2017-05-26: Degrees of Desperation
- Log: Degrees of Desperation
- Cast: Fei Fong Wong, Ida Everstead-Rey, Jacqueline Barber, Josephine Lovelace
- Where: Adlehyde - Town Center
- Date: May 26th 2017
- Summary: Adlehyde is in flames, under assault by Metal Demons. A small group forms as people variously try to get to safety, rescue civilians, and defeat the invaders. Zed's power is invoked.
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: Josephine Lovelace has created a party! To join, type +party/reset and then type +party/join Josephine Lovelace. DG: Jacqueline Barber has joined your party! DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has joined your party! DG: Fei Fong Wong has joined your party! DG: A party led by Josephine Lovelace is now entering The Battle of Adlehyde. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - The Demons are Here! *>===================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The Metal Demon attack on Adelhyde has left the city in chaos. The Demons and Adelhyde's troops are fighting everywhere, with the ebb and flow of battle changing what parts of the city are safe and which are battlefields by the hour. There are thousands of civilians trapped here, as well as a number of Drifters who were visiting the city for the festival. The party may simply have been at the wrong place, at the wrong time; they might also have returned to the city in an effort to save those trapped within. Chaos erupts immediately as a group of civilians being chased by a large number of Metal Demon troops lead by a particularly large and spike covered warrior comes around a corner, and heads right towards the party! There's no way to avoid this fight - within moments the Demons spot the party and come right towards them. There's no choice but to fight, and perhaps save some of the people being chased. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"I swear I'll make this up to you later," Josephine mutters to the hooded bird strapped against her chest as she leaps over a chunk of burning rubble. Penelope doesn't make a sound.
Adlehyde is burning.
Days ago, she'd happened to meet Gwen on the road. Gwen had been in a hurry.
Gwen had told her why.
Earlier today, she'd arrived in the city and had promptly scoured the streets, taverns, and guilds, searching for a man by the name of Noah Hawthorne. Aside from leaving a few passersby a little rattled and the guildmaster a little put out -- and learning that Noah hadn't been seen in hours -- she had come up with nothing. And she didn't even know how much time was left.
Just as she had finally, reluctantly given up -- hoping that Noah had left town -- the sky had turned red.
History, it seemed, had caught up violently with the present.
"--No good." An attempt to duck through a back alley -- or what remains of it -- just pits her up against a wall of broken masonry. Fire falls in a shower of sparks from the rooftops above as Josie plunges back out towards a main street. She's glad Penelope can't see this, glad she took preemptive measures.
"--Shit!" Bad timing. Here comes a horde of civilians, with a brigade of demons fast after them. Worse, she can see she's been spotted as a few peel away from their prey -- no way forward, no way back. Too many to shoot. Dark eyes skim over her surroundings quickly. Stepping back a step into the shadows of the alleyway, Josie draws her rifle out of its holster, and taking partial cover, aims for a long broken burning beam dangling precariously out over part of the street. Wordlessly, she counts to three before pulling the trigger.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Demons are Here!.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida was in the inn when chaos broke out. The sky burst into flame. People started to run, fleeing for their lives. Beasts from the depths of history came out of nowhere, and started slaughtering anyone they could find. Ida has had little time to think about how similar or dissimilar these creatures are to the sketches, the fragments, the theories people put together about how they lived and how they fought. She is too busy fighting for her life.
Case in point.
Most of the windows on this street are broken. A small, slim figure leaps through one, a scarf tied across her mouth and nose to help filter out some of the choking smoke. Ida lands on the sidewalk, her head whipping around as she takes stock of things. Her eyes widen. She turns her back to the crowd, but only so she can step out into the space between them and the onrushing demons. Her hand darts around to the small of her back, comes up with Devil's Due, and takes aim.
Ida empties the entire clip into the horde. When it is empty, she pulls both revolvers and empties them as well. Somewhere in all of this, the horde reaches her, and she has to start moving defensively, dodging around blades and claws and firing at point-blank range.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Devil's Due toward her party's challenge, The Demons are Here!.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei tried to escape before. He decided to hold off on escaping when a terrifying demon started chasing our party. He didn't even think about trying to fight it off. It was the third scariest thing he could think of.
Maybe this time will be different.
One thing is different this time. Fei is ready to fight rather than being in a perpetula panicked state. So far he hasn't fallen back into old habits. He leaps out suddenly from behind cover and then--yes!--flips his RPS badge in the air. It spins rapidly as he dives towards the closest demon, slamming a piece of rubble into its face.
"ROCK!"
He karate chops it in the neck. "PAPER!"
And then he performs a jumping scissor kick to send the metal demon sprawling, raising a hand to catch the badge as it falls.
