a fuss about. Magic or somesuch." Right. 'Magic'. Not 'directly manipulating the elements' or anything. Nope.
"Ask Sorey or something."
Always foisting the work onto that guy. But it's time to go. And proceed inwards they do. Right up until... Is the ceiling covered in slimes? Edna's eyes narrow. "It got better." She mutters under her breath.
Now, she has a choice here; avoiding exerting herself and risk getting caught up in slime? Or make a break for it and avoid that fate? She makes a decision quickly. Boot clad feet pattering across the ground, the earth seraph keeps her umbrella above her head, using it as it should be used for once in her life. And she speeds through, in the interest of keeping dry.
DG: Seraph Edna has used her Tool Umbrella toward her party's challenge, Forecast Calls For Slime Showers.
<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
Margie blinks once as she's questioned on who she's talking to. She glances back and forth between the two and Edna, who she sees plain as day. "Heh?" Another double-take.
"...I'm talking to her right there, what are you talking about? The one who did the earthquake move!" Edna remains helpful by just sorta shrugging off her question. Who the heck is Sorey? Is she just imagining this girl?
The very very confusing situation is somewhat distracting to Margie, all up until she ends up with the others in that slime-filled room. The first one glops onto her shoulder and falls to the ground, the stickiness nearly causing her to trip - and then they keep falling and falling. The Holy Mother looks around and gasps, and runs for her life!
She's not very fast! Actually she's pretty damn slow! All those explosives and her being a tiny escort mission objective don't make for her being particularly quick. So when Rose offers that grappling hook, she absolutely takes it, clinging to it for dear life as it brings her flying across the slime-raining room.
"...why did I do thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis?!" she cries out as she's rappelled further into the dungeon...
DG: Marguerite Fatima has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Forecast Calls For Slime Showers.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
The black-haired woman in black lifts an eyebrow at Rose as she frets, entirely confused about what has her so istressed in such a particular way. Rose bounces back though, and Lily shrugs it off--not literally, because that's more movement than she goes for except to look around and shake out her still-warm gloved hands.
She sees no reason to say anything about it; she just goes just as suggested.
And then they end up here in this passageway, and Lily doesn't stop to appreciate the cavern; she's more unsettled than that. She's more pessimistic than that. She scans around, and then hears--
"Ugh, slimes," Lily answers, and while she wants to ask what this Bishop is talking about and whether she's hit her head, she is instead left to run. The rope goes through, but Lily is bad at ropes. Besides, Margie's got it. So...
Lily sprints, and while she isn't very fast, she doesn't seem to care about the slimes reaching up at her.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Forecast Calls For Slime Showers. DG: The party led by Rose has failed this challenge! The party gained 4 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> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
One mad dash later, everyone pauses to regroup. "Is everyone okay?" a miserable Sephy asks, dripping with icky disgusting goop. It's in her hair, it's in her clothes...Chauncey, fortunately enough, was stowed in her sealed leather satchel, and is spared.
She pauses to count heads. "...four, and Asksorey makes five...we're all here. Good...now let's try to avoid anything else like that..."
DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Corrupt Crustaceans *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Things are quiet. Too quiet. An eerie creak. The soft sound of chittering
mandibles. And then you see them, coming out of the cracks and crevices of
the cavern -- exoskeletal Hellions, from chattering and enormous centipedes
to to venomous spiders, they come from the dark, hungry for prey. You may
ask yourself how some of these creatures count as Crustaceans, but who are
you to question the taxonomy of the Hellion world? You're the one about to
be eaten by them, after all, maybe you ought to just respect their
classification system. And like, kill them, probably.
... Is that an armadillo in there? What--
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
When it's all said and done, Lily is at the end of the passage, with slime goo down her back and in her hair. She turns to look at the ohers as she finishes running, watching... A lot of slime. And a... Count. "Five?" she asks. She pauses, "Whatever. Let's keep going, if everyone's all right."
Lily leads the way into the next chamber, and the next, until it's so quiet and there's so many little sounds. Spiders and centipedes and crabs and such creatures larger than they should be, horrifically distorted for those with eyes to see.
They seem hungry; they lunge at the whole group bit by bit, disorganized.
"Shit," Lily announces, and throws out a cloud of glittering mist at the one closest to her, cutting and biting.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Corrupt Crustaceans.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia lets out a shriek. "Eiw! GROSS!" Chauncey's out in a flash, and Sephy is soon being carried forward into battle in a backpack. "Chauncey just CRUSH these icky BUG THINGS!" she yells. "I promise to fix you back up right away just KEEP THEM AWAY FROM MEEEEEEE!"
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Sewing Kit toward her party's challenge, Corrupt Crustaceans.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
Rose has somehow avoided all the slime. This is good, because god knows what it'd do to her hair. She keeps it short to begin with because taking care of your hair is a mess, she does not want to deal with this.
