2017-05-14: The Terror of the Mysterious Manor
- Log: 2017-05-14: The Terror of the Mysterious Manor
- Cast: Yarobeleedt, Jacqueline Barber, Lunata Croze
- Where: Adelyn Ranchlands
- Date: May 14, 2017
- Summary: After their wagon breaks down, Jacqueline and Lunata brave the strange manor that appears before them in hopes of finding parts...but, unbeknownst to them, they are not alone...
===========================<* Adelyn Ranchlands *>============================ The area around Adlehyde Castle is occupied by rolling fields of grass that are the envy of nations more seriously affected by the desertification that plagues Ignas. Most of the continent's cattle and horses are bred and raised in these ranchlands, which are owned by a scattered assortment of families, each with lands and borders carefully marked out by poles and fences. While Adlehyde's soldiers patrol the main trade routes throughout the country, the ranchers are for the most part left to their own devices except during tax season; this has tended to produce an independent and stubborn streak in the people who call this territory home. Folks around these parts are used to looking after themselves, and do so with a brutal effectiveness. The four-footed wealth that covers the ranchlands attracts its fair share of rustlers, bandits, and other ne'er-do-wells; when local posses prove insufficient to the task, a single rider sent to the Adventurer's Guild will generally bring help quick enough. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfRBmqBlzzQ
DG: Yarobeleedt has created a party! To join, type +party/reset and then type +party/join Yarobeleedt. DG: Jacqueline Barber has joined your party! DG: Lunata Croze has joined your party! DG: A party led by Yarobeleedt is now entering Haunted Manor. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
======================================<* CHALLENGE - Uuuuh... Where's The Door? *>====================================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- The Haunted Manor stands before the party. Never is its appearance the same, and it welcomes guests differently everytime too. This time it apparently decided you don't NEED to be given a door, you ungrateful adventurers. Better look for another way in, or maybe a hidden switch of some kind? =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Somewhere in what remains of the forests dotting the Adelyn Randhlands... a low fog uncharacteristic of the season hangs through the trees. The calls of songbirds are muted. A nice, cloudless day sees the sky tinged a touch of magenta.
A rotted-out manor rests hidden from most of the main paths throughout this part of the region. Its black wood construction seems more blue, under the lighting, as an iron gate with barbs across the tops seems too well-maintained, too fresh, to belong to the building surrounded by it. Its gate hangs wide open, hinges squealing every so often as though a call to dinner for the curious (and also cats, come to think of it there's at least four cats milling about the perimeter - all of them black, of course).
A cloaked figure whose manner of dress is far too oversized to truly confirm a humanoid shape slides across the dirt before the gate.
"Silly ^Tainted^." They mutter. "Think I not good enough. Must be 'distract.' Distinct diss, a tract." Their posture sinks, seething with impotent(ly translated) rage.
Then their hood tilts up... and back... and they leap straight up, startled.
"When this here?! No no no. Report says no thing, nothing!" They dart back and forth across the grounds, sounding panicked. This wasn't here last time!
"^Tainted^ will say judgment tainted?! Never ever. What if..." Oh no, what if someone found out and decided to build a new fortification that could stop the approach? He should run, he should hide - but then he might be culled for giving incorrect information, and, and--
The hooded figure continues to shift about aimlessly in panic. This won't do, this won't do, and boy, are things about to get a lot more complicated in the next few minutes...!
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Uuuuh... Where's The Door?.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The other day was...stressful, to say the least. Physically Jacqueline was fine, but her mind was...tired. She needed to cool off. So, she had asked Lunata to come with her on a trip to deliver some supplies to a nearby town. Hanging out with Lunata always helped. There was also something she wanted to talk about with her, too, but...
When they actually met face to face, she couldn't put her thoughts into words. It was easy to tell she wanted to talk about something but didn't quite know how to word it, so for the most part she distracted herself by talking about other things.
At least, until...
A loud crack sounded, followed by a concerned whinny from the horse as the wagon drooped suddenly, some of its wheels broken.
"Wh-whoa!" Jacqueline cried out, having to brace herself in order to not get thrown out.
"Lunata, are you alright?" She asks, looking back to make sure her friend wasn't hurt. She then quickly moves out of the seat, going around the sides to examine the damage.
"...Yeah, this is bad. I dunno what happened, I replaced them just the other day..." Jacqueline mutters. Did she really receive damaged goods...? She could generally trust the merchants she met, knowing what to look for when deception was a possibility.
With a sigh she takes a step back, and then, she sees it...
Looming over them, a dark manor. It looked quite old, but...she didn't remember ever seeing this one in the area before.
"Lunata, are you seeing this?" She asks, approaching the building carefully.
"Maybe we can find some replacement wheels in here, but..."
But it looked really creepy and suspicious?
Also, no door. That was also kind of a problem. With a frown, Jacqueline begins to search for one.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Uuuuh... Where's The Door?.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata herself was having a bit of a time, what with the business and commotion of Lolithia being unearthed. Professor Hetfield's ad about having companions be vetted by her mom has sent some... odd and colourful individuals sent her way, inevitably looking for her mother. She had to say no to the firebreathing sword dancer, and the guy with the stretchy arms, and what was up with the eyepatch guy who only wore shorts?