"I'm...I...." He manages. "I can't let you... keep hunting people!" It almost, ALMOST, sounds like determination. If his hands weren't shaking he might have been able to trick someone. "Get away before more people get hurt." Pause. "Or--whatever you are!"
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, The Demons are Here!.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline was...well, she had only become aware of the continued existence of Metal Demons a day or so before attack happened. She had no idea they were planning it, however, so when the town was suddenly rocked by an explosion, she immediately set out to find the people most important to her.
She would eventually succeed in this, but that is a story for another time.
At the present, she is running through the streets, frantically checking her bags for potions when she hears it.
Demons...and they were chasing people.
Jacqueline curses and draws a bottle of black liquid from her pouch.
"Everyone, move! Quickly!" She shouts, sliding onto the scene. She hurls the bottles towards the largest of the demons to splatter it with the foul-smelling substance, then draws a Crest from her pouch and invokes it.
Pillars of earth shoot up from the ground.
Best case scenario, they block the demons off from the civilians. Worst case: she finds herself trapped here with said demons.
Well...some sacrifices had to be made.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Reliable Repellant toward her party's challenge, The Demons are Here!. DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 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> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
As the demons advance, the bullet impacts the chunk of burning tinder solidly. But, as the agonizing seconds that follow soon tell, even the damaged wood is resilient. It doesn't budge.
Which leaves Josie with a group of demons advancing on her. Gritting her teeth, she raises her rifle, gaze sliding from grinning demon to grinning demon.
If she's going down, she's going down good--
A bottle explodes nearby.
The smell is horrific. And familiar. Josie dares to lower her rifle a touch. "Jay?" Vigorously shaking her head, she plunges past the briefly incapacitated group just in time for the earth below to erupt upwards beneath them.
A barrage of gunfire -- now /that/ was a hell of an ARM, she can tell by the sound of the explosion alone -- erupts nearby.
The woman with, apparently, all the guns looks familiar. "Hey!" Josie calls out.
Nearby, a demon -- who had until recently been successful in herding the fleeing civilians into what had turned out to only be a trap of a ruined alleyway -- is solidly felled, sent crashing into a nearby battered storefront by physical strength alone. No fancy weapons needed. Josie's gaze falls on the young man responsible. "Hey, aren't you..." She shakes her head. "Come on! We shouldn't hang around here! Look at them all!"
Gesturing wildly at the cowering civilians -- indicating they should book it the other way out of here -- she turns towards the motley little group that they are. She shrugs, glancing at the fire licking at the rooftops of the crumbling city around them. "So, how's /your/ day going?"
That smile of hers is a touch manic.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
====================<* CHALLENGE - Barrage from the Sky *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Defying the danger of moving in the air above the city, a group of flying Metal Demons have spotted the party and swoop down to strike. Rather than dropping down to attack, they drop satchels of explosives mixed with spikes, metal ball bearings, and other nasty debris that explode when they hit the ground. With the demons in control of the sky, the party has no choice but to run as fast as they can and attempt to dodge the incoming bombs until they can reach the safety of a building - or the demons run out of explosives. =Dungeon Conditions: Cripple==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Though she had trapped herself in with the demons, there are fortunately others around to cover her.
"Josie! Miss Ida! I'm glad to see you're alright!" Jacqueline says, in surprise. She was particularly worried about the latter after the...rather disastrous exhibition.
And then there's Fei. She didn't actually get his name last time, but he gets a friendly smile, too.
Unfortunately, before she can say anything further, ominous shadows loom overhead. An explosive device lands in the buildings next to them and detonates, showering them all with debris.
"G-get moving! Run! We need to find shelter!" Jacqueline urges. She draws a bottle of pale-green liquid from her pouch and starts to run, though she looks back to check whether or not the others are following.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Invigoration Elixir toward her party's challenge, Barrage from the Sky.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida leaps forward as Jay cries out, pistol-whipping a Metal Beast out of her way. The earth rises up behind her, effectively trapping the young naturalist as well. Beasts fall. The Demon herding them takes a bullet high in the torso, jerks forward with a spray of silvery blood, and promptly books it out of there while the human gunwoman butchers the animals he was sent in with.
Ida's head whips towards Josie, and she stares at the archaeologist a moment before things click into place. Miss Lovelace, Ida remembers, from... that. /That/ is grimly humorous in retrospect, in a way that makes Ida unsure if she wants to laugh or cry. Both are distractions. Anyhow, Josie hasn't shown any of the tells, and Ida's reasonably sure she's safe. Ida sees one of the civilians notice a gate, and start pushing--but it's got a padlock on it. Ida chambers a round, takes aim, and fires. The padlock flies off with an audible 'clink', and skitters to the ground. The civilians start to flee--and just in time.