After yanking and recovering her hook and rope, precious resources, and probably helping Margie wipe some goo off her robes if she'll allow it, Rose continues onward, quite willing to go on!
Until she sees giant spiders and centipedes and bugs and...
"I-I take back everything nasty I ever said about ghosts, ALL OF IT, THIS IS WORSE, THIS IS A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE!" Look Edna, she's apologizing! Kind of. Under pressure. It doesn't really count, right?
What does count is more smoke bombs, though, and knives flying out of their sheaths. Rose twirls them expertly as she leaps into melee like a vengeful monster, flames coating the knives. DIE SPIDERS, DIE, DIE IN RIGHTEOUS FIRE AND STOP EXISTING ASKJSKDJS!!!
Rose does not really like giant bugs.
And think! She can see the STANDARD versions of the Hellions. If she could see the horrible Malevolence-warped appearances they normally have? That would be a whole different story.
DG: Rose has used her Tool Smoke Bomb toward her party's challenge, Corrupt Crustaceans.
<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
Margie does not escape the sliming intact. Several glop right onto her back and her arms and her hair and everything...and at one point she falls from the rope into a pile of the sticky beings.
A few minutes later she finally manages to extricate herself through the hall, frowning thoroughly and coughing heavily. "Ewwwwwwwww, ew ew ewwwwww whyyyyyyyyy?? Whyyyyyyyy..." The Holy Mother takes a moment to clean herself off a little, though she remains looking somewhat soaked and not very mobile-looking for the rest of the outing.
It gets worse. Piles of massive creepy things, all so very angry. Margie just screams and throws in a stick of dynamite and this may or may not be a bad idea. "EVERYONE BE CAREFUL THERE IS ABOUT TO BE AN EXPLOSION!" is all she yells out after the fact.
DG: Marguerite Fatima has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Corrupt Crustaceans.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
It's working.
It's working right up until a slime plops into Edna's umbrella and instead of bouncing off... slides and oozes down the back... slips off, and then spills down onto her back. Her eyes widen and she shivers, stumbling a bit before shaking the disgusting stuff off and growling under her breath. Tch. She's going to feel unclean for the rest of this damn run now.
Where's Meebo? She could use some water right about now. And then Lailah too. Fire would be lovely. Ugh. Ugh.
But then it seems like their troubles are far from over. When they get through to their next conveniently timed roadblock, what they find are... "....Wow, really?" Edna drones in monotone, narrowing her eyes. Look at all of those creepy crawlies, and...
...Is that an armadillo?
Whatever.
The earth seraph disregards all that she recalls about the magnificence of the curl that she's heard from Lailah ad nausem about now, and instead, points her closed umbrella at the group of critters. "Air Pressure." Suddenly, magic glyphs form on the ground and in the air, creating a well of crushing gravity. Nuh uh. Not letting those damn things anywhere near her.
Lets not and say we did, yeah? Okay.
DG: Seraph Edna has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Corrupt Crustaceans. DG: The party led by Rose 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: Seraph Edna has drawn a new Challenge.
================<* CHALLENGE - The Fast and the Furywolves *>=================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
All manner of beasts from the Adlehyde region have made a home of this
Hollow, as if called here. One such is roaming packs of wolves, perverted by
the hatred of Malevolence into twisted Hellions known as Fury Wolves. While
to most they may look like standard, if vicious, canines, those with the
spiritual sight to see perceive something much different: blue horns,
glowing eyes, and furious, unnatural strength, all bedecked by sweltering
corruption. They're certainly furious, enough that it seems to poison the
air around them, enough that it almost feels infectious. Maybe you should do
something about that.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Rose finds it's worse than anything yet, but her smoke bombs sure fill up this part of the cavern. Her flaming knives cut through it and spill 'Crustacean' innards at her feet... though not on her feet. Chauncy is absolutely smashing--no really, he starts crunching shells and breaking limbs in his fury. Whereas Margie has polite, polite dynamite that blows up part of the cavern as well as a brace of spiders, and Edna... Well. The critters indeed sty away from her thanks to that magic.
Lily doesn't see Edna, but she sure as hell sees magic this time, and feels it. The dynamite goes off, and when the smoke from it and the bombs clear, Lily turns her head towards Margie, looking surprised and impressed. I doesn't last long; she shakes her head again. "...Seems we made short work of that one." Lily starts leading the way, checking her holster, through the caverns toward whatever is next. "If anyone's too hurt, we can stop and take a moment."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
"..... Hm."
Edna lowers her umbrella and sighs faintly. This stupid place was just nothing but Hellions, wasn't it? Was there seriously going to be anything of worth in here? It's either a monster den with no rhyme or reason to it, or... something is being very well guarded. Chances are fifty fifty at this point.
