2017-06-10: Joint Operations
- Log: Joint Operations
- Cast: Riesenlied, Yarobeleedt, Ambrosius, Seraph Ragnell, Prima, Noeline
- Where: The Lightless Shaft
- Date: 2017-06-10
- Summary: Joined by Seraph Ragnell, the Veruni and the Metal Demons enact the first of many cooperative efforts. The objective this time - delve into the Lightless Shaft to see if there is anything left to salvage.
==========================<* The Lightless Shaft *>===========================
The mountains surrounding the small, desolate town of Mirapulse are filled to the brim with mine shafts. While many are still active, with human workers from the town toiling endlessly, there are many that have been abandoned after decades of excavation. This isn't to say that there isn't anything still in these mine shafts, of course, just that the Veruni have nothing left they want from them -- and without the risk of courting the wrath of the Veruni in trespassing, many Drifters have taken to delving into these abandoned mines in look of the mysterious and legendary creatures' proverbial leftovers.
The Lightless Shaft is one such abandoned mine, buried so deep that not even the barest shards of light from the outside world can shine through. Old equipment and infrastructure still linger here, perilously keeping these winding tunnels and man-made caverns intact as dirty and debris occasional rains down in silt and pebbles from the ceilings above. Winding cart tracks once carried material from one end of the mine to another but now simply rust; a massive augur juts through the middle of this mineshaft, still rotating slowly but surely with the groaning churn of rock and mineral... and occasionally, here and there, pieces of technology long-forgotten can be found: golems, mechanical constructs from a bygone era, half-hanging from walls and ceilings like fossils from a forgotten age.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFpvWupIyr0
DG: 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: Ambrosius has created a party! To join, type +party/reset and then type +party/join Ambrosius. DG: Prima has joined your party! DG: Riesenlied has joined your party! DG: Yarobeleedt has joined your party! DG: Seraph Ragnell has joined your party! DG: A party led by Ambrosius is now entering The Lightless Shaft. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
===================<* CHALLENGE - The Dastardly Descent *>==================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Long abandoned, there are no guards here to defend this mine. No security measures. No; there's just a rope. A long, old rope. Descending into a, well, lightless shaft. What a descriptive dungeon name! Regardless, you better be careful you don't fall and hurt your coccyx on the way down into the abyss. Don't worry, there's probably not any strange man-eating mutants down there. ... Probably. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
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: Ambrosius has created a party! To join, type +party/reset and then type +party/join Ambrosius. DG: Yarobeleedt has left your party. DG: Yarobeleedt has joined your party! DG: Prima has joined your party! DG: Seraph Ragnell has joined your party! DG: Riesenlied has joined your party!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
What are you... telling me?
Please, answer me...
Riesenlied had received the call from Ambrosius, who she spoke to in Old Petra not long before -- it was a good chance. The first formal joint venture between the Veruni and the Metal Demons, and a sign of their alliance to come -- as such, she's passed the message along to other Metal Demons, requesting their presence by the shaft at the allotted time, just outside of Mirapulse. The winged demon's Digs, even after the battle of Adlehyde, open in generally the same manner -- she feels a sensation, deep beneath the earth, beckoning to her. Ever searching in the hopes that it may be a fossil, so that she can lay it to proper rest, she searches the Ruins, amidst the other myriad reasons to go on such ventures.
The winged woman has finally recovered from her wounds, and stands beyond the shaft to the abandoned mine draped in her Ellurian cloak, as always. A renewed side-sword is at her side, despite the fact that she needn't carry human weapons now that her disguise is no longer valid. Some habits die hard, it seems... or, in Riese's case, there is more to the story than just a disguise -- she doesn't exactly have the luxury of accessing advanced ARMs at the blink of an eye.
Are you in pain?
.. it's no use ...
"... Miss Ragnell, are you there?" Riesenlied blinks once, starting to become used to the shifts in the air. "I felt like I could... sense you."
There is a pause.
"Welcome, everyone. I am Riesenlied, commander of the Ebony Wings, and a Hyadean. I thank you for responding to our summons. As you know, very recently, Lord Volsung and Lord Siegfried have both deemed that a joint venture between our forces would be mutually beneficial. Mister Ambrosius will cover the context of the situation in greater detail, but I look forward to working with all of you," as she nods to her Veruni allies.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Who gets dragged along on the next step of the impromptu Veruni/Metal Demon alliance in their quest to sever the hold of the Guardians upon Filgaia, and thus journey down a big, scary, abandoned mineshaft? Gamma? Kalve? Berserk?
That unpleasant naga-slug-thing, Yarobeleedt, that's who. He probably spent a not insignificant amount of time asking how this will help Mother, will Mother be okay once they're here, etc, etc, and putting in all the aggravating examples would probably fill at least seven pages. Let's just stick with the summary that this is a thing that happened.
Also clad in the not-terribly-convincing cloak, Yarobeleedt stands a ways behind the commander, making unpleasant scraping noises with his hands as they wring about one another that, given the amorphous state of his forearms, might kind of hypnotic to see but also really weird.
"Fufufu. Just clock." Did he mean 'just watch?' "Yarobeleedt is granular finest advance scout." He's not tiny at all! Riesenlied would be all too familiar with this behavior pattern - puffing himself up before going anywhere very dangerous, and then... well...
...With Mother at stake, maybe he'll find some great, inner wellspring of courage and power? (EDITOR'S NOTE: will need hour plus to work off laughter and prevent asphyxiation from amusement, please stand by)
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
In light of the recent alliance between their peoples, Ambrosius gathered together a group of individuals for a particular mission. At the moment, the group stands outside the entrance...which, let's be real here, is little more than a frayed, ratty old rope leading into the dark depths of the planet.
He listens as Riesenlied explains the situation. He...still quite doesn't know what or who a 'Ragnell' is, but he trusted Riesenlied's judgment enough that he did not question it.