Ida looks up and sees more of those strange beasts circling. Things start falling. Ida takes another calculated risk. She takes off at a run, clouds of dust and ash tailing her--and she looks back for a split-second. In that split-second, she aims at the lead monster and fires, trying to draw its attention... and get it away from those civilians!
This probably earns the group the full, undisputed ire of the Metal Beasts, but Ida isn't thinking about that. She chases after Jay, moving towards a denser cluster of buildings at a reasonable percentage of the speed of terror.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Barrage from the Sky.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Could be better?" Fei says to Josephine because there's a town on fire, terrifing beings trying to kill everybody, and he's also facing a very specific scenario that rests very firmly on his issues and makes him very unhappy. Still, he's just kind of glad it's not his fault.
He pauses. Wait, IS it not his fault? He doesn't know why the demons are burning down the city. There was that one demon that seemed very particular in catching him. Or maybe everyone? It was hard to tell because of all the terror.
Fei shakes his head quickly. He can't hanlde that right now. Instead, he has a minigame before him in the form of metal demons dropping bombs at everybody.
"Okay... Okay. I can do this." His name isn't asked for and he doesn't think to share it. As usual. On the other hand, he has a bounty on his head.
He presses X, Y, Circle AND Square in an attempt to doge bombs from the sky. If he can get a perfect score maybe he'll get extra items. You never know.
"This sure would be easier if I could fly--"
MEANWHILE
Weltall looks cross. Don't blame it for the city melting THIS time. Only appreciated when you need help with jumping puzzles or flying in cutscenes. Typical.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Barrage from the Sky.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie grins, a little more brightly. Still a bit manic, though. She could really use a drink right now. "Likewise. We're still alive!" Theres a glance at Fei, wherein she shrugs, again. "So that's something, all considering!"
As if to (literally) rain on her parade, from somewhere above, a bomb comes crashing down into a nearby building, kicking up a downpour of debris as it explodes. "Fengalon's..." Josie mutters as she glances over at where a building used to be (mostly), the last part of that oath thankfully inaudible.
Running is probably a good idea right now.
Gunfire behind her slows Josie's escape to a sudden stop. "What are you--" It only takes a second for it to click. The gate was locked. "--Good thinking! C'mon! They're dropping more of..."
Josie, mid-gesture to Ida, stops, freezing that way for the moment.
Oh, hell no.
"Dammit, girl! Don't get yourself killed!"
Sliding her rifle back into its holster hard, she rushes back after Ida and will even grab the girl's hand if she's not as quick as Josie would prefer.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Barrage from the Sky. DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace has failed this challenge! The party gained 6 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: Ida Everstead-Rey has drawn a new Challenge.
====================<* CHALLENGE - Ambushes are Terrible! *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The party is making their way through the city - everything seems fine. At first. And then there is a shout, and Metal Demons erupt from several nearby buildings. The party is rapidly surrounded, and the Demons are closing in for the kill from all sides. They have a clear advantage, and it will take some hard fighting in order to escape unscathed! =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The good news: Ida's gunfire attracts the attention of the circling Metal Beasts, drawing them away from the civilians. They're not terribly bright, and this gives the civilians the vital time they need to clear out of the danger zone! Most of them pour through the gate, while others stream off in other directions. Probably better than being blown to bits by bombs.
The bad news: Ida's gunfire attracts the attention of the circling Metal Beasts. The one she shot at lets out a horrible /screech/, halfway between a crow's caw and sheet metal being cut into by a rotary saw. The whole flock descends upon the little group of Diggers, unloading bombs as they flee to safety. Josie gets to shelter in time. Ida does not. A bomb lands right next to her, and detonates with a tremendous /boom/, showering her with dirt and metal and bits of broken cobblestone. The blast staggers her, and traces lines of red across her right leg. She literally limps the rest of the way, finding where Josie's hiding in the bombed-out building, and moving in next to her. "Miss Lovelace, was it?" Ida says, "Apologies. I had to--" Ida's look of stiff-upper-lip calm wavers and wobbles as she realizes what just happened. What has been happening.
She doesn't finish the sentence. A low, reverberating growl echoes from the darkness behind a stairwell, and a pair of bright red eyes emerge from the darkness. It's a Metal Beast with the approximate size and shape of a big brass lion, and it has smelled blood. The beast leaps.
Ida twists out of the way, sinking to her knees and skidding across the dust-covered floor. As the Beast rounds, she whips her speedloader off her belt, fumbles it into her revolver, and reloads. She fans the clip into the creature with frightening speed.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ambushes are Terrible!.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong manages to get through most of the minigame without getting hit but right at the last moment, he gets excited and jumps too soon right into an explosive blast. He loses forever the opportunity to get the BOMB DODGING BADGE. When all is said and done, he's bleeding, bruised, and comically covered in soot.