But they manage to clear those creepy critters away for now. ... Time to go. Edna steps forward and heads deeper in without saying a word. Over the bodies of those... things. And that armadillo.
It truly did have a magnificent curl.
But it's after some quiet moments of relative peace, that the channel opens out into a wider area, and what they all find themselves walking into is a den full of wolves. Crazy looking, malevolence infested wolves.
They're hungry.
They've also got vicious looking horns to anyone who can actually percieve the malevolence. Otherwise, they just look like angry canines. Hm.
"I'm so done with this place." The girl mutters as she kicks the ground right as a wolf dashes right for her position. A rock lance bursts up from the ground and aims to impale the thing before it can reach her.
DG: Seraph Edna has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Fast and the Furywolves.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
Rose at least finds a kindred spirit in Margie. Misery loves company and all that, so the merchant sticks close to the "bishop" to help keep the big nasties away from her. It helps everyone in the group seems to know their way around fighting too. Minor injuries are sustained, that can't be helped; scrapes and bruises, but luckily no nasty spider venom or anything like that. Restoratives can handle this.
It's exhausting, though. Rose takes a few moments to breathe. Wisely she chooses not to sheathe her knives, either. She has the dreadful feeling they'll be needed some more.
"Are you alright, missy?" Rose asks Margie, making sure this is the case before they get a move on. "By the way, that's an interesting weapon choice for a priest. Is that standard?" Idle conversation helps keep panic in check.
Which turns out to be very needed, as angry wolves make their appearance. "How is this place somehow worse now than it was last week?! It was NOT this monster-infested, I swear!" This is a big great disaster so far.
Well, no use worrying about it.
"Demon Fang!"
Swipe, swipe go the knives, as Rose slashes the air, sending claw-shaped shockwaves along the ground towards the incoming wolves, trying to cut them open before they can reach and bite her.
DG: Rose has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Fast and the Furywolves.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Still more fighting? It's a good thing Chauncey's already in battle form, then! Sephy herself seems more confident now that their foes aren't utterly icky--though there's a quaver in her voice as she asks, "Are those 'wolves'?"
There's no hesitation in her rush into battle with them, whatever the response!
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Sewing Kit toward her party's challenge, The Fast and the Furywolves.
<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
It turns out that when you investigate a town utterly invaded by monsters, you should be prepared to deal with a lot of monsters!
As Rose inquires about the explosives, Margie just rubs the back of her head a little. "...Ah. It is standard for the priests of Nisan to find something uncommonly used and to master its properties. We have long relied on unorthodox ARMs to protect our members." She prepares another one of those flash bangs as the wolves approach, and tosses it in once more, the burst of light hopefully staggering the beasts...but they're still fast and feral! So Margie hides behind Edna in particular, which probably looks odd to all the people who can't see her...maybe that will throw off the wolves???
"A...ah, I hope you don't mind this...I am not very skilled when they get in close. Please do not let them get there..."
DG: Marguerite Fatima has used her Tool Flash Bang toward her party's challenge, The Fast and the Furywolves.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"I've never met a priestess specializing in explosives. It makes me feel good about my hobbies." That might not sound like a joke.
But shortly, Lily sees ordinary angry canines, though she feels a sense of anger herself coming over her, dull but present. She shakes her head as if to shake it off, attempting to keep her focus. There's a rock lance from the ground that gets a wolf, as Lily is setting herself ready.
"It wasn't when I came either," she answers Rose, setting her hands before her with a violet flash until she's holding a black rift in the air, pure darkness that hurts to look at. She lunges forward after that, and Rose goes for the knives while Lily starts hacking away at wolves with a sword made of darkness. "There's only one wolf in this group," she says cryptically as she slashes.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Fast and the Furywolves. DG: The party led by Rose 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: Marguerite Fatima has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* CHALLENGE - One Big Push *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Oh hey look, it's a giant boulder. How'd that boulder get there? What was this boulder's life like, until it got here, resting on that lonely slope, blocking your way further down into the depths of the Hollow? Oh, what adventures this boulder must have had! Epics of scales one could scarcely imagine! Adventure! Intrigue! Romance!(?) A true hero, this boulder very well could be. But right now it's in your way so maybe you should try to just push it down that path so it stops continuing to be in your way. Alas, poor boulder. You were the best of us. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
Turns out, these wolves are faster than Edna gave them credit for. The one she tries to skewer only gets grazed in the side before it resumes charging at her. She tsks and brings her umbrella down just in time to let the beast chomp onto that instead of herself. "Stupid... annoying thing..." The earth seraph grumbles, narrowing her blue eyes at the struggling thing. Heaving forward with a burst of strength, she flings the wolf back, then points her umbrella and fires a shot of magic energy in it's path. A burst of dust kicks up, before it all seems to end.