"Yes...thaaank you, Miss Rieseeenlied..." Ambrosius replies with a bow of his head, then turns so that he is facing everyone.
Though his poncho obscures it, one can see that he has both arms folded behinded his back if they look close enough.
"This, my friiiends...is Miiineshaft..." Ambrosius begins. He then continues into a rather long-winded designation code, made somewhat difficult to follow by his trademark manner of speech.
"The looocals...refeeer to it...siiimply as...the 'Liiightless Shaaaft'... It is...a raaather dull and...uninfooormative naaame...is it not...?" He states with a chuckle.
"In the paaast...our peeeople used this...as a miiine... We have siiince...reeemoved most of...useful teeechnology...but...there miiight still be...sooomething saaalvageable..." He states.
"Therefore...our ooobjective here toooday...is two-fooold... Fiiirst... to look for...aaanythiiing usable...that we would...be aaable to...excavaaate... Seeecond...to reeender unuuusable... eveeerything else, to aaavoid it...falling into...the wrong haaands... Are there...any queeestions...?"
His gaze drifts subtly towards Yarobeleedt. He recognizes the slimy, babbling thing, and he grins slightly. He had to wonder if he remembered him, as well.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
And then, suddenly, Riesenlied's shadow might feel like there's a heavy weight sitting on it.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell is neither Veruni nor Metal Demon. What she *is*, is incredibly nosy, and currently a guest of Riesenlied's in Old Petra. Thus when it seemed like Riese was collecting Metal Demons for some kind of mission, Ragnell saw fit to invite herself along, just to see what they're up to. After all, that's the whole point of her being here: to learn more about the Hyadeans. Learning about the Veruni, a race about which she knows literally nothing, is just the whipped cream and cherry potage on top.
"Yo," she replies, casual as you please, when Riesenlied calls her name. A slight tilt of the head. "Hmmm... Could you, now?" But then Riese addresses the others, and she quiets down--for now, anyway. Ragnell hasn't been to the Lightless Shaft before, but she *has* been curious about this area and wanted to explore it previously. Circumstances didn't give her the time or chance, so lucky for her coincidence has brought her here anyway. 'Lucky,' anyway, given that the slug-guy WON'T SHUT UP ABOUT MOTHER, and that the guy in charge of the Dig talks soooooo sloooooow. But also actually lucky, because Ragnell doesn't actually have to deal with Yaro (the perks of being invisible to most around you), and also because however else he speaks, Ambrosius is fairly straightforward once he gets down to brass tacks.
"Hmmmm," she murmurs once Ambrosius is done, folding her arms behind her head. "An' I wonder which hands are the wrong hands? Humankind's, or...?"
She doesn't actually expect a response, unless Noeline is there and feels like translating.
DG: Noeline has joined your party!
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
Prima is feeling just a bit sour--she would have much rather had the opportunity to scout the area before everyone else arrived, to better make a dramatic entrance. Instead, she stands next to Ambrosius as he makes his speech, looking slightly impatient. "I have a queeeeestion," she says, then coughs. "A question. Who is Miss Ragnell?"
Yarobeleedt gets an odd look, Riesenlied an appraising one. "Another question--is your...friend, okay? What was that he was trying to say?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied pauses, before placing a finger to her cheek. "Miss Ragnell is an ally of ours, a guest that is staying at our forward operating base. ... admittedly, I cannot fully sense her yet, but I thought I felt a shift in the air... no, please, it was probably just a hunch."
Her wings flick up and down a little in a brief moment of agitation.
"Ah, Yaro meant that he will show you his scouting skills and agility," she smiles at Prima, bowing her head to the ninja. "He is dependable," for certain measures of dependable, "and I trust him. If I may, are you some kind of ninja? Your stylings rather remind me of Zed's, Miss Prima."
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
The hooded figure that is 'Yaro' bends and contorts with every one of Riesenlied's movements as if intent on trying to stay in her shadow. He peeks out every so often with those beady little eyes of his at that grinning, slow-talking Ambrosius before promptly sinking into not-at-all-inconspicuous hiding.
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
Prima's eyes widen slightly. "You know--you know of the shinobi? Perhaps you are worthy allies. Who is this 'Zed' you speak of?" She pauses, parsing the answer about Ragnell. "Your ally is...invisible? Even the shinobi cannot master true invisibility..." She sounds impressed, jealous, and slightly doubtful, all at once. It's kind of impressive.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline... is not a Metal Demon or a Veruni. Honest, really. She's just your average Crimson Noble, and appears to have invited herself along the moment the request came through to Riesenlied in her acting position as Riesenlied's Friend And Also Some Odd Kind Of Second In Command Of Petra. "... hello, hello~," she hums without any kind of concern, apparently heedless of the company she's currently keeping. At least she is a familiar face around Old Petra, having been helping out there significantly.
At the very least she doesn't look like a Metal Demon, in much the same way that Riesenlied doesn't - she's chosen to go mine-diving in a vivid crimson dress that would be more at home socializing then digging around the dust, two spherical metallic pods hovering over one each of her shoulders in a very familiar style to those who know her. ... except that one of them, the one with the actual working engines, is now a chartreuse sort of pink, and has a small top hat sized for itself that it seems oddly fond of.
"I'd rather keep what we can - simply destroying it seems much too pointless, don't you think?" is her only comment as she steps up to Riesenlied's side, both her gait and her tone of voice kept airy.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Just a hunch? Even shinobi aren't truly invisible? And wow, Yaro sure can move fast when he wants to. Ragnell grins slowly. Well, far be it for her not to show off when an opportunity arises--and she heard that note of doubt in your voice, Prima, don't think she didn't. These are ostensibly allies and for right now Ragnell's keeping herself in check (although Yaro's cowardice will no doubt prove a trolling magnet as the expedition progresses), and Noeline didn't bother to translate, so she lifts a finger.