"I didn't make it in time." He says, distraught. "Also, uh, who are you people again? I keep running into you. Are you part of the Adelhyde military or something? Is that why you're going around helping all these people? Or are you just, uh, nice people?"
He swallows as the crew is shortly surrounded by metal demons, including one that's a freaking lion!
"Because this is getting a little suicidal..." He manages, gripping his RPS Badge makes the encounter arbitrarily more difficult as the encounter rate increases.
Fei is oblivious to the true power of the RPS Badge. Instead he says, "I'll keep 'em off you! Take care of the lion!"
He then dives into the swarm. Punches and kicks fly. Fei is gradually mauled.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Ambushes are Terrible!.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline doesn't hold Ida's actions against her. If she were more confident in her aim, she might've done the same thing. When she meets up with Ida and Josie, though, she's not looking to great herself.
"It's...it's fine, Ida. Here, let me..."
Jacqueline reaches into her bags for a potion is about to pull one out when a growl clues her into danger.
She leaps back, narrowly avoiding a swipe of vicious claws that would have doubtlessly disembowled her.
Her search for a healing potion is halted in favor of a familiar bottle of black liquid.
She hurls it towards the beast and, in a move that might be familiar to some, strikes the bottle with Lightning invoked from a Crest to send flaming liquid and molten glass towards it.
As she prepares her next line of defense, she glances towards Fei.
"I...I'm Jacqueline Barber. Adlehyde's my home. I'm just...trying to protect my people." She says, drawing another Crest from her pouch.
No point in hiding herself as 'Jay' right now.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Reliable Repellant toward her party's challenge, Ambushes are Terrible!.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
The gist of the situation, as they flee through the streets with bombs exploding around them and probably a good chunk of the horde right on their heels, is as follows:
Good: The civilians have a chance to escape. From here on, it's up to them.
Bad: The whole demons-on-their-tail thing.
Something hits the ground not far behind her. Josie chances one glance backwards and -- drawing on every ounce of 'give' that she has -- races for the safety of the doorway and leaps those last few feet through the opening. The bomb, as it explodes, even gives her a little push. She flies forward, twisting at the last moment as the floorboards rise up to meet her and rolls, sprawling to a stop on her side.
She's up on her feet in a flash, stepping lively towards the now even more damaged doorway.
The others look a little worse for wear. "I wouldn't put it like that..." she says with a sigh at Fei's question, leaning against the door a moment before stepping outside into what might pass as daylight. "Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. If we can get out of town I think that'd be best, but..." She smiles, lopsidedly. Well. Doing that might be hard.
She glances at Jay, only to look away and shake her head. She says nothing. What can she say? Even she's not as cold as /that/.
Josie instead reaches for Ida with her left hand after a moment. "Pull yourself together," she says, not unkindly. "We're not out of the woods yet."
Speaking of. Josie flattens herself against the section of the wall just outside the doorway at the sound of the low growl. There's no time to go for her gun. Instead, she mutters an incantation.
Lightning gathers around her left hand, wrapping around it almost like a glove. In one smooth movement, Josie hurls it overhand at the brass lion, just as Ida evades its attack.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ambushes are Terrible!. DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace has failed this challenge! The party gained 14 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> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Three of Ida's shots make it past the creature's reinforced hide, raking trails of mercury down its side. The flask bursts against it, coating it with vile-smelling goo, and lightning streams at it from two different sides--more than enough to electrocute a normal creature of the lion's size and mass. More than enough to set a normal creature on fire afterwards. The lion, though--
It touches its flank against a metal bar, the lightning flowing into the completed circuit. It looks almost smug.
"Clever," Ida says, her face going pale. Fei's challenge has not gone unheeded, of course, but Metal Beasts don't comprehend Rock Paper Scissors. He puts up one hell of a fight, laying them out with kicks and strikes, but it seems that every Metal Beast on the block has decided to take him up on his offer. With /claws/.
"Move," Ida says, and she races out the back of the store. The lion is probably not that far behind.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - The Hunter Killer *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The party barely has time to hide before a massive quadruped Metal Demon leaps down from a nearby rooftop and lands heavily on the street. It sniffs for a moment, stalking around and trailing along the path the party had taken to escape. It seems that this particular Demon has been designed to track and kill humans, and it is closing in fast. The party needs to find some way to throw it off their trail and escape, or things will likely take a turn for the worse. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
This thing was still standing?
There is a hint of concern on Jacqueline's face face as, even throughout all that punishment they were heaping on it, it remained standing. She is forced to run away alongside the others, not wanting to be trapped in a room with that...thing, any longer. She was already looking pretty beat-up, and didn't want to make things worse.
Fei's plan was a pretty clever one, though, and she approved of it. She's running alongside the others when Ida addresses her. She glances towards the map, looking over a bit before nodding.