Sigh.
Edna brushes herself off after all is said and done, and looks about. Seems like everyone else more or less made it out okay. Good. Carrying corpses was annoying. ...Bet she could freak people out if a dead body started moving on its own, huh?
...Nah.
Off they go.
<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
As soon as that bomb leaves Margie's hand, she has another ready to go. If these Hellions are going to really swarm everyone this whole time...best to be prepared.
Instead, the party bumps into the exact opposite of that. A big dumb boulder.
Luckily, she has just the thing. And a curiously shaped placed device is positioned right in front of the huge stone. "...Ahhhh, everyone, do be careful, things will get rather dangerous in this room!" She runs the fuse far away...farther away...very very far away! And then lights it up. The seconds go by...little seems to happen...
Until suddenly...
- BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
A sound like the thunder of the gods smiting this poor unfortunate rock rings out.
DG: Marguerite Fatima has used her Tool Breaching Charge toward her party's challenge, One Big Push.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia takes the time to shrink Chauncey back down and attach his digging claws, watching with interest as Margie sets an explosive and...oh, that's a fuse...
Sephy covers her ears and even so cringes at the sound of the explosion. But then, she's up again, getting Chauncey charging in, this time to apply his digging claws to shifting the rubble of the boulder.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Digging Claws toward her party's challenge, One Big Push.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
Don't you dare, Edna, Rose has managed to remain calm in the face of so many things needing handled. Floating corpses would be absolute overkill.
"Oh, I see! That's kind of cool! I thought something like a religious order would have symbolic matching weapons, not pick weird choices to confuse and outskill people with! Huh, religion on Filgaia is no joke, is it?" The priests on Lunar, or at least Glenwood, are a lot less interesting than Battle Nun Margie.
Then they come across Sir Boulder.
"Hey, isn't that the same rock as... last time?" Giant rock. They managed to shove it down another tunnel or shaft or something if she recalls. Guess this is where it ended up? Right in their path. Figures.
"... at least it's not a Hellion or something."
She does not doubt the cave could make it happen.
Seeing how people have better tools for the job than Rose's hands, she decides to stand back and out of people's way. She might help placing the bombs if given a chance but she won't interfere with people who are evidently better suited for this task than her.
DG: Rose has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, One Big Push.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
For her troubles, Lily gets her arm gnawed on, all the way up to almost the shoulder. There's a good bit of blood, and being bitten by Hellions is something she has tried to avoid. It's for the best that the corpses don't move, because Lily would decide quickly that fire was the best option.
But the party is here at a particular boulder, and...
"...On Filgaia?" Lily asks Rose as they walk. But here they are now at the boulder, and...
"Hold on," she says to Margie, and before the denotation happens, she places down some supporting charges of her own. Then she gets back, lighting her comparitively shorter fuses from afar with a snap of her fingers.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Explosive Charges toward her party's challenge, One Big Push.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
Oh.
It's Brave Sir Boulder.
Edna blinks slowly once. Twice. Three times.
She smirks and approaches. After all the bombs have been placed and detonated, she stares face to face with that dumb old rock. Then she rears back with a fist. An oversized floating gauntlet shimmers into sight, and Edna throws her fist forward, causing the floating gauntlet to crash into the boulder with a huge amount of force.
Go away, Sir Boulder. No one likes you.
DG: Seraph Edna has used her Tool Divine Gauntlets toward her party's challenge, One Big Push. DG: The party led by Rose 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> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
To say that the boulder has been cleared is a bit of an understatement.
It's of dubious historical precedence as to whether there was even a boulder there in the first place. The room swirls with the dust of the fallen stone, and the rock beyond, a circular crater blasted through the passage beyond and widening significantly. Archaeologists will later look at what transpired in this room and get into a heated debate as to whether it is evidence of a local volcanic eruption.
But in any event, there is a way through! Trust in the power of explosives.
Margie cheers a bit and leads the way. "Excellent work everyo-haaagh, kaagh, cah ahkahghghhh." She breaks down coughing for a minute from all the dust, before wiping her mouth and giving a thumbs-up to all. "Don't worry! I'm fine. Hooogh."
DG: Rose has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* CHALLENGE - Malevolent Mass *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- The Malevolence in this part of the cavern is thick, thick enough that even the most rudimentary of spiritual senses would still feel the hair on the backs of their necks standing on end, even if they couldn't see the reason why: condensed into a thick, unstable mass at the end of this passage, Malevolence has bound with rock and mineral to create a bulging, seething obstruction of blistering negative impulse. To press on, you're going to have to find a way to carve through bedrock and bitterness. Lucky you. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
Goodbye, Sir Boulder. Edna didn't like you.
Rose is a bit amazed at the firepower the party is packing. If they run into more rocks, it won't be a problem at all!