A crackling worm of golden-purple lightning leaps up from her fingertip and drops down again. For Riese, who can sense her feelings, she'll note amusement; for everyone else, that sure was some random electricity that materialized out of nowhere and disappeared just as fast.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius, for his part, cannot see or hear Ragnell. This was most likely due to his staunch refusal to believe in most things without having any convincing evidence for them.
And once Yarobeleedt degenerates into hiding, Ambrosius ceases to pay much attention to him. He could explain how he knew him...but he figured he'd save that for if he needed to punish the strange, slimy creature.
For now, he simply stands by, though he glances towards Noeline when she speaks.
Her machinery is...unusual to him, and it's difficult for him to tell whether she is a Metal Demon or, like 'Miss Ragnell', another non-Demon ally that Riesenlied had made at some point.
"That would be...preeeferable, yes..." He replies with a nod.
"However...some of this...equuuipment...is much too...laaarge or unwieldly...to excavaaate saaafely... Paaarticularly...without being noooticed...by any of the...looocals..." He explains. "Therefooore...we may haaave...no other chooice..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
There's a faint sigh from Riesenlied, as she places her hand to her cheek again. "We will judge when we come to see each piece. Atop of what they may do with it, there is also the risk of what potential hazards may come to them if they try to activate devices they scarce understand."
She glances to Noeline, and then beckons to the group. "This is Noeline, a Crimson Noble, and one of my oldest allies. I trust her explicitly with many factors regarding our operations, so please treat her as you would any other ally."
She looks at Prima as well, smiling softly. "Ah, not in great detail, but... Zed would be the one to speak to regarding that, yes."
She looks at Ambrosius. "Shall we be off? Daylight is burning, and we'd best not linger unless the locals catch onto us."
DG: A party led by Ambrosius is now entering The Lightless Shaft. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
===================<* CHALLENGE - The Dastardly Descent *>==================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Long abandoned, there are no guards here to defend this mine. No security measures. No; there's just a rope. A long, old rope. Descending into a, well, lightless shaft. What a descriptive dungeon name! Regardless, you better be careful you don't fall and hurt your coccyx on the way down into the abyss. Don't worry, there's probably not any strange man-eating mutants down there. ... Probably. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius nods in agreement with Riesenlied's point.
"It is...a pleasure...to meet...all of you..." He says, then nods.
"Iiindeed...let us be off..." With that said, he turns to face the entrance once more.
"In the paaast...there was an elevaaator here..." Presumably. It wasn't as if he'd seen this place in its prime, but he definitely would have put one in. It was the sensible thing to do.
"But, as...you can see...the current meeethod is...a little priiimitive...do be...caaareful, my friiiends..." With that said, he reaches out to the rope gives it an experimental tug before slowly, carefully, starting to make his way down. He didn't mind being the first one down...though he wouldn't have minded Yarobeleedt going down first. He seemed as if he'd make a disgusting but useful cushion.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
The very moment the unexplained electrical sparks go off, one might catch a view of Yarobeleedt straight-up darting into the descending shaft - he's the first one down there, which is appropriate for a scouting unit. One can't fault that very basic action, for the action itself.
Silence follows.
There's no terrible shrieking yet, so there's one of two possibilities: Yarobeleedt hasn't actually gone down the shaft that far, or he just jumped into a bottomless pit ahead of everyone else. Neither are particularly flattering, but one of these is unquestionably true, one of which is infinitely more preferrable a result than the other.
...
Turns out he's watching the others descend from the ceiling, out of view thanks to the cover of darkness, waiting to see if any of them die by jumping down a bottomless pit first, because he is terrible and probably afraid of the dark below.
DG: Yarobeleedt has used its Tool Clutch Harness toward its party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied's wings spread, and she descends at a soft and genteel pace. Her hands lightly spread to either side, she's focused on the phenomenon of the photon generation that has surrounded her since she was struck by the Moon Guardian at the Fairgrounds, particles softly billowing with a gleaming faint-white light as she proceeds down. "Do watch your step, and call out if you require assistance," she advises.
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon Wings toward her party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent.
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
Prima just leaps down, performing acrobatic wall jumps off the shaft to slow her descent.
DG: Prima has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
With a rather flat gaze, Noeline cranes her neck to peer down the hole, frowning a little as it disappears into blackness. "... well, time to see if your repairs did well enough, hm?" she comments to the more pink of her two little robots, taking a hold of the handle on the side as it beeps and circles slowly. Its engines fire as she hops down into the shaft, her descent immediately slowed - and the girl in red raises her eyebrows with an appreciative 'ooh'. "Well, I must say I'm impressed," she adds conversationally. "You might even be better than new."
DG: Noeline has used her Tool Strife toward her party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell smiles when, concurrent with her minor pyrotechnics display, Yaro *darts* for the mine shaft. It might be a coincidence, since most of the others don't seem to have noticed, or else didn't think anything of, the (un?)natural phenomenon. Ah well; if even her effects on her element largely go unnoticed, that's fine too, then. Either way, she strolls over to the mine shaft once everyone else decides it's time to get going down, politely(?) waiting for everyone else to descend. She does look *up* first, and finds Yaro there, crouching at the top, similarly waiting for everyone else to go down.
She snorts. Then, light and nimble, she jumps for the rope and begins to slide down, a thing she can do because she has gloves protecting her hands and jeans protecting her legs, and also because as a Seraph her physical form isn't quite *entirely* physical. That said, if she misses her initial jump and has to grab it, say, halfway down the shaft, even that'll cause some injuries.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Dastardly Descent.
===================<* CHALLENGE - The Dastardly Descent *>==================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Long abandoned, there are no guards here to defend this mine. No security measures. No; there's just a rope. A long, old rope. Descending into a, well, lightless shaft. What a descriptive dungeon name! Regardless, you better be careful you don't fall and hurt your coccyx on the way down into the abyss. Don't worry, there's probably not any strange man-eating mutants down there. ... Probably. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
DG: The party led by Ambrosius has passed this challenge! The party gained 22 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius finds himself himself somewhat envious of the other members of the party who possess more efficient more efficient methods of descending.