She's chatting with Jacqueline as they head long on the road and--
"Aah!"
She rubs at her back as she whimpers, stepping out as well as she peers towards the wagon. "Oh no... that's not good." She moves towards Jay's horse and strokes at its mane to console it, but... they're going to be stuck here for a moment. She-- blinks as Jacqueline calls out.
"I see it... was there always a building here?" she wanders along with Jacqueline, kind of hiding behind her. "I--I-- um, where's the door? Should we really be looking around like this, Jay? I don't want to get yelled at..."
DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Uuuuh... Where's The Door?. DG: The party led by Yarobeleedt 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. DG: Lunata Croze has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* CHALLENGE - Chandelier Dash! *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Billowing lava makes this room stand out. Coming out of the previous one onto a balcony, you stand over what used to be a dining hall, but is now filled with red hot liquid flames. The only way across, to the next balcony, is a set of large ornate chandeliers you could jump across, but careful, they swing a lot! =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
There... doesn't seem to be a way inside the manor. That's fine, then. That saves everyone the effort of being swept up into some eldritch terror-horror that has no place in any of their lives.
Yarobeleedt circles around the opposite way of the two humans that are now surveying the location for their own ends. Both parties have equally fruitless searches...
Until the hooded figure pops up through the mists (or rather, to their perspective, two humans pop up from the mists). Coming hood-hidden-face-to-two-faces with them, the kinda-sorta familiar cloaked figure freezes like they're a statue.
Moments later, they screech and shoot right up, up, up. That's a hell of a jump.
There is the sound of wood shattering. They jumped up so high that they have somehow made a hooded figure-shaped hole in a diagonally-leaning feature in the household to make a crude hole. There's a few nearby crates that can be pushed to make a rudimentary staircase to follow, if the two are so inclined.
...
That's as good an entry as anything...
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata pauses as she circles and nearly goes -thunk- against Mister Yaro's shoulder and stares. Silence.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
The fact that Yarobeleedt is just leaping -straight- up into the ceiling doesn't help quell her terror, as she mousily disappears behind Jay. "It was a--something-- there was something theeere!"
A pause, as she whimpers and swallows. "U-uhh... should we really be intruding like this? I really just wanted to call out to the owner, but it doesn't seem like this is a normal home or anything..." She peeks just past the hole and kind of slowly climbs up the crates, not a terribly athletic sort or anything... unless Jacqueline forbids her from doing so. It's certainly not the most advisable of options, but... what other option did they have? It was just too far to walk back to town.
"Excuse meee? We just-- w-waah!"
Lunata's shock is understandable, because Yarobeleedt soon finds that he's gone onto a mezzanine floor that's broken down and prevents further passage... and the dining room below menaces with roasting flames, threatening to consume anyone clumsy with their steps.
"T-this is crazy...!" Lunata whimpers, rubbing her eyes. "What do we do, Jay?"
DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Chandelier Dash!.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
It turns out Yarobeleedt has quickly become aware of the situation, as now currently there is a hooded figure clutching the ceiling for their very lives, moving inch by inch further inward. This, by some miracle, happens to be the least weird thing about where all of them are at present.
DG: Yarobeleedt has used its Tool Clutch Harness toward its party's challenge, Chandelier Dash!.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I don't think that'll be a problem, Lunata. Look at this place, I don't think anyone's been here for ages..." Jacqueline replies, looking around. "I mean, I guess they could always still be inside the house, but in that case..."
In that case they'd have to be pretty hardy to have survived for this long without food. Or water. In other words, wasn't looking great for the former owners of this house.
And then, it happens.
Out of the mists, a hooded figure appears. Jacqueline moves quickly, standing protectively in front of Lunata. And then, it shrieks and vanishes upwards into the air.
Jacqueline flinches slightly, but...well, Lunata was standing behind her. She couldn't let herself be too afraid.
She doesn't stop Lunata from climbing the crates - in fact, it isn't long before Jacqueline joins her.
But...where was this? This was not a normal house.
Thinking this makes Jacqueline feel a little silly due to the sheer...obviousness of it.
With a sigh, Jacqueline reaches into one of her bags and pulls out a pale-green bottle.
"Only one thing left to do but go forward. If you don't feel confident making the jumps yourself, I can carry you...if you trust me, that is." Jacqueline says, then downs the lot.
Unfortunately, they were too high up for her to pull in any stone pillars...and even if she tried, the lava might come with them.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Invigoration Elixir toward her party's challenge, Chandelier Dash!. DG: The party led by Yarobeleedt has passed this challenge! The party gained 26 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> Lunata Croze has posed.
Fortunately, Yarobeleedt's stickiness allows him to simply sequence-break past the swinging chandeliers and head towards another door. Let's just hope it's not the door that you normally would need to double-jump to and, thus, contains much higher levelled and more powerful enemies. Such is always the curse of one who goes his own way.
Jacqueline harnesses the charisma and moxie of the Mysterious Gourmet!! ... is pretty much what Lunata is thinking, as she carries her across with deftness and grace! The white-haired waitress is blushing as they set on the other side and says, "T-that was really elegant, Jay..."