So the party advances, no doubt cheerful.
A rock also advances, no doubt cheerful.
Like a big great stone golem that's growing out of the cave walls, rooted in place, stands a mass of rock that creaks with malice and even attempts to move towards the group the moment they are within sight. Sadly for its success rate, the great beast's hands and feet are firmly rooted into the walls and floor of the cavern, but its massive body bars the way nonetheless. There's not enough room to slip through, and it might move at any moment and crush you if you tried.
Rose throws her hands up. "Oh come on! That's not fair! Is EVERYTHING in this cave out to get us?" The water certainly was, last time. Guess it's par for the course that the stone also is.
The golem growls as a stark reminder it is there, silencing Rose. "W-Well, you guys handled that last rock like pros, so good luck!"
DG: Rose has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Malevolent Mass.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephy hears "on Filgaia" and turns, wide-eyed. "Are you from Lunar too?!" she asks, eagerly. "I mean you're right, the religion here is really different from back home! I've been learning about something called Guardians and..."
Then the girl catches sight, through the clearing dust, of the evil rock.
D-don't worry," she says, with a forced confidence she evidently doesn't feel. "Chauncey and me have taken on bigger challenges than this. At least it's not a door!" With that, the girl sets to directing the doll, digging claws still attached, in disassembling the dire rock.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Digging Claws toward her party's challenge, Malevolent Mass.
<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
Aaaand Margie used up her biggest and baddest explosive on something not as imposing. GOOD JOB
Still, that doesn't change her strategy. She's still got plenty of bombs. So for the creepy malevolent golem which is really unnerving despite the fact that it's just a big angry hunk of rock stuck in place, she sets a number of smaller timed charges around the base. These take a while to detonate!
"...So! ...What brings all of you here anyway? I've met Miss Lampbright here but I don't know much about the rest of you on this expedition...especially you!" She turns to the semi-invisible Edna, looking over the small and dour Seraph with intrigue. She catches a whiff of that...odd magical presence, but it's so unfamiliar that she's confused what about this might make the girl not visible to anyone. "...I...ah. ...Apologize for hiding behind you back there though!" Margie shuffles her foot awkwardly, not really knowing what to say to Edna about this...
DG: Marguerite Fatima has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Malevolent Mass.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
"......"
Edna gives the malevolent mass of rock one look. And then she stares at Rose.
She jinxed it.
For this transgression, the earth seraph walks up behind her, and...
Jabs her in the back with her umbrella. Not too hard. Just enough to let her know a spooky ghost isn't pleased because this is clearly her fault, right? Right.
Then she presses onward, her other arm is raised, summoning forth her second floating gauntlet. "Sick and tired of this place. I want a crablette when this is done."
Beat.
"A royal crablette."
That decided, Edna sticks her umbrella into the ground, and then... dives forward, unleashing a violent flurry of fists from her twin gauntlets against the corrupted rock abomination. Ugh. It annoys her that this thing is in the same elemental domain as her.
Please crumble away. No one likes you either.
DG: Seraph Edna has used her Tool Divine Gauntlets toward her party's challenge, Malevolent Mass.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Hey," Lily says to Margie as she cheers, pulling a handkerchief from her satchel. "Breathe through this for a little while, until we're out of the worst of it." Lily offers it forward, and sounds as close to pleasant as she gets; she's still quiet, still reserved, but not, well... Harsh about it.
But goodbye boulder. Lily is not cheerful as they advance, but that's in part because she doesn't do cheerful. Cheerful is a long distance from who Lily is. So she looks up to this great awful mass of stone. "Another one," she murmurs, looking it over with narrowed eyes. "It's so strange..."
A pause, as she looks to Rose, "Yes, everything in this cave is out to get us, as far as I can tell." She stops when Rose says good luck, and lets out a breath. "All right then."
When Sephy mentions it not being a door, Lily goes rigid for a moment. Her arm aches. There's no reason it should, she healed that wound.
"There are a lot of people from Lunar out here," she says instad, and moves up to the wall to start setting charges, keeping in mind where Margie places her, doing the math on setting in her head..
"You..." Five. Why is there someone she doesn't see? Are they really there? Are two of their party just seeing things?
"I was there for the invasion of Port Timney," she explains to Margie as she goes. "I was there, treating the wounds of the people there. I want to understand what happened, and why, and what these... things... are. That's why I'm here."
"It shouldn't be my business, but I guess I'm making it my business. I shouldn't say I don't care in front of a priestess." She glances up at the rock taking blows. "...Everyone get back. The charges are all ready."
Hers, like Margie's, will be explosive.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Explosive Charges toward her party's challenge, Malevolent Mass. DG: The party led by Rose has passed this challenge! The party gained 21 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> Rose has posed.