Unfortunately, he does not possess Riesenlied's wings, Noeline's drones, or Prima's impressive ninja agility. He simply has to take the rope down, and as such will be one of the last ones to make it down...due in part to his slow-and-steady way of doing things, which perhaps takes more energy than simply using Sorcery to break his fall would.
In one way or another, the party manages to make it down to the bottom of the shaft...eventually. There were a few close calls for some of them, and a somewhat harrowing moment where it seemed like the rope might snap as Ragnell jumps onto it that potentially results in a need to rely on one of the party members with other methods of making their way down.
He...doesn't see Yarobeleedt right away, but he doesn't think much of this.
"Come...let us...move fooorward..." He says, starting off in a direction.
DG: Riesenlied has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* CHALLENGE - Minor Miner Maze *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Winding pathways, blown-out tunnels, deliberate dead-ends. No one knows why mines in Filgaia seem to value confusion over efficiency but such is the way of things and now you'll have to deal with their design philosophy. Perhaps a lively debate about why someone would turn a mine into a maze will help you while away the time it'll take trying to figure out a way through this mind-numbing mine-maze. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Down towards the bottom, the pathways rather immediately sprawl outwards in a way that makes players of this MUSH, 20 years down the line, wonder what the heck the dungeon designers were possibly thinking with these winding passages that all look the same and the lack of landmarks and a useless minimap that doesn't tell you squat and random encounters with bats--
Regardless, it is what it is -- what was one an orderly and sensical mine has caved in to become a treacherous path, and Riesenlied has to look up towards Yarobeleedt somewhere with a sigh to say, "Yaro, let's take this methodically and apply the clockwise solution."
She draws a notebook from within her cloak's satchel and begins to sketch -- and add to notes that already exist within the mine, her senses expanding at the same time as she observes the area. "Colliery Points #1 to 3 are here, and by extension there will be a collector vein along them... if we take into account that the cave-in has blocked the underpass..."
It... makes sense to her, perhaps.
DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Minor Miner Maze.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
The Crimson Noblish lands safely and securely, taking just a moment to pat the little ARM on the... head? "Well, I shall have to give my regards to that mechanic," she says brightly, leaving the little sphere to bobble happily in midair then go into a triumphant little slow turn with its twin. "She even managed to get that little stutter out, hm?"
She pauses, and glances once at Riesenlied, resting a hand on the other woman's arm in what appears to be a moment of support. "I believe there are some loops in here, unfortunately. Specifically, I recall most mines of this type tended to use a honeycomb formation around the central areas - on the other hand, if we find that area we are probably able to spider off from it..."
And so on, and so on. She hasn't got a stack of notes like Riesenlied does, but her brain appears to be stuffed full of bits of history, planning, and other minutae.
DG: Noeline has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Minor Miner Maze.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
For the time being, they might be led to believe that Yarobeleedt has dutifully gone on ahead (unless Ragnell tattles on him). From his vantage point as he watches all of them descend, he glowers.
"Silly ^Long Voweler^. Think Yaro play nice? Think Yaro work nice? Think Yaro slack nice? Think Yaro take subway to and fro nice? Think a gain! Then think a loss." Yarobeleedt murmurs in whisper. He is seething. No matter how much he puffs himself up, he could tell looking at the disapproval of his peers and inferiors (as based on them being so completely occupied with their parts of the invasion that they could not spare but a moment to praise him endlessly). He was made a fool of again in no small part by Ambrosius - two crippling defeats he would have to live down as mockable footnotes and chapters in the records of his people, to the extent such exist.
He shrieks when Riesenlied spots him - how could she know?! She's only had all seventy years of his life to learn all his tricks! No faiiiiiirrrrrrrr----!!
"Yes. Yesyesyes. Yes. As you are rubbing the lamp, commander." There is that sharp upturn with agreeableness that is no doubt incredibly suspicious, as he slinks down the shaft, down the wall, and slithers onto the ground in front of them. He's good at putting on that act of being a good little minion, and not at all a sniveling, scheming, self-serving pompous little... steel stain.
He complies with her directions to approach clockwise and report back, but he has other ideas in mind. Some hints, some ideas, as to how to best think of a way to ruin Ambrosius' day, as he wanders fully distracted with revenge fantasies he doesn't have the stones to pull off.
They'd save Mother without that one, somehow!!!
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Minor Miner Maze.
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
Prima skids down the last few feet of wall ungracefully, landing hard on her backside--not a very impressive landing, perhaps, but she's still just descended a shaft by wall jumping and not died, so that's pretty impressive on its own, right? Right?
"I meant to do that."
The mazelike qualities of the mine, rather than annoying Prima, seem to please and impress her. "This sort of thing is exactly the kind of ideal defense emplacement that is discussed in the Art of War," she says. "That's the ancient tome of ninja strategies," she adds, producing a copy from somewhere on her person. "Attackers become lost in the winding corridors, and there are plentiful opportunities for the defenders to lay ambushes and traps."
"What I'm saying is, we should be cautious."
DG: Prima has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Minor Miner Maze.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
In the polite silence that follows Prima's touchdown, Noeline blinks gently to herself - and turns towards Ragnell and Riesenlied, leaning exaggeratedly over to one side. "... ... ... did I miss Zed getting a remodel?" she wonders under her breath to them both.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
The construction of the mine makes perfect sense to Ambrosius...but that is not to say that he knows the way through, a fact that isn't helped by the cave-ins that block off pathways that might have been useful, were they still available for use.
He listens as the other members of the party explain various details about the mine, and take it all in. He'd done some research, but...all the maps they had were old and, therefore, probably out of date.
Well...it was better than nothing, right? He goes off of what he'd learned, as well as following the advice provided by Riesenlied and Noeline.