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* CHALLENGE - I Just Cleaned That! En Garde! *>=============== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Stepping into the next room proves to be a mistake. As their feet comes to rest on a long, obviously valuable carpet laid out in a small hallway, shadowy manservants of the manor turn to glare. They just got done cleaning the carpet and they are not happy. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Aww, thanks." Jacqueline replies with a grin, setting Lunata on the floor carefully.
The floor with the rather immaculate carpet.
The immaculate carpet that had just been cleaned by the mysterious denizens of this 'manor'.
They do not speak so much as let out an angry buzz as they swarm out of the woodwork, their hazy forms - somewhat humanoid, but only if you look close enough - only somewhat discernible in the darkness.
Jacqueline recoils back, stepping in front of Lunata and reaching into her bags.
"L-Look, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to mess up the carpet!" She says, and then...
Pulls out a bottle of familiar black liquid.
"I'm sorry about this...but if you try to hurt us, I'm gonna have to drop this." She warns.
She felt a little bad about it, but...she couldn't let them hurt either of them.
It is hard to tell if she has noticed Yarobeleedt there, but the shadow minions certainly have. Where he dropped down, minions have begun to converge on him as well, their angry buzzing signifying nothing good. They appear to take special offense at his getting strange prints all over the walls.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Reliable Repellant toward her party's challenge, I Just Cleaned That! En Garde!.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
"Such comfort in this fort!" Yarobeleedt whispers under his breath as he crawls about the ceiling, watching Jay carry her friend across. "Home?? That it is. Must..."
Fortunately, he doesn't glitch into a place he shouldn't. Up high on the balcony, he is accosted by one such ghoulish maid watering a garden with dead plants.
No, more like 'blooding.' They turn to stare into those hood-hidden beady eyes.
There is a screech, and the figure crawls down the wall, a ways towards the two girls as a whole host of angry servants come bearing down upon them. In the blink of an eye, the dark fabric is replaced with a silky sheet of... something metallic? Looks kind of like a cocoon. A quivering, metallic cocoon.
So much for helping the two humans out.
DG: Yarobeleedt has used its Tool Sheet Cocoon toward its party's challenge, I Just Cleaned That! En Garde!.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata gasps as several of the ghostly maids swarm and converge upon her, regardless of Jacqueline's warning, and yet... ...
Her spiritual sense reaches out to them. They linger in that space of maidenly hospitality for just a brief moment, their souls touching one another.
Thou art just like me, art thou not?
Thou knowest the value of a clean floor.
A finely polished china vase.
The smile of a customer.
I understand now...
I am thou, and thou art I.
I cometh from the sea of flourishing tablecloths.
Suddenly, Lunata is twirling in perfect sync with the other two handmaidens that have come by her side, her eyes flashing for a moment.
You'll never see it co~ming~
She places her hand to her forehead, peeking through her bangs and the gap between her fingers. "Come!"
You'll see! That my mind is too fast for eyes!
The handmaidens swarm against the others, who aren't as likeminded with Lunata as the other two she's... uh, 'recruited' to her side, through perfect maid-sync. Maidsona!
You're done in! By the time it's hit you, your Last Sur~prise~! (ooooh, oooh oooooh)
DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool The House Special toward her party's challenge, I Just Cleaned That! En Garde!. DG: The party led by Yarobeleedt has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The presentation of the repellant does give the shadowy spectres some pause. As does the appearance of a strange metal...egg, maybe?...that looks almost familiar to Jacqueline but leaves her mind almost instantly.
You could almost say these events, together, cause a hold-up in the proceedings.
Enough for Lunata to...connect with them?
Jacqueline watches, awe on her face.
"That was incredible, Lunata!" She says, once everything is complete. She wasn't sure what she had seen, but it was not what she had expected. Still, all's well that end's well, right?
She approaches the...weird cocoon...for a moment, but it doesn't seem like anything they could use so she leaves it be for now. They had to keep moving.
DG: Yarobeleedt has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================================<* CHALLENGE - Heavy Block Puzzle *>========================================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- Even haunted manors like block puzzles. But this one isn't much of a puzzle. Massive crates and pressure plates, there's nothing to it! Boy those crates are heavy though. The ghosts here are clearly jerks, making you have to move these things in place. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Inside the metal cocoon... egg... tarp... security blanket... whatever... as the other two head forward, Yarobeleedt peeks out from underneath.
"Saw it?? Cut to the truth. Cahoots. Cahoots. Cahoots!" He gibbers. "^White-Headed Majordono^ is master of new fortification?!" And so, the terrible idea enters their addled brain. These two were soldiers, after all, who must have been watching his own movements!
The humans will not foil his moment of glory now! It is bad enough that (he believes) they built this hidden fortress overnight, maybe even just to spite his scouting work! That he believes the humans know or care about the social order of Metal Demons and his fragile ego is... kind of worthy of seeing a shrink about it.
Do Metal Demons know what shrinks are? Anyway...
The women head on out into an open courtyard, in which a smooth stone floor rests a small rectangular area surrounded by a hedge maze (let's hope we don't have to go out there, later). There are massive crates, made of rotted oak wood. There are a few pressure plates. The pressure plates colored brightly, orange, so they know it's there. The color is so garish compared to the muted color tones of the surroundings. Sure, it's good game design to let the player understand clearly what the elements are, but it kind of ruins the immaculate art design of this place.