"I believe so...last I saw, anyway. But...that's not necessarily true anymore." She replies. "If that doesn't work..."
Jacqueline points out a different route, through an alleyway.
"We can try that instead.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Hunter Killer.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
It should have been enough to finish that one off, between their pooled power. Especially for something MADE of metal.
Then it brushes up against a metal pole. Electromagnetism was not a required subject in Marze -- Josie doesn't understand what happened. But it's clear enough as an effect. It's like they never even hit the lion-demon in the first place.
She'd swear it's even /grinning/. "Let's move!" she shouts, peeling away from the wall and darting back inside. Fei already looks the worse for wear -- she doesn't want to find out the details for herself.
The door in the back's open. Guardians be praised.
Josie pauses not long after leaving the battered storefront behind. "Too quiet--" she says, as Fei heads back to take a look-see. Her lips press into a thin frown. "...Too smart. It's trying to catch us in an ambush." Watching Fei for a moment as he carefully and quickly folds a piece of paper. "A distraction, huh... It's worth a shot. Right now, we've got the upper hand."
She pauses, glancing in the direction Jay indicates. "And an escape route." If things go south.
Josie's expression sobers. She glances downwards at the bird strapped against her chest, her expression unreadable for a few seconds before it shifts into something almost sad. Slowly, she begins to unlace the harness, leaving the hood on the pigeon. "Hey, Penelope. I want you to get out of here," she murmurs to the bird as she carefully removes the hood, lifting Penelope with both outstretched hands. "I mean it. Just in case. I won't drag you down."
With that, she tosses the bird into the air.
Black and white feathers scatter as Penelope flutters into the sky.
Her smile's almost a little too bright when she turns to face the others. "You guys ready to run for it?"
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Hunter Killer. DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace has passed this challenge! The party gained 16 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Josephine Lovelace has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* CHALLENGE - A Closed Gate *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Adelhyde has a few gates within the city that are designed to be closed to help prevent invasion. The fact that this heavy, iron banded door is closed after the Metal Demons are already inside the city seems a bit like closing the barn door after all the horses have escaped, however. The sound of one of the Metal Demon hunter squads approaching means that there isn't time to look for another path - this gate is in the way, and the party needs to take it down! =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
The brass lion's head jerks as it catches whiff of the paper airplane. It leaps for it, catches it, growls in a confused manner, and then catyches a whiff of Penelope. It spins its head rapidly, clawing at a building to get onto a rooftop so it can give chase, but it can't quite get there.
Jacqueline and Ida, meanwhile, pick out the route. The team ducks through an alleyway, squeezing into it.
"This is a route," Fei agrees, having squinted his eyes until the wetness in his eyes was crushed.
Maybe he's crying because of the robot demon invasion. Actually no he did that earlier. Today he's putting on his game face.
The brass lion turns around, finally catching whiff of the group though and runs after our heroes!
--only to get wedged into the alleyway's walls. It snaps its jaws but fails to make appreciable progress.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Penelope had better get out of here safely, Josie thinks, moving steadily towards the alleyway Jay had indicated. Not too fast -- she doesn't want to trip the guard, so to speak.
At least this way she won't have to worry, though. If the worst happens.
Picking up speed as she hears the clanking of metal claws on stone, Josie switches gears rapidly from stealth to all out dash. It probably isn't necessary, given the squeal of metal-on-stone from behind. The thing must be stuck -- it's too narrow back here.
"Just in time," she gasps, emerging onto one of Adlehyde's main streets.
One of the ones that has a heavy iron gate set about mid-way along. Which is closed.
And which has a group of metal demons approaching from the opposite way.
Turning around is not an option.
"Get it open!" It will have to be the rallying cry -- Josie races for the gate, putting her back into it (literally) as she pushes to try to get the thing open.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Closed Gate.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida runs. The Beast gives chase, and she can hear its claws scraping against stone--but they've got a lead on it, and by the time they're in the alley, it's too late for it!
Ida is leaving a trail of red rivulets behind her as she moves, a trail that anyone could follow if they were so inclined. 'Anyone', in this case, is more monsters--and as Ida sees a second iron gate up ahead, she braces herself. She kneels next to Josie, grabs the lowermost bar, and deadlifts, just like Claude taught her to.
MEANWHILE
"/There/ you are," Magnus says, scowling down at the lion, which is still stuck in the alley entrance. "What were you even chasing, anyway?"
The lion makes what might be indignant cat noises, if they weren't coming from a half-ton metal monster.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Closed Gate.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei fong Wong comes out of the alleyway and sees the challenge put before him.