He takes in Prima's commentary, as well. It certainly seemed like a decent reason for the way it was constructed.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Minor Miner Maze.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
The rope doesn't *quite* snap--it still needs to exist for the next time an intrepid band of adventurers comes by with a hankering for exploring the mine shaft--but the sound of fraying rope encourages Ragnell to let go and drop the rest of the distance sooner than she otherwise would have. *Ow*. The landing is not quite 'splat,' but it hurts worse than it otherwise might have. She grimaces, then gets to her feet and moves out of the way of anyone else still above her. Which, at this point, it looks like there isn't, but either way.
Then Noeline asks about Prima, and Ragnell snorts. "Maybe it's just a 'shinobi' thing," she suggests, half-grinning.
As the group heads forward, and Yaro gets called out by Riese, meaning Ragnell doesn't even have to tattle on him. She *does* eye him when he approaches the meandering mines without any sense of paying attention to it. She points at him and looks at Noeline. "In what way is he dependable, exactly?"
Either way, hmm. It seems like everyone *besides* Yaro has an idea of how to approach the meandering. Ragnell, for her part, pulls out a small, handheld, eletrical fan and turns it on by way of her own lightning magic. It comes to life with a *bzzzz*, and the little draft of air whooshes through, ruffling Ragnell's cropped two-tone hair.
Then she strolls forward, using the draft to extend her Seraphic senses to see where the air does and doesn't pass through. It's not foolproof--she's a Lightning Seraph, not a Wind one--but she's used it to good effect in the past.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Portable Fan toward her party's challenge, Minor Miner Maze. DG: The party led by Ambrosius 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> Riesenlied has posed.
No matter how mazelike, mazes still have logic to them. Even if it is the logic of a madness-inflicted designer, for whom the twisting corridors only serve to demonstrate a kind of beauty that only they can see. Yarobeleedt starts to comb the patterns -- a honeycomb pattern, as Noeline points out -- and begins to make heads or tails out of which ones are mere dead-ends and which ones have fruitful passages that lead them forward.
And indeed, how! The Art of War states that one should have full awareness of one's surroundings, so that they can utilise a maze-like passage that indeed twists and winds, confounding attackers and luring them to their doom. It's helpful, pointing out the kind of likely passages that won't bear them progress, Prima finds.
Riesenlied looks with a nod towards Ambrosius' map, carrying it along with hers. "I see... it seems like there were some redesigns between this and now -- and it's probably done to accomodate for imprecise mining techniques that the locals had to use rather than the Veruni's advanced methods."
Ragnell, perhaps, is the true winner, because she has a personal USB deskfan to keep her cool in this rather stale and decrepit underground air! The air does, indeed, help -- there are more windflows from where there are passages... and more importantly, dead air from where there isn't.
The going takes... quite a while, but by the end of it, the group's managed to find their way to the other end. Riesenlied lets out a sigh of her own, rubbing at a rather still tender left shoulder. "... mm," she muses. "I'm not certain I feel the sensation anymore... I wonder if we took a wrong turn? I would rather hope not."
DG: Yarobeleedt has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================================<* CHALLENGE - Rockin' Rock Burst *>========================================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- Sometimes, as a mine gets older and delves deeper, it's that much more prone to collapse. The accumulated strain can occasionally cause spontaneous and savage fractures in the rock and minerals of the mine as the shaft literally explodes parts of the rocky outcropping to relieve pressure in other areas. Fascinating, right? This bit of family friendly knowledge was brought to you by OH GOD LOOK OUT ROCKS ARE EXPLODING AT YOUR FACE =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
It's probably Yaro's fault that it took that long to get through, let's not mince words. He has the (dis)pleasure of inadvertedly sticking near Ragnell through all of this.
"What pieces of cake!" The translator involved misunderstood an English idiom, clearly, as he shudders to the unexplainable breeze put forth by Ragnell throughout.
Unfortunately, this gives him a truly terrible idea.
"Is pathing? Pathological path." He brings one of his sleeved hands up against one of the walls, and then there is scraping - mistaking airflow for a weakened wall in which a new passage might rest. "Fufufu. No right turn? Only left." Scrape, scrape, scrape.
The scraping is murder on the ears, hands reforming into shapes ideal for excavation purposes. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.
There are fractures that form, as Yarobeleedt looks to the forming fissure.
"Oh?" Crack. Crackle. Rumble.
...
And then there is an epic screeching that is lost to a great explosion of rocky matter that swallows Yarobeleedt up as an immense pressure explosion consumes him - but who cares about him? Run run away rocks fall everyone dies (maybe)!!!
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Rockin' Rock Burst.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied's eyes widen as she starts hearing that scraping noise. "Yaro-- wait--"
Riesenlied's eyes widen further, and she calls out instinctively, "Careful above!" Her wings spread once more as she starts to manuever, gritting her teeth as she concentrates the density of the photons around her wings. There's a visible swirl of light, concentrating around her, and the smaller of the rocks simply disintegrate against her impromptu light barrier, and larger ones are more deftly deflected aside as the group proceed through the area. It doesn't come without cost -- she's visibly straining as the wingstem at the small of her back begin to strain, and nearer towards the end of their approach, she's forced to drop onto her feet with a rather haggard noise of pain.
I probably overdid it... my wings feel rather weakened now...
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon Wings toward her party's challenge, Rockin' Rock Burst.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline's only response to Ragnell is a raising of her eyebrows and a light shrug of one shoulder, paired with a complicated little frown. By rights as a Metal Demon, she should be proud at Yaro for his 'work' in the Starfall Saloon, by rights as a Human Sympathizer she should be angry instead, but somehow all she can do is feel some level of pity for the poor snake demon, especially after their failure to awaken Mother.
She does open her mouth to say something more - but the note in Riesenlied's voice sets off an instinct that has her bunching in place and then powering forwards. She does not have wings, nor anything so fancy - but she is remarkably fast on her feet just as a matter of course, and even faster when she has Strife tucked under one arm, beeping in alarm as it fires its jets to provide her with some odd measure of afterburner.