Edna stares at the rock, and it stares back. Rose can't stare back because she has no idea she is being stared at! What luck.
No, really, all she has to care about is the absolute destruction the party brings upon that golem. It never stood a chance, immobile as it is. Claws from the doll dig holes within which explosives can be set by both Margie and Lily for maximum structural damage and Edna informs the golem it is not liked via FISTS. It is blasted into pieces, first by explosions and then what's left is handily swept away by Edna's gauntlets. The road ahead is clear! ... again!
Maybe there'll be ANOTHER boulder in the way?
"Geez, guys... well, at least nothing caved onto our heads. Ah, about... doors, um." She recalls last time. "There was a door last time. Maybe it's still open, or we're in a competely different section of the cave. It's hard to tell."
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================<* CHALLENGE - Burnt Offering *>================================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | -------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >------------------------------------- Before you is an altar. Beyond it, a door, the only door to be found in the entirety of this cave system. The door will not budge. Not for all the greatest force in the world, not for all the most clever keys, not for all the most dextrous devices. Besides the altar is flint and fuel for burning. Upon the door, a simple message: OFFER UNTO THE PYRE. Flesh, possessions, it matters not -- as long as it has meaning. As long as it takes something from you. As long as it satisfies the whimsy of this altar's wards. What will you give? =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephy cries out in frustration. "A DOOR?" Then she sees the message on the door...and turns extremely pale.
"To...the Pyre..." she manages, then backs away, trembling. Something about this has spooked the girl badly. "I...I don't know if we should be here, everyone," she whispers.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Burnt Offering.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
"Oh, it's... that door again."
Rose frowns, and takes a purse of coins off her belt again with a great sigh. "Fine, you greedy, stupid door. Here, have my money, AGAIN." With a huff, the merchant sets the coin purse onto the altar.
"Last time someone actually lit a pyre and all, I think it helped. It didn't really seem to care THAT much what we gave it, but... better not take chances."
A glance towards Sephilia, and Rose asks, curious: "You're the second person to freak out about this door, am I missing some weird history lesson about fire being terrifying?"
DG: Rose has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Burnt Offering.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia shakes her head, eyes a little wild. "If you're from Lunar you must have heard the stories, right? The legends of the Pyre Witch?" Without waiting for confirmation, Sephy continues, blurting out, "because she's here on Filgaia and she's...she's..." The girl can't finish that thought, trembling and hugging tightly onto Chauncey, once again doll-sized.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
Edna dispels her gauntlets and retrieves her umbrella, once again dusting herself off. She doesn't look terribly pleased with this whole thing by this point. But the path is clear. Time to go. And off they are! Right until they arrive at...
The Pyre.
Again.
The blonde narrows her eyes. "Seriously? This again?" Edna heaves a sigh and then steps forward, past Sephilia and her panicking state. She just produces the same notebook as last time and starts scribbling into an empty page. Once she's done, she tears the page out and places it into THE PYRE.
It reads:
'I gave you hopes and dreams last time, you greedy thing. What else do you expect me to give you? You're not getting my umbrella. Or my boots. Or my doll. And you're most certainly not getting my ribbons. So what I give you, is a warning. A warning that you won't take anything else from me. Because If you think you can, I will hunt you down. I will find you. And I will bury you. - Edna'
Expression ever unchanging, Edna turns away and walks off to the side. Sephilia once again gets another look through half lidded eyes. But the earth seraph says nothing. She just files this information away. Maybe it might come in handy some day.
Maybe.
DG: Seraph Edna has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Burnt Offering.
<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
Margie thankfully takes Lily's offered kerchief to help her breathe. "T...thank you...that must have been quite an unfortunate experience. I regret that the Orthodoxy did not hear about this town before it was too late...mmm, what...what do you think caused all this? Is this...crushing force...was it always here, festering beneath the port? If so..."
The young priestess shakes her head. "...I can only hope it can be cleared."
And so they come across a pyre, and Margie halts. An altar...one that demands a sacrifice? Margie stares at it for some time, deciphering what it is asking for exactly. Rose throws money onto it, Edna places a page upon it of some description.
"...hm. ...Alright then, I will play this game." And so Margie tenderly removes her hat and places it on the altar as well.
Well it's something.
DG: Marguerite Fatima has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Burnt Offering.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Keep it," Lily says, and pauses. "It wasn't a problem for me," she says to Margie. "But those people weren't prepared for that. I have no idea what caused it, whether it was here... I can't even see what's supposedly different about them. Though I admit I didn't consider contacting the Orthodoxy. I should have."
"I hope it can be cleared too."
Lily looks as she steps into the room, out of the way of the others, and remembers well that inscription even without seeing it. She glnces to Sephilia once as she talks about a Pyre Witch, and says nothing; she's never heard of this woman. It seems though that many of them understand the nature of this door. She remembers...