Somehow, Yarobeleedt has managed to slip behind one of the crates without being seen. It helps that he is underneath the most shadowed part of the courtyard.
"See superior? Give report? Stand attention? Have a zero-tion. Fufufufu." He mumbles, as he pushes back against one of the blocks in an attempt to make the puzzle unable to be solved.
he is currently standing on top of a pressure plate anyway. He doesn't appear to have thought his counter-strategy through all too well.
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Heavy Block Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Riesenlied, probably, is one of the people most qualified to become a psychologist, if the Metal Demons had any idea of what the DSM is. Unfortunately, they probably do not. In the future, perhaps.
Lunata gasps just a little bit and-- dithers just a moment further, as she sees Yaro's face peek out from underneath the cocoon. "U-um, for some reason, he seems just a bit familiar..." She hurries along after him and towards the courtyard, tilting her head and peering towards the garden in front of them. "For a broken down building, it's definitely very beautiful in its own ways... but... uuh..." She stares uncomfortably at the crates and begins pushing -- well, not so much pushing as much as leaning her shoulder back against it to try to shove. She's not exactly... strong.
DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Heavy Block Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Who does?" Jacqueline asks, glancing back at Lunata. She either doesn't notice or doesn't care about the cocoon anymore.
Probably a bit of both, if we're going to be completely honest with ourselves.
The courtyard is a nice breath of fresh air, literally. She doesn't seem to mind the brightly colored pressure plates. Perhaps this was due in part to her rather gaudy taste in colors when it came to decorating her own locations.
She couldn't waste too much time admiring them, however, for there was work to be done.
"Here, let me help." Jacqueline says, joining Lunata in the pushing as well.
She'd toughened up a little bit, but it still wasn't one of her specialties...but every little bit helped, right?
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Heavy Block Puzzle. DG: The party led by Yarobeleedt has failed this challenge! The party gained 7 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: Lunata Croze has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Hall Full of Traps *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- You knew it would happen eventually. The manor clearly hates you. This next hallway seems safe at first, until it turns out to be full of traps. Projectiles shooting from the walls, weapons dangling from the ceiling, pitfalls and spikes! Stay quick on your feet if you want to get through in one piece. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
The friendship between Jacqueline Barber and Lunata Croze is a bond stronger than any muscle, heavier than any anvil, greater than any sum. Where one struggles to move an old crate, the two of them together push them into place. There is no challenge they cannot overcome when they put their hearts into it. It takes their everything, but now they're down to just one set. One block, one plate.
In the shadows above the plate, Yarobeleedt keeps pushing back. A high-pitched squeal, low in volume, shows this as an increasingly losing proposition.
They overcome him... by inadvertedly flipping the crate onto the creature. A muffled shriek can be herad underneath, but there is no further 'click' or sign that anything unlocked, or opened.
...
That last pressure plate was defective. Yarobeleedt never had to sabotage anything, and now he currently lies crushed between crate and plate.
Nobody walks away happy, but there is a door leading further inward just off to Lunata's left.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata looks just a bit worried as she cups her cheek and says, "I... I feel like I heard someone go 'squeak', but it might just be my imagination?"
She points towards the door that just opened, but the moment she steps in, an arrow comes whizzing by and causing the maid to gasp with a hand cupped to her mouth. "O-oh no!"
The hallway is a swarm of spiralling arrows and needles, spikes that crush, spikes that push you up to the ceiling, the list continues! Lunata doesn't look encouraged, all of a sudden. "This... this really is something else... I really just hope we'll be able to find a replacement wheel at the end, somehow."
She holds onto Jay's hand and smiles. "Um, but since you're with me, I know we'll be okay."
DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hall Full of Traps.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Squeak?
Jacqueline glances back at Lunata. "I thought I heard someone too, but...maybe it was just the mechanisms activating? The door still opened, after all." She suggests with a shrug and glances toward the door.
Well, it was open now, after a lot of work.
But when they get there...
Traps. Of course.
"Not enough to just have lava, huh...? I guess they really didn't want anyone coming in here..." Jacqueline mutters to herself, one hand going up to her chin as she ponders the traps ahead of her.
She feels Lunata's hand on her own, and glances over to her with a smile.
"Right. We'll get through this." She agrees with a nod, then turns her attention back to the mechanisms.
"There's usually a rhythm for this sort of thing...if we can figure out, we should be able to pass through it safely. And...we should keep a look out for something to turn it off, too. There's usually something like that, for people who're supposed to be here." She observes. And then, once she has it figured out, she pulls out another bottle of green liquid and downs it.
"Let's go."
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Invigoration Elixir toward her party's challenge, Hall Full of Traps.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
The weirdo hooded figure crawls out from under the crate, whimpering and writhing in pain as he looks up to watch one take the hand of the other and just run... head-long into danger, into traps.
The traps in question are trivial for him to weave through, on most days. No, something else has Yarobeleedt's eyes.