She finds herself gritting her teeth when Riese nearly drops to one knee, and all but picks the commander up for the last sprint, an arm around the other woman as her ARM propels them both along.
DG: Noeline has used her Tool Strife toward her party's challenge, Rockin' Rock Burst.
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
Prima yelps as the wall starts exploding, turning it into a very unconvincing kiai. "Aha! It's a trap! Just like I said!" With that she begins rushing down the corridor, leaping and dashing and flipping, her scarf trailing dramatically behind her. Yes, Prima wears a scarf--proper kunoichi always have scarves! It's so that they have more dramatic motion in action scenes!
DG: Prima has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rockin' Rock Burst.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius pauses as a rather horrible scraping sound reaches his ears.
"What...is thaaat...terriiible noise...?" He hisses. The consequences of it soon become apparent as Riesenlied shouts out a warning, followed by an explosion of stone.
Ambrosius does not particularly possess any talents that would be useful in a situation like this. His only recourse is to break into a run, arms raised to shield himself from the rocky projectiles that were currently assailing all of them.
One thing was certain - whatever became of him after this, if he survived he was definitely going to have to do a lot of repairs on his poncho.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Rockin' Rock Burst.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
So even Noeline, dubious second-in-command to Riesenlied, doesn't know what Yaro's good at? That's promising. So is the group's utter failure to navigate the maze in an efficient fashion; Ragnell's attempt to navigate by air flow a) end of leading her in circles b) confuse Yaro into thinking there's natural air where there isn't. Ragnell turns of the device and tucks it away when he starts digging at the wall, frowning.
"There's not actually a break on that side," she says, knowing full well he won't hear her. "Whether we took a wrong turn or not, we're not gonna get anywhere any sooner by diggin' where there's no--" She pauses. "What was that sound?"
SUDDENLY, EXPLODING ROCKS. Leaving Riese to Noeline's care after her warning, and straight-up ditching Yaro, Ragnell drops into a backwards roll, then twists and attempts to simply *run for it* like Ambrosius and Prima before she's caught up in the blasts.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rockin' Rock Burst. DG: The party led by Ambrosius 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> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Rocks fall. They also spray, they also spread, they also rush, they do lots of things under pressure! It's very loud, it's noisy, and for a while the entire section of shaft is covered in thick dust that may or may not give those present lung cancer way down the line, but... one thing at a time, as everyone gets their bearings after that brush with almost certain death.
...Oh, hey, there actually was a passage behind here! Yarobeleedt's prone body, dressed in the nondescript dark robe, blends in almost seamlessly with the color of rock that just exploded everywhere. An epic-length tongue lolls out the side of the hood as the disabled scout demon makes for an excellent temporary foothold for anyone to walk on top of en route to the next leg of their journey.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has drawn a new Challenge.
================<* CHALLENGE - Cavernous Cave-In Catastrophe *>================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Cave-ins. They happen. Oftentimes, they happen conveniently at the one place you need to get through to get to where you're going. Guess where this just cave-in happened? Yep. Better get digging. Or blowing up. Or using monstrous physical strength to punch through dirt and rock and rubble like a big shot. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Rocks fall, everyone manages to not die, and we all avoid starring in an Ibsen play. Ragnell doesn't need to worry about things like lung cancer, having an only partially-material physical form anyway, but even if that were a concern, she's got a bandanna around her neck that she's able to pull up over her mouth and nose, which can still get irritated, from the thick dust that arises. This happens after she gets caught in the blast anyway and is knocked to the ground, eating dirt metaphorically and literally, and has to spend a moment spitting it out.
It really is good for her that no one can see her anyway, with the exception of Noeline and Noeline's too busy being gay to notice, probably.
"Well, that sure was a thing," she remarks aloud from behind her bandanna-mask, heading back towards the explosion. Yaro's prone body is there. She kicks it with the heel of her boot. "You alive?" ... "Cool," she concludes, whether he responds or not. Then she walks right over him and heads forward into the passage.
And while there might have been a passage behind here, but exploding rocks tend to collapse as much as they clear things. There's a cave-in shortly forward, and Ragnell rolls her eyes as she dips a hand into her poncho. "Because what we needed was definitely *more* exploding rocks," she remarks to no one, then tosses her lightning grenade towards the rubble before the others can get to it, to avoid having to bother with a warning. An explosion of lightning will follow, potentially weakening and clearing out some of the mess to make it easier for the others to clear through.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Electric Grenade toward her party's challenge, Cavernous Cave-In Catastrophe.
===============<* CHALLENGE - Cavernous Cave-In Catastrophe *>================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Cave-ins. They happen. Oftentimes, they happen conveniently at the one place you need to get through to get to where you're going. Guess where this just cave-in happened? Yep. Better get digging. Or blowing up. Or using monstrous physical strength to punch through dirt and rock and rubble like a big shot. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
"It's fine, I'm fine, I'm...I'm okay," Prima coughs as she emerges from the dust just after Ragnell's blast, having been hit in the gut like a sledgehammer by a flying rock. She wheezes a little more, then adds, "luckily I brought some explosives for situations just like this. It'll be cleared in no time." After placing the charges and getting back, she...stops helping, because now she's catching her breath.
DG: Prima has used her Tool Explosives. Just Explosives toward her party's challenge, Cavernous Cave-In Catastrophe.
===============<* CHALLENGE - Cavernous Cave-In Catastrophe *>================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Cave-ins. They happen. Oftentimes, they happen conveniently at the one place you need to get through to get to where you're going. Guess where this just cave-in happened? Yep. Better get digging. Or blowing up. Or using monstrous physical strength to punch through dirt and rock and rubble like a big shot. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Fortunately, lung cancer is probably one of the few things Riesenlied doesn't have to worry about, if only because her composition is already of questionable enough quality that she has other things to be concerned about. Like an existential crisis. She falters as Noeline dives in and catches her, and she nods as they clear the passageway and end up on the other side, a genteel pat on the head for Strife. "Thank you, little one."