Don't give it anything, Bart had said.
Don't let me ever see you doing something like that again, Josie had demanded.
And Leon had been so shocked.
Lily lets out a tense breath, shaking her head as she steps forward. "I'll... handle the pyre part," she says, as others already have in mind what they'll do. They're already doing it. She reviews what her friends said, what they did last time, as she sees the other place their offerings; she does so in a well-worn notebook drawn from her satchel. The notes are fresh. The words are fresh. The solution...
Is blood.
Lily purses her lips. "...No," she says simply. She shudders a a moment, and pulls her knife from her boot before she touches at some of her hair. She cuts a small lock, and places it on the altar.
"I've given you enough blood," she murmurs, "Not today." She lifts up her left hand.
In moments, all of the offerings have ignited in orange-red flames that won't stay so pure for long.
Even giving this much feels wrong. But...
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Kislev Field Manual toward her party's challenge, Burnt Offering. DG: The party led by Rose has passed 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> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Despite Sephilia's protest, the offerings are made and the Pyre is lit...and the offerings are, apparently, accepted. Sephy whimpers slightly as the door clicks open...
DG: Seraph Edna has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Agonized Phantasm *>======================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Beyond is a large and empty cavern, beset by a spacious lake. The air is
still, uncomfortably so... and thick with choking Malevolence. There is a
wail, horrible and tortured. The bones of the dead and forgotten rattle and
sweep upwards, summoned by your presence. Spirit woven to life by
Malevolence is made manifest, a horrifyingly skeletal spectre of a Hellion
is formed right before your eyes, forged by the anguish of the unspeakable
torments wrought in this room. If you wish the secrets here... you will have
to deal with it. Before it deals with you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
Edna watches at the door clicks and opens.
"That's what I thought."
And then she presses forward, past the door and into the empty cavern. It's there, that they spy bones upon the ground. ...So many bones. And there's a lake too. "Hm..." Well, whatever. They should start looking through here quickly. The less time they spend exposed to malevolence, the bette-
At that point, the bones start rattling, malevolent energies swirling together with bone and rising up to form... some sort of spectral, skeletal monstrosity.
"...Of course." Edna grumbles, narrowing her eyes at the sight of the thing. "Fine." She sighs out, pointing her umbrella at the thing. "Air Pressure." She mutters, casting the same gravity spell as she had before. Not really expecting to damage it, but to hold it in place for even just a little while. Leave it to the others to actually fight it.
Yep.
DG: Seraph Edna has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Agonized Phantasm.
The door opens! All is right!
... all is not right, the bones are animating.
Into.
Into...
...
Rose.exe has encountered a fatal error.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia, trembling, nevertheless grows Chauncey to combat size. "Just one more fight, today, buddy," she says, trying to reassure him. Maybe trying to reassure herself.
She's not very reassured. This is like nothing she's faced before...but it's something she fears she'll have to face again.
Chauncey lumbers into battle, displaying none of the hesitation of his mistress. "Ch-chauncey, try the lariat!" Sephy commands, and the doll obeys...whether it helps or not remaining to be seen.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Agonized Phantasm.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
The door opens! All is right!
... all is not right, the bones are animating.
Into.
Into...
...
Rose.exe has encountered a fatal error. Rebooting...
"E-Eeeek!" Rose reaches into her belt and empties the contents everywhere. Smoke bombs, coins, random slips of paper, caltrops, some snacks, everything goes flying into a mad flurry towards the Hellion. There is no pause in the shrieking, either. Rose's knives remain sheathed. She's found an extremely large rock to cower behind. She sounds absolutely terrified, far worse than every other time she's freaked out about ghosts. Probably it's because she can: 1. see it, kinda, 2. it wants to eat her or whatever it is a giant pile of bones would do to you, 3. it's extremely spooky.
"KILL IT, KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!"
DG: Rose has used her Tool Smoke Bomb toward her party's challenge, Agonized Phantasm.
<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
As the door clicks open, Margie sighs in relief, the altar seemingly satisfied with mundane offerings. "...That is a relief. Who...who made these altars here...?" The now hatless priestess slowly creeps her way into the sanctum, filled with bones and howling with Malevolence. A chill runs down her spine.
And then it appears, the dark spirit animating the dead and making a body of the fallen. Margie takes a step back...then stares it down. "No! I will not balk here. You must be the root of this darkness, and I won't stand for it! In the name of God, I will return the dead here to light and let them know peace! You will be judged, and I will bring you to those halls. Begone!!!" Margie's cloak sweeps to the side, revealing piles and piles of ordinance and other strange devices in there, but one big, cross-shaped one stands out. She twists the crossbar once, and hurls it right into the phantasm's face...before it bursts with light, also in the shape of a cross, a brilliant display of cleansing light illuminating the room!