"Why?" He asks. "Why both go one hand in hand, make three hands, less than four??" This must be one of their training exercises, running through halls of traps. But doing it together, one hand bound with each other? Why do they weigh one another down on purpose? This would be easier if they did not. The strongest one survives and it is all that matters. It boggles the mind. Why do humans handicap themselves for other humans?!
...
A high-pitched growl eminates from behind them, as the cloaked figure takes off with inhuman speed, blurring the line between running and slithering given their body is obscured as it is. He seems intent on trying to race them to the very end.
He will not be mocked by humans showing they can do this with a hand tied behind their back (kinda-sorta-literally), weaving about arrows, free-running (free-slithering maybe) short distances on walls next to pitfalls, that sort of thing.
He... never quite passes them, for all his physical gifts compared to them.
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Hall Full of Traps. DG: The party led by Yarobeleedt 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> Lunata Croze has posed.
Despite Lunata and Jacqueline's best efforts, the traps and pitfalls provide quite a challenge. Fortunately, Jacqueline's enhanced speed lets her avoid the worst fate, at the very least! They duck through a springing spike pillar and fall down onto a room, which... coincidentally and fortunately lands them on a switch that just so happens to turn off the swinging traps! All the better too, as Yarobeleedt is spared a particularly devious toss that would've landed him in a pit where he might have to -spend time- with humans. Ugh. Ugh!
The door is open, at least.
Lunata rubs at her backside and whimpers, getting up. "Better than being impaled, but... wow, this digging business definitely gives you a workout, doesn't it...?"
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* CHALLENGE - Torture Room *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- A torture chamber lay before you, filled to the brim with rusty, cobweb-covered instruments and tools. The wood creaks, the metal too, and everything in the room comes alive! Pincers, knives and saws fly towards the party, an iron maiden attempts to trap someone, ropes and chains seek to bind! Run to the next room if you can! =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Yeah, it really does..." Jacqueline replies with a nervous chuckle between breaths, extending a hand to help Lunata up. Fortunately, they hadn't suffered any major injuries, but she is a little tuckered out from having sped up at the sound of something moving behind them.
It is then that she hears another set of clicks. Unfortunately, as it would turn out, the switch did more than just deactivate the traps. For in this room they'd landed in, things have awoken...and they were not pleased with this fact.
Jacqueline catches a knife that seemed eager to plant itself into her face. It struggles for a moment, but eventually ceases its movement.
Chains rattle warningly then shoot at, aiming to entangle.
A box opens and closes...threateningly. Even worse, there was nothing inside! No loot at all! A Drifter's worst nightmare!
"Let's...let's hurry on." Jacqueline says, a note of panic in her voice.
She could still feel some of the earlier potion acting on her, so she doesn't use another quite yet.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Invigoration Elixir toward her party's challenge, Torture Room.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata shrieks and gasps as a set of chains nearly attempts to tangle around her ankle to trip her up, but she hops just in time to escape it. By a measure of being used to things tripping her up in the saloon, too, she thinks. "Right behind you!"
She ducks her head and covers herself as she runs, narrowly avoiding knives and heading along to the nearest doorway that she sees. "Over there!"
DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Torture Room.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
One of Jacqueline's bottles shivers for a moment and leaps into her hand. Surprisingly, it seems to have awoken too? But this one seems to want to help! Or maybe it thought that it could make her suffer more by having her use the last of her invigoration elixirs. Either way, really!
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Overhead, a familiar cloaked figure dangles lifelessly (sort of? It looks like they're twitching) from what looks like a butcher's hook, as the hook is carried across the ceiling through an unknown conveyance.
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Torture Room. DG: The party led by Yarobeleedt 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> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline sees the twitching figure floating by on a hook.
"D-don't look, Lunata." She says, shifting to hopefully block it from view. The two of them duck and weave through tricks and traps, and finally, they manage to make it through the door Lunata had pointed out earlier.
A coffin(?) tries to chase after them by hopping, but it collides into the doorway and falls backward.
Inside the room...was a rather fancy looking table and a set of chairs, that thankfully aren't trying to hassle them! A good place to sit and take a breather.
There's also some tea and what might be little pastries too, but...
It probably wouldn't be a good idea to eat any of them. Who knows where they came from, or how long they'd been sitting there.
DG: Yarobeleedt has drawn a new Challenge.
============================================<* CHALLENGE - Smash Through *>============================================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- The torch-filled hall ahead seems far too peaceful compared to the rest of the manor. As the party ventures through to reach the other end, the walls let off a terrible grinding noise. Wooden barriers deploy, halting progression, forward AND backward. You're going to have to smash your way through. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Past the innocuous-looking tea party room, a peaceful hallway awaits them. It is very well-lit, moreso than the rest of the manor. The torches burn a bright, familiar orange. Like all fiery sources of light ought to. It seems a pleasant return to something resembling normalcy. It's kind of hard to make out, but further ahead there might be a grand hallway? Maybe the master of the manor will greet them, and they can request a new set of wagon wheels to help them on their way.
Suddenly, a grinding noise fills the halls. The walls shudder and shake, as pebbles fall from the ceiling above. The ceiling above? It seems entirely dark. Devoid of any visual features, like... up above is nothing?