There's a quiet sigh as she tilts her head, looking down towards Yarobeleedt and offering her hand to him. "... we aren't yet done, Yaro, please do stand," she urges.
She looks up with a lull of her head to the other side, concentrating for a moment as she deploys a single Pinion that starts to chip away at the rock as she ensures that her companions are sound. "As much haste as we need to make, we'd best ensure we do not lose our way. Ambrosius, could you please pull up the map while we do this?"
DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Cavernous Cave-In Catastrophe.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
For her part, Noeline has to bring a ruffled armsleeve up to her mouth, coughing from behind it in an odd attempt to be genteel while catching her breath. If nothing else, this much dirt and dust does at least tend to jam up the workings, as it were. "--somehow, we are managing..." she mutters in response to Ragnell, one eye closed, and then she carefully and slowly picks Riesenlied up as she herself finds her feet--
--just in time for her eyes to widen. "--down!" she calls as the first crackle of lightning hits, obviously aware that something is there and hucking around explosive grenades in a small enclosed space, Ragnell. >:(
When she straightens up again it's with an aggrieved huff and a flick of her hand, her two spheres buzzing forwards to somewhat ineffectually clear away the remnants of the demolition attempt. "You could at least give us a little more warning, even if I'm one of the few people here who will hear it," she grumbles loudly.
DG: Noeline has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Cavernous Cave-In Catastrophe.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied has a little wince after her ears ring, and she looks to Noeline. "--wait, does that mean that Miss Ragnell is here? Then..." Her intuition was right after all?
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius is looking a little worse for wear after he makes it through the cave-in. This might be partially due to the fact that his poncho is looking rather tattered from all the rocks that had gone through it. Because of this he doesn't notice or perhaps just doesn't care as he steps onto Yarobeleedt - or maybe into, as the case maybe, considering the demon's nature - as he makes his way up to where the others are dealing with the cave-in.
"Miss Raaagnell...?" Ambrosius repeats, glancing towards Riesenlied. His words are followed by an explosion of lightning from the Seraph.
He had to assume she was responsible, but...she truly appeared to be invisible, not to mention completely silent(to him). Ambrosius's brow furrows slightly. That would make her a useful ally...but a dangerous enemy, as well.
There's more than enough brute force going into the rocks, so, as Riesenlied suggests, Ambrosius refers to the map.
He does spare a glance towards Prima.
"Are you...all riiight...miss Priiima...?" He asks.
...Was that actual concern from Ambrosius?
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Cavernous Cave-In Catastrophe.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
There's a few errant twitches at the slug-demon-thing being kicked. There's some more 'give' to the impact than Ragnell might expect. Just about everything from the waist down is semi-solid. It's kind of squishy! Might be fun to kick a few more times, if the opportunity ever arises to do so.
Take Ambrosius' example. It's amazing on the feet! Better than any shoe padding the Veruni have ever developed. Maybe one day Yarobeleedt can be recycled into gel pads for shoes. That might be his true calling.
"Beleelgdlbeepbleprprblrphfg," replies the stone-struck scout as Riesenlied offers a hand to the larger-sized, smaller-herated creature. Taking him by the hand is kind of tough because of the way his forearms go - a good pull up tends to only elongate the forearm, but somehow he manages in a way that doesn't yet embarrass himself further (maybe because the nearby electrical explosion startles him awake).
"A rag by the name of Nell?! What." Yarobeleedt says, dumbstruck. "Oh. You are Nell? Fufufu. What a rag!" He asks of Prima. "Then Nell fault!! Not Yarobeleedt's. All Nell's."
He screeches and cowers when Prima-'Nell' sets off set explosives.
"Again!! See sea, C? Ragged Nell!!! I rag on Nell for ragging!!" Um, okay, sure.
Yarobeleedt, feeling the dire need to once again turn this into some contest, rushes for the cave-in with raised arms at the ready for more scraping, more picking, more eardrum-shrieki--
Beat.
"Who Prima??"
...This dumbfounds him so much that he ceases being able to contribute anything meaningful to the excavation effort.
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Cavernous Cave-In Catastrophe. DG: The party led by Ambrosius has passed 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.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Hey, that's why Ragnell made a point to throw a grenade before anyone else arrived, NOELINE. It's not her fault that you WALK FAST. "'One of,' nothin'; you're the ONLY person here who can hear me," she points out to Noeline. "But I'll give you a head's up next time." She was awfully compliant about that. One can thank someone having chewed her out for that in the past, though. Sigh, everyone's a critic. At least Yaro's back was pleasantly squishy, though. Very nice to walk on.
Ragnell even laughs when Yaro mistakes Prima for her, though, 'ragging' on her as she sets off her explosives. Riese's Pinion and Noeline's spheres clear away more of the rubble, while Ambrosius refers to the map and Yaro digs through, at least partly until Prima being known by something other than Nell confuses him so badly he can't do anything anymore. Fortunately, by now, there's more than enough cleared away for everyone to make it through neatly.
"Well that's that, then," Ragnell says briskly. She glances briefly at Ambrosius, hearing her name; then, one hand on her hat, she heads on through the now-cleared space for whatever lies ahead.
DG: Prima has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* CHALLENGE - The Plural of Empusa is Empusae *>============================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------- And that's exactly what you find yourself dealing with now. Fancy that! It's a veritable empusae emporium here, with empusae both big and small and so many wondrous varieties of colors and drill-shaped faces with which to skewer you. You could tell them you know the plural of empusa is not empusas to try to curry their favor, but they probably don't even know what an empusa is (spoiler: it's them) so you're probably just better off killing them all. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
"I said...I'm fine..." Prima wheezes, offering a thumbs up, while clutching her belly with her other hand. The explosions and clearing of rock reveal the way forward.
Unfortunately, the way forward is through an emporium of empusae.