FLASHBACK
Fei fong Wong beats at a very large door to which the party has no key. He strikes at it until his hands bleed. The party has no choice but to give up and head home. He wonders even to this day what could have been behind that door. Perhaps metal demon repellant? He'll never know.
FLASHBACK
Fei Fong Wong runs through a bunch of carts that are blocking passage to another gate. They are also on fire. He performs kicks and punches as a timer of 30 ticks down gradually. They aren't even close to done when a large and terrifying metal demon chases them away.
NOW
Fie Fong Wong channels his anger, his hatred, and all of his sorrow into a chi blast that he sends flying for the gate!
Except of course he's still nervous about using those so it might not be as effective as it looks.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Closed Gate.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Doors.
They came in many varieties, of different materials, shapes, sizes and locking mechanisms. But amongst them all, there was one fact that always held true -
They were the nemesis of all adventurers.
There was no time for talk here - if they couldn't get this gate open, they were in trouble. Jacqueline reaches into her pouch, and draws out a Crest.
A pillar of earth rises from the ground at an angle, with the intent of slamming into the gate in an attempt to force it open.
She is careful not to actually hit anyone with it, however, but with this reduced power result in too little to do anything appreciable...?
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Closed Gate. DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace has failed this challenge! The party gained 19 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> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Everyone throws everything they have left at the door:
Lifting it with all their strength, in spite of injury.
Hurling a blast of martial arts-derived chi at it.
Applying the full force of a Crest against it.
...Putting their back into it and pushing.
The door slowly...
...slowly...
...slowly opens.
It's just not nearly in time to allow anyone to escape the onrush of demons.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* CHALLENGE - A Clever Escape *>======================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- One of Adelhyde's gates is in sight - once beyond the party and anyone accompanying them will be in the clear, as those holding the line against the Metal Demons outside the city will be able to cover them! However there is a squad of Metal Demons keeping an eye on this gate to prevent just this sort of thing - a clever plan is needed to ensure success! =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The gate opens. It is agonizingly slow, and Ida's muscles burn the entire time. Then one of the creatures behind her finally reaches her, raking long claws across her back--she only manages to avoid worse by lurching forwards, ducking, and pretty much rolling under the gate before it can fall. She leaves a trail of blood in her wake. Metal Beasts roar and hiss at her from behind the gate, and start venting their fury on the offending blockage. Ida runs. She turns a corner, and--
Ida spots the Metal Demon patrol shortly before she spots the gate itself, and ducks under a mostly-intact awning. The Demons are perched atop a nearby rooftop, one of them a certain sleekly-armored fellow who was watching the lion earlier, the other a massive figure encased in heavy armor. The gate itself leads into a different ward of Adlehyde--one closer to the castle. Ida checks that book again, ducking deeper under the awning as the smaller of the two demons starts talking. It's kind of hard to hear, but:
"It's not going anywhere. Best case, someone kills it. Worst case, it gets loose and eats more humans."
"Alhazred," the big Demon says, his voice is a metallic barritone, "would believe you reversed those two scenarios." Magnus, the smaller fellow, screws up his (surprisingly humanoid) face. Ida, meanwhile, takes something out of the book and shows it to Fei. It's a diagram or map of some kind, but the symbols are kind of nonsensical. Ida tried to teach Zed how to map once, and, well. "Good sir," she says, "you seem to be an artist. Can you duplicate this handwriting?" The map has the following written on it, in /abjectly terrible/ handwriting:
"TRAPS MAYBE?"
"Write 'Need you guys's help, Zed'." Can you do that, on one of those planes, and then throw it up there?
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
At this point, Jacqueline was wounded, battered, and tired. She joins Ida underneath the awning, nearly collapsing as she does so.
It was possible - vaguely so - that they could take down the sentries before they could alert anyone...but it would be a grueling battle, and they might not make it out without losing anything they couldn't afford to lose.
"Zed...so he /is/ one of them?" Jacqueline asks with a frown and a glance towards Ida. While she waits for Fei to complete his masterpiece she rummages through her bags, eventually pulling out a few bottles of pale-blue liquid that she passes out to the group. Healing potions.
"If he is, then...that'd mean..." Jacqueline's slightly concerned voice trails off.
If he is, then...it seemed likely /they/ were, too...
Were they here? That was...not a meeting she was looking forward to.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Clever Escape.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida takes the potion, and drinks. The analgesic kicks in immediately, and the coagulant decides to join in a few moments later. She lets out a breath, looks at Jay, and... is silent for a moment. This is her home. She's watching it burn, and she still has no idea what role Zed and the others played in all of this. Ida's heart twists in her chest.
"Yes," Ida says. She tries to be stoic about it, and is only mostly successful.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
FLASHBACK
Kim Kashim sips his mocha latte. "Sliding doors are really just superior to all other kinds of door."