This established, one doesn't feel too unjustified to use the old standby cliche of something coming from nowhere, because that is what happens. Out of nowhere, several wooden barriers slam down forward in front of the two young women.
A hooded figure that may or may not be the exact same one that's been about them the entire time comes stumbling through the way out. Another barrier slams down behind them.
On closer inspection, the hooded figure appears to have all sorts of unpleasant-looking things embedded into them. They lurch forward slowly, a horrifying hissing noise orignating from what might be their throat.
...Creepy unexplained maybe-human, maybe-not individual with lots of sharp things on their body slowly coming down a hallway at you?! Uh, that's a good impetus to start breaking down barriers as any...
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Smash Through.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata nearly allows herself to fall into a sense of security once they reach the hallway, sighing as nothing particularly jumps out to crush or stab or make them fall to their deaths. She sighs as she plants a hand to the side and touches the wall, taking a deep breath for a moment and...
Well, the grinding sets her on edge again, and when the wooden barriers go 'fling!' she shrieks in a bit of terror. She stares at the hooded figure and shouts out by pure instinct, "Look out, mister!"
She throws her head down again as the first of the barriers goes whizzing past her head, and she mumbles in a panic, "What do I do...?"
She pauses in realisation, and then closes her eyes as she holds onto her chest once more. "I need your help once more...!" A sweltering spiritual flow starts to surround her, starting at her feet, and that same handmaiden emerges out and rears her arm back -- striking at the second of the barriers with her elbow, crushing it. She winces and falters afterwards, as the helpful ghost disappears. She can't sustain such a thing for a long time...
DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Smash Through.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline pauses in her steps as she hears a loud, unpleasant grinding noise. The room shudders and, suddenly, walls! Jacqueline jumps back instinctively as something slams down in front of her.
If that wasn't bad enough, a look back told her that they weren't alone. She can only see its silhouette, but there appeared to be all sorts of unpleasant stuck into them. Jacqueline shudders.
She thought the nightmare world of a teenage girl was the worst place she'd experienced, but it seems that this place was gunning for second...maybe third, after the Hollow. Either way...
Jacqueline draws a Crest from her pouch and points it at the wall.
Lunata's strange new ally had taken down the first of the walls, so she tries to take over for the next one.
Fire was out as she didn't want to burn down the whole place, and there was not enough connection to the earth for earth pillars.
So, she settled on a rather basic Crest, sending bursts of concussive energy out in an attempt to smash through the walls ahead of them.
She had to be careful with it, however, so as to hopefully not destroy anything important to the building's structural integrity.
Though, considering the nature of this place...was that really a concern?
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Smash Through. DG: The party led by Yarobeleedt 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. DG: Lunata Croze has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Ghostly Games *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The gaming room of the manor lies ahead, with its countless board games laid out on small tables. Each of them without exception is in-progress, as if awaiting input. The door leading in closes behind the party and locks, and the door leading out is locked too. Perhaps completing a few of the games would open the door? =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Lunata draws forth her hidden power to try and deal with the barriers. There are no small number of them to fight through, even as every individual wooden barrier is, at heart, weak. Together, the wooden barriers form themselves into a greater whole!
Together, the wooden barriers withstand a lot of punishment, even as Jay withdraws one of her Crests to try and blast through a bunch of them with concussive force. All the while, the hooded figure behind them keeps ambling closer, and closer, and closer, each sharp edge jutting from their body glistening. An oddly-colored ichor decorates some of them. They get closer, and closer, and closer, and...
...and still closer...
...
...
...
It really breaks the suspension of disbelief, harms the immersion. The way the hooded figure takes so, so much time to even possibly get close to any of them as they work so hard to push through every barrier...! Things quickly go from horrific, to campy, to... completely repetitive.
By the time our heroines bust through the last barrier, it might be out of simple relief from irritation rather than fear or panic, and there's still a whole lot of space to spare before the hooded figure catches up with them.
(This entire scene costs Dream Chasers at least one full point off of the final IGN review score.)
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Yarobeleedt unknowingly starts an internet war later due to this scene. "8.8?!" exclaims one angry player.
Lunata and Jacqueline race onward, and finally get a real chance to catch their breath. The waitress sits down unassumingly at one of the game boards, and takes a thermos (yes, thermoses exist, deal with it) out of her pouch and says, "I really... I could use a..." A pause. "Oh, this isn't a drink, but..." She unscrews the cap and sniffs. "Oh, it's the clarified soup from lunch earlier, right!"
She looks embarrassed for a moment, then pours herself some to sip. "I find that soup always helps clear my head... do you want some, Jay?"
She sets the thermos and cup aside, before perking up to say, "Oh, it's Settlers of Elru! I know this game... hmm hmm... hmm~ Okay, trade ore for wool, and then... don't ever trade... and... yes!" She's... getting really into it...
DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Soup of the Day toward her party's challenge, Ghostly Games.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline was glad to have a chance to take a breather after all of that casting. It really took it out of you! She settles into the chair opposite Lunata with a sigh and leans back.
The smell of the soup wafts over to her gets her attention quickly, however.
"Oh...yes, actually, I think that'd be wonderful!" She says with a nod and a smile. Lunata then brings her attention to the fact that this wasn't just a table they were sitting at -
It was a gameboard.