DG: Marguerite Fatima has used her Tool Flash Bang toward her party's challenge, Agonized Phantasm.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily watches Sephilia as they walk, after that whimper. But there isn't a lot to walk past here, not before reaching the bones and the bizarre thing before them. Lily sees swirling bones and remains placed together by some unseen force. Again, that invisible help is here, and their group....
The shrieking causes her to turn and stare at Rose for a few moments as if uncertain that she's all right at all. That makes two.
The ghost is almost comfortable to her; maybe it's another of her strange melancholies, but the Lieuenant of the Black Wolves stares forward. The priestess shouts her abjuration. Lily...
Stares forward, sets her stance, and calls up her magic once again, this time in greater supply than before. At her outstretched hand come bright, rumbling explosions all at once, across the creature(?) in their way.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Agonized Phantasm. DG: Seraph Edna is too exhausted to continue! DG: Sephilia Lampbright is too exhausted to continue! DG: Rose is too exhausted to continue! DG: Marguerite Fatima is too exhausted to continue! DG: Lily Keil 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 Rose has been fully Exhausted by Otherworldly Hollow!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.
Oh.
Edna is left blinking in mild surprise as this thing... breaks free of her gravity hold, then tanks pretty much everything thrown its way. After that? It rears back with that huge bone claw and sweeps a violent cleave through the air in wide arcs, going after anyone and everyone it gets into range of.
Edna is struck and goes flying... flying... bam. Right into a cave wall. She coughs out as she hits the ground, then slowly rises up to her feet again, looking much worse for the wear. "... We're getting out of here. That thing is too strong to bother dealing with." The cavern gets one last look, then the earth seraph turns and starts to rush out. "Get a move on. And someone grab the scaredy cat over there behind that rock." With that, she dashes off.
Nope.
Nope Nope.
Whatever's here isn't worth getting murdered for.
Save that for the NPCs.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia knows when she's outmatched, and when Edna runs, she's in agreement. "Retreat!" she calls to Chauncey. The doll lumbers back, and scoops up Rose on the way to carry her along. Despite his apparent slowness of motion, Chauncey's size means his long strides make good distance.
"I told you we shouldn't be here!" Sephy cries as they flee.
<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.
Margie blinks. The ghost seems unaffected. God, it seems, still has plans for this monstrosity of anguish, the undead, and vile intentions and his instrument on Filgaia must not harm it.
Well shit.
"You...will...you won't get away with this, foul being! One day you will be purged, I swear it! The light of man and the light of Heaven will shine in this place, and-whoa!" Margie narrowly avoids a flying spear of bone and takes that as her signal to get out of Dodge. "Auuuugh why why whyyyyy, it should not have come to this!!!" And so she flees after everyone else, running out of stamina pretty quickly.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
Rose is a gibbering mess. Especially as she sees that this ghost is fighting back, that all the people here aren't able to put a good dent in it. Or maybe they are? IT'S HARD TO TELL, THAT'S WHAT'S SCARY!
To say she needs scooped and carried is pretty accurate, and she isn't going to fight back. She'd lucked out-- that hiding spot, that big rock, meant she didn't get attacked by the mass of spoopy Malevolence. On the other hand she had not been especially useful to the party, either, and... well, yeah.
She is going to be blaming herself for this.
She'll regain some measure of composure once the cave far behind, and she'll definitely remember to PAY people, once they've made their way back to Adlehyde or Port Timney, but...
Rose doesn't like ghosts, that much couldn't be clearer. Maybe Sorey will get around to fixing that eventually!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
The retreat is called in the midst of this battle, as Lily finds a spear of bone slicing through her side, blocked only thanks to her magic from making that her stomach. She looks to the others, hears Margie shout out...
Lily sees Sephilia's doll get Rose, so she takes a different job for herself. "Damn," she says, and then starts backing up towards the exit, making absolutely sure that she's the last one to leave, regardless of the extra hits that means she takes. Taking hits is part of her battle style.
There's another explosion before she rounds the corner, and takes off after the others.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
As Chauncey lumbers along, color returns to Sephilia's face--and with it, a sort of grim determination. "I came here because I needed to know more about this...Malevolence...to find out if it was something that might be happening back home, too. The Pyre Witch, she...she said my parents are in danger, back on Lunar, and that's why I worried that this might be happening there, too."
"But if that Pyre 'was' hers, it means that she's behind this, at least in part. Which means that it is happening here because she's here." It's not really clear if she's explaining all of this to anyone in particular, or just working out her thoughts.
"I know the truth now, and not just the convenient parts that the Pyre Witch wants to share...I may not know all of it there is to know--I don't know why she's doing this...or--or how to stop her..." She trails off, as Chauncey lumbers ever on.