NOW
Fei pushes through the gate with agonizing slowness. Now he's completely carved up along his back too. Life is hard. The last thing he's expecting is to be handed a note. He's pretty sure he didn't establish himself as reliable (Fei is a bit hard on himself). Instead he looks down at the note. He can tell it's a map but this seems a bit beyond his ability to comprehend. Maybe that's the idea.
"Mm..." Fei says, looking over at the handwriting. "Sure." He says. "I could--" He pauses.
He hears Ida mention the name Zed.
"Are you serious?" He asks her. "Zed? He's--he's ONE of them? But he seemed completely harmless and a little...uh..." He pauses for a few moments before nodding slowly, "I can do this. It'll get him in trouble though...wouldn't it?" He scratches his head. "...Well I guess we don't really have a choice."
He draws out a pen and gets to work. This is right he writes.
'DEAR GRIM REAPER,
'IT'S ME, YOUR PENPAL, THE ULTIMATE MACHO MAN! THE GREAT AND MIGHTY ZED! CAN YOU PASS THIS ON TO MY COMRADES?? BE SURE TO MENTION WE'RE BFFS.'
'ANYWAY, FOR MY COMRADES! WHILE YOU WERE MESSING AROUND I FOUND 'IT'! IF YOU WANT TO SHARE THE GLORY, YOU BETTER COME FIND ME! GYA HA HA HA HA!'
'ULTIMATE MACHO MAN ZED!'
"I uh. I got a little pasisonate there." He says. "I'm not sure if they're actually looking for anything but... I mean...it's a pretty reasonable guess, right?"
He draws an intentionally horrible diagram of the city and draws an X on the opposite side of the city. Then he also draws a cute super deformed Zed in the corner, thrusting a hand up and posing with a smaller 'Gya Ha Ha' next to it.
"Okay. This is the most Zed I can do." Fei takes in a deep breath and throws the paper airplane, making sure it passes before the demon's eyes on the way to the target point.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, A Clever Escape. DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flora's Notebook toward her party's challenge, A Clever Escape.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
She can /feel/ the door sliding open behind her. "Just a little more--"
Putting muscle into it like this means she'd had her eyes closed with the effort. She opens them now. "Aha," she utters, watching wide-eyed as the claws curve inwards. There's no room for escape. Not immediately.
Like the others, Josie's seen better days by the time she pushes her way through the partially-open door to stagger and stumble momentarily on the opposite side. And then, to rapidly pick up speed -- or as much speed as she can put into it at this juncture.
Ida isn't the only one leaving a spattered trail of blood; the archaeologist has gained an obvious limp.
She doesn't see the patrol immediately, just sees Ida duck and moves likewise. It's as good a place as any to actually investigate the long gash she's now sporting across her chest.
Where Penelope would have been.
"Thanks," she says, smiling at Jay before tipping the potion back. She even only grimaces slightly. "So, what's the plan now?" Leaning over Ida's shoulder, she skims the page. "...Is that a message from one of them? Oh I get it, you'll have him copy it," she murmurs, pitching her voice low.
Zed? She's heard that name before. ...Oh.
Fumbling in a pocket in her duster, Josie turns up a slightly battered flask. Taking a short nip from it, she hands it off to Jay. "Pass it around, Jay. There's no point doing this sober."
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Clever Escape. DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace has successfully explored The Battle of Adlehyde!
=====================<* CHALLENGE - It's Over - For Now *>====================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Discovery |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The party has made it out of the city, along with any civilians who were traveling with them. Outside of the city, the line is being held by parts of the Adelhyde Guard, the Yggdrasil Pirates and their Gears, as well as a number of Drifters who have set up defensive positions and safe areas for civilians to rest and prepare to move away from the city. For those who have escaped to Adelhyde castle, the fighting at the walls continues, but food and shelter can still be obtained. However, the fighting continues, and there are more people yet trapped inside Adelhyde City... =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Fei does his work expertly. Ida can't help but admire the way he encapsulates the essence of Zed having only met the Demon once before--though all his mannerisms seem tarnished, somehow, by the pall this revelation has cast on them. Was it all an act? Ida can't say for sure. The airplane is cast into the breeze, catches an updraft, and--as predicted--passes the Demon guardsmen.
"Whuh?" says Magnus, having apparently never seen a paper airplane before.
It's Ida's turn to take the flask, and she takes a long swig. A positively unladylike swig. She passes it to Fei.
On the rooftop, Magnus unfolds the paper and stares at it. "Oh, for--" he mutters, before turning away from the gate. Maximilian, the larger Demon, does so as well, peering over Magnus's shoulder. He lets out a rumble that might be a sound of curiosity.