"I see... Well, there might be time for a little bit if we make it quick..." Jacqueline decides.
This was definitely a normal decision to make, in a very normal house.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ghostly Games.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Somehow, our lurching temporary horror game monster (maybe temporary, maybe not) slinks on in behind them as they survey one such game from the shadows.
It is a game that appears to involve confectionary? Maybe a kingdom? Lots of colorful artwork of themed characters around concepts of candy. The hooded figure shudders as they look upon the game board.
DECADES AGO...
"Your move, worm." Snarls a big, hunched-over green-skinned figure. Huge, hulking, and in possession of something so large as to be threatening, sneers as they stand over the game board.
The shadowed figure doesn't look a whole lot like a worm, but the jittery nature and high-pitched vocal cues are, unmistakably, that of a certain garbled-named creature as they throw a small block with pips against the board.
"I get five?! Five! Because number one. Fufufu!" The jittery demon pushes a little piece across the boar--
The bigger one flips the cube.
"No you didn't!" They guffaw.
"N-No! Not fai--"
"First lesson, worm! Might makes right!"
"But ro--"
WHAM.
BACK TO REALITY...
There is angry high pitched squealing as the table is flipped. And another. And another. All around the two of them. They are a maelstrom of movement and fast, streaky movements and also tossed game boards.
Maybe the doors will be understanding and let them leave, because this is kind of sad.
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Ghostly Games. DG: The party led by Yarobeleedt has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Yarobeleedt's hands move and flip tables in the fastest manner imaginable, tossing games of all kinds over.
He'll show 'em.
He'll show 'em all!
A2 to B3! Your battleship is sunk! Riichi! Ippatsu-dora-pon! Bingo. What've you got to say to that now, huh, you bully of a demon?!
Lunata places the last piece on Jacqueline's advice and says, "We've done it! We've achieved global wool domination!" with a measure of pride that's... that's... that's just adorable. Her eyes are sparkling as she pumps her hands, and the door... opens, magically.
It isn't known whether or not it's because Lunata and Jacqueline conquered Nouvelle Zelande in her game, or whether Yaro stepped on a secret lever by flipping one of the tables. It shall forever remain a mystery.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
====================<* CHALLENGE - The Impulsive Idiot *>===================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Finally, the party reaches a treasury. On display is the military career of an old man, seen aging through the pictures and awards he received. These are valuables, but to one man only. So valuable, in fact, that there's no dust here. Everything is orderly, preserved perfectly. The old man appears in the doorway, an ancient general, a flintlock rifle already aimed at the party. He seems to hesitate, minding his aim incredibly carefully. Could it be he won't dare harm the contents of the room? You might be able to find a use for that fact, if you act fast! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Oh no. Jacqueline has to look away from Lunata for a moment. She was reaching lethal levels of adorable that would cause any weak-hearted soul to just...melt. When she does so, however, she notes two things.
One - she had been so engrossed in their game that she hadn't noticed the rest of the tables had been flipped.
Two - the door had opened.
"Oh, would you look at that. Let's get moving again, shall we?" Jacqueline says, standing up.
The two of the eventually reach a rather ornate - and important looking - door.
Jacqueline pushes the door open and motions for Lunata to follow her inside. The doors close behind them.
"There's a lot of things in here...they look pretty old, but we might be able to find a wheel in here..." Jacqueline muses, looking around. Her eyes eventually land on a painting of a man.
"Do you think this was the owner?" Jacqueline muses, stepping closer.
As if on cue, the door slams open once again and the man in the painting is there - holding a rifle pointed directly at them.
"Knaves! Wastrels! What're you doing in my house!? I could feel something off, but I didn't know it was a pair of thieves!" He shouts.
Jacqueline whirls around quickly, arms raised into the air.
"I...I'm so sorry, sir...this was my idea, our wagon broke down, and, this place looked so inviting..." She begins, trying to reason with him. She subtly moves in front of Lunata, but the muzzle of the rifle still follows her.
For Jacqueline, this situation was not about agility of the body...but of the word. Maybe someone would be able to do something while he was distracted? He didn't yet look willing to shoot either of them, at least...and he wasn't aware of the thing following them.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Impulsive Idiot.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata steps in along with Jacqueline, glancing around with her hands on her back. "I think so... or, at least, someone the owner really admired--" That question would be soon answered as they both hear the click of the rifle. Lunata whimpers as she steps behind Jay, peeking out still. "Please, we don't want to hurt anyone... we didn't want to steal anything, either...!" Her expression was still totally lit up as she earnestly pleads for their case.
There is an order to the speed of things in the universe.
The speed of a sword draw.
The speed of a rifle's firing.
The speed of a bullet leaving the barrel.
The the speed of sound.
And the speed of light.
But where, in those comparative speeds, is the speed of lethal cuteness?
DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Impulsive Idiot.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
The cloaked creature saunters in last, poking their hooded head through the door. They slip into the shadows anew as Jay and Lunata are approached by an old man's voice, and the figure peeks out from their kind of good hiding spot. They could ride it out there, if they stayed calm. Maybe this is a human military examination where the weaker gets picked off? That would make so much sense, but then... Yarobeleedt sees it.
There is more to that rifle than first appears. The eyes under the hood narrow to their very beadiest.
"Nonononono." The words are shrieked clearly, drawing attention. That is no ordinary flintlock rifle. To the untrained eye, it feigns the appearance of a gunsmoke weapon. The little touches and accessories that adorn it, to this Metal Demon, it is like looking into a disgusting chop shop of stolen and grafted body parts. Whose little finger was that there?! That stock looks like someone's jaw. How horrible...!!
Fight or flight reflexes take over, and the figure leaps right onto the wall, across the gun racks, moving with inhuman speed and agility as things clatter, rock, and hit the floor as he makes his way over to an older portrait showing them with a wagon... and the wheels that adorned it on display.
The display cannot support their weight, causing it - and several other racks - to tip over around the three of them as the hooded figure screams incoherently from sheer fear. It might encompass the other two.
Somewhere in the tangle of guns are wagon wheels from one of the old soldier's more fondly remembered conquests. For their age, they are in amazing shape - he must have taken such meticulous care of them. Matters of size and weight versus the women's strength aside, all it takes is a little narrative handwave and they'll have themselves a fresh set of wheels to get the hell out of there.
If they get out of there, alive. Maybe if they hide in the pile with the wriggling, screaming person (it seems kind of a stretch to call Yarobeleedt a 'person'), they'll have a chance...
DG: Yarobeleedt has used its Tool Clutch Harness toward its party's challenge, The Impulsive Idiot. DG: Jacqueline Barber is too exhausted to continue! DG: Lunata Croze is too exhausted to continue! DG: Yarobeleedt 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 Yarobeleedt has been fully Exhausted by Haunted Manor!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
At the sight of Lunata and the sound of her whimpering, the barrel of the gun lowers slightly. There's hesitation on the man's face.
"Yeah, we were just looking for some wheels on our wagon...I'm sorry, we can look elsewhere..." Jacqueline says, trying to drive the point further.
"Hm...aye, you don't seem like the thieving sorts. And..." He glances towards Lunata. "You seem to have gotten along well with my staff..."
It seems he is about to stand down when, suddenly, the appearance of a shrieking, hooded figure causes the old man to panic.
The trigger is accidentally pulled. Jacqueline turns, grabs Lunata and dives out of the way, though the fired bullet grazes her cheek and causes her to wince.
The collision of each of his prized possessions causes the man to recoil back and, even...
...Shift, and change...
By now he resembles one of the shadowy minions that had been cleaning the place before, but...larger, and angrier.
An arm reaches out, pointing at the hooded figure. An angry howl tears through even the sound of the priceless heirlooms hitting the floor. And, they hear it in their minds...
GET OUT
Suddenly, for Lunata and Jacqueline, at least...everything goes dark.
When they come to, they will find themselves outside. There would be no trace of the manor they had entered. No trace, that is, except for the wheels that they might remember from the room they had been in.
For Yarobeleedt, things are a bit different. The shadowy minions emerge from the woodwork again and swarm after him - threatening to grab onto him and do who-knew-what if he did not manage to escape them.
At least, that is what it seems...but who knew what had really happened within the Haunted Manor?
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
The little yelp of 'whaah!' accompanies Lunata's fall down as Jacqueline wisely ducks and brings her into cover, and her eyes widen as she stares towards the minion and gasps quietly, holding at her head. "Ah-- ah!" she grimaces for a moment, feeling the dark, oppressive atmosphere of the revenant.
But it was too late.
She trembles softly, as she glances around and rubs at her head. "Eh...?"
She blinks a few more times, rubbing. "Um... was that all... was that all a dream?" She looks helplessly at Jacqueline, before smiling and pointing -- "Look! Wagon wheels! This was all worth it in the end!"
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
For Yarobeleedt, he is beset on all sides by displeased servants. Each and every one of them surround him with the raw elemental emotion of... no, putting it in words doesn't do it justice. Writhing, wriggling, screaming, and panicking is all he can do as he tears at the air, squirming with what space is afforded for him as sight leaves, sound overwhelms, touch crushes, smell... smells, and thoughts drift...
...
...At some point later, somehow, he is writhing around a containment pod in Alhazred's lab. (We're just going to cut the feed from here, if that's all right.)
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
With a groan Jacqueline pulls herself to her feet.
"Lunata, are you...?" She mutters, glancing over towards Lunata. Fortunately, Lunata seemed just fine, and in fact had awoken before she had.
A dream? Was it?
Jacqueline reaches up towards her face. She could feel it, and Lunata would likely see it - a light scar, from where the bullet had grazed her cheek.
Jacqueline frowns, but smiles when Lunata points out the wagon wheels.
"Huh, you're right. Yeah, I guess it was!" She says, cheering up a bit.
Surprisingly, it even looked like they'd fit onto the wagon just fine...though it might take Jacqueline a bit to get the old ones detached and the new ones on. Jacqueline's horse seemed to have calmed down, at least.
Despite that, though, it was a nice day out. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, to spend some time out underneath that cloudless sky.
Nearby, one of the earlier mentioned cats watches the two ladies for a moment before turning and trotting away disinterestedly. As is their wont.