"He'd better be right about this..." Magnus grumbles. "Though honestly, any excuse to ditch that thing." He leaps off the back of the building, and is gone. Maximilian follows a moment later, hitting the street with a /thud/ the gathered Drifters can hear. "Go," Ida says, hustling for the gate. "Go, go!"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Ida's confirmation provokes a look of fear and terror in Jacqueline. Her earlier concerns dredged up by Alhazred's Box return in full force.
It was not entirely correct that she didn't know what role they had played. She and Ethius had their suspicions. A vial, that could've changed everything.
She could have warned someone that this might happen.
She could have prevented all of this.
Jacqueline hunkers down, holding her head in her hands.
It takes every ounce of her strength to keep herself from just...stopping, then and there. To keep herself from crying, which would inevitably alert the guards.
She only looks up when Josie addresses her, offering a flask. Ordinarily she would've turned it away. Ordinarily she would've preferred to remain sober, to keep her mind clear for what was to come. But right now...
She accepts the flask and takes a good drink, before passing it off to Ida as requested and standing.
She does not say a word as she moves towards the safety offered beyond the gate.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"He makes an impression," Fei mutters. "Which ... is a bit of a double edged sword, I guess."
Fei rushes out of the city with the rest of the team. He seems relieved. The nightmare is over. Most of the civilians are evacuated. If they get whatever 'It' is--they'll leave. Hopefully there aren't other innocent people where he ended up sending that other demon off to. "Guess they are after something. I wonder what could be so special in Adelhyde that they want." Hopefully it isn't actually Fei himself.
As he wonders this, he throws a wave over to some of the Yggdrassil Alliance Pirates that are gathered. "Oh hey--yeah--I guess I should mention. I'm a pirate now. Uh. Kind of stumbled into it." He shrugs his shoulders. "But they're helping out now right? Guess they'll be able to--"
"FEI!"
Fei freezes. He looks like he's just been shot, his blood running cold. He turns to look at the source of it and--
--it's some hapless black haired nerd with glasses and a green outfit approaching him, gesturing to some sort of--claw-carrier that's approaching the site to bring it closer. It seems to be carrying some sort of ...robot suit?
"Fei," The hapless black haired nerd with glasses and a green outfit says, smiling broadly. "Now don't get mad. I know you told me to bury it in the desert, but when I saw the smoke from the Metal Demon attack, I thought it'd come in handy."
"Doc..." Fei manages weakly. "You didn't... You didn't bring Weltall here, did you? It's killed enough--"
"I'm sure it won't go out of control again," 'Doc' says as the crab carrier carrying the Gear that Gebler has been searching for comes ever nearer, like inevitability. "Besides, most of the people have been evacuated and--Fei?"
Fei is already running back into the city that's on fire and full of demons full speed.
"Fei!!" 'Doc' shouts before giving a hapless shrug to the others. "He'll be fine. In the meantime, I should tend to your wounds?"
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
There's an opening.
Josie /takes/ it, racing after Ida as she breaks for the Gate.
Well, after a parting, "Make sure that gets back to me!" is hissed, complete with a pointed finger in the direction of the wandering flask.
She'll worry about it later.
But something tells her she'll really want whatever's left of it later.
Especially once they reach outskirts of the city.
"Look, people!" Josie points as she skids to a stop.
Slowly, her gaze tracks upwards. "Is that a... Fei, do you know him?"
By an astonishing coincidence, Josie had visited what was left of Lahan not too long ago.
And so she watches in silence as the little scene between the doctor and Fei plays itself out.
She's listening. Slightly, the corner by one eye twitches.
So as Fei bolts back into the city, she stretches out her hand, indicating with her fingers. "Okay, who's got my flask."
Forget later. She wants the rest of it /now/.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida pretty much collapses once she's safe. She sinks to her knees, all the tension draining from her. She slowly raises her head, sees the man in green--and then the massive ARM moving what is unquestionably a Gear into place. Ida blinks slowly, completely ignoring 'Doc' and Fei for a moment. When she's paying attention again, things... have gotten strange, and uncomfortable. Ida feels like she's just walked in on something significant, and she has no idea what this young artist (Fei?) is up to. Why does he look so familiar?
"Yes, please," Ida says to 'Doc'. She's in no position to stop Fei, though part of her wants to.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline, at this point, is the last one holding the flask. She walks up to Josie, handing it over. Afterwards, she glances over to the man in glasses and the giant machine...or combination of machines?...he brought with him.
Jacqueline has no idea what this is about, but she can only help but feel that this was going to be trouble.
She glances back towards Adlehyde at that thought.
Well...the city was already in trouble. How could it make things worse?
The man is apparently a doctor, though, and right now, she probably needed the help. In agreement with Ida, she nods towards him.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Thanks, Jay."
Josie unscrews the top and downs the rest of it in one shot.
"Now, about these wounds..."