"The mass noun for empusae is an emporium," she says, "and the best way to deal with them, according to the Art of War, is by striking quickly and decisively at their alpha! LIKE SO!" And with that, Prima flips into action, hurling a fan of shuriken ahead of her to...well, not strike decisively at any one empusa.
"I have no idea how to tell which one is the alpha!"
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
There is also, suddenly, a large cocoon made of some kind of metallic fabric with all sorts of seams and patches that suggest a great amount of love and care going into its maintenance and upkeep as a security bla-- I mean a protective shield.
Incidentally, Yarobeleedt is nowhere to be seen.
Maybe these two events are interconnected.
DG: Yarobeleedt has used its Tool Sheet Cocoon toward its party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae. DG: Prima has used her Tool The Art of Warfare toward her party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
There's a patient look from Riesenlied as she gestures to the colourful ninja, and she explains, "That's Miss Prima. Miss Ragnell is... I do not believe you can see her -- I certainly cannot either, but do not worry, it appears we've assistance outside of what we can perceive."
Pretty soon, however, they've got company for the first time in their dig thus far -- and Riesenlied remembers these minor creatures. She's flanked immediately, but she doesn't draw their sword -- her senses start to expand once more as her horns start to emanate and give her a sense of the nature of these lesser monsters. Just as she's about to be swarmed, she speaks:
"Halt."
Riesenlied extends her hand as her eyes shimmer for a moment, exerting a kind of subtle dominance evident in her posture and guise. She may be a failed dragon, but there's a characteristic draconian presence, somewhere, within her core that nonetheless is quite useful to cow lesser beasts from attacking her.
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon Horn toward her party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
With a light sigh, Noeline puts a hand to her forehead. "... well, really," she comments in the wake of Prima's yell. "If mass destruction is called for, I suppose we can account for that instead." So saying, she's lightly waved a hand as she turns side-on to the advancing creatures. "Trouble, dear, you aren't going to let Strife show you up, I hope?" The little robot bleeps, sweeping down in front of the vampire(?) with a sudden dangerous shine to its frontal lens.
"I do recommend closing your eyes; this might get a little bright," she comments to the open air, before the space in between and around the empusa group starts to light up with laser fire.
DG: Noeline has used her Tool Trouble toward her party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
'I do not believe you can see her--' "He sure can't!" Ragnell calls over to Riese, or more accurately Riese-by-proxy since it's still only Noeline who can see or hear her, and only the latter with reliability.
The way forward, it turns out, is writing with empusae. Ragnell is not exactly sure what an empusa is. Even though they're literally right in front of her with their drill-faces, she's still not entirely sure. What *are* empusae? We just don't know.
"Great to know! Super helpful!" she calls towards Prima as she pulls her pair of guns out and begins shooting lightning bullets into the emporium of empusae. She has no idea how to tell who the Alpha is either, so really, what's there to do but kill them all? She does pause to cover her eyes at Noeline's warning, though.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius makes sure to stand safely aside as the explosives go off and clear their way forward.
"What a...faaascinating piece of...infooormation... It will...soon be irreeelevant, however..." He comments, as Prima helpfully provides the noun for a multitude of empusae. Irrelevant, because soon they will no longer be an issue.
Ambrosius observes Riesenlied attempted to subjugate the empusae with his previous, and holds back from attacking them directly.
Hmm...judging from the lightning just now, and the brief electrical phenomenon outside, he had to assume that this 'Miss Ragnell' had some for of electrical abilities.
This gives him an idea. He extends his hand toward the empusae. There is a rush of water, and suddenly any monsters that continue showing aggression will be drenched, most likely leading to a rather shocking surprise.
With this done, he turns away from the empusae. With Noeline's lasers and Ragnell's lightning, things were probably going to be a little hard on the eyes.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Deluge toward his party's challenge, The Plural of Empusa is Empusae.
==============<* CHALLENGE - The Plural of Empusa is Empusae *>=============== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- And that's exactly what you find yourself dealing with now. Fancy that! It's a veritable empusae emporium here, with empusae both big and small and so many wondrous varieties of colors and drill-shaped faces with which to skewer you. You could tell them you know the plural of empusa is not empusas to try to curry their favor, but they probably don't even know what an empusa is (spoiler: it's them) so you're probably just better off killing them all. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Ambrosius has successfully explored The Lightless Shaft!
===================================<* CHALLENGE - Forgotten Golem Core *>=================================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Discovery |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------- Amidst the depths of the lightless mine shaft, you find something glinting in the wall. Some digging or mine picking or any other numbers of fancy or blunt ways of extraction will net you your loot: a seemingly pristine power core to a large golem, still somehow, mysteriously, gleaming with an untarnished shine even here in the depths of the mine. No doubt the fact that it seems broken is why the Veruni brought it here, but it'll no doubt fetch a fine price from an ARMsmith or Ethos or anyone else how might want to break it down or study it. Good job, you! =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
The glint of light from a nearby wall catches Noeline's attention, her eyebrows soaring for a moment as she spies something there. "Oh, my... I do believe this is quite a jackpot," she comments to herself as she lets out a surprised hum and hovers airily in the direction of the buried core; for a moment, she lays a hand upon it, then lightly knocks it with a knuckle to hear the light chime.
"This is a core... no doubt, it would be extremely useful when it comes to examining our large friend to see what's up with her," she comments to Riesenlied, obviously referring to the Golem in the possession of the Metal Demons. "Not exactly a replacement, per se, but certainly rather of use when it comes to working out the composition of the thing."
The vampire looks to Ambrosius next, still humming with a quiet pride. "A good call, I must say. Though, it does rather leave the awkward question of how exactly we divide all of this up when there is only one of it. Breaking a specimen like this would be a little unfair, don't you think?"
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
Well, SOMEONE found the alpha, because the empusae are soon enough demoralized and soaking wet, the survivors of the emporium turn to retreat down another passage. Prima grins beneath her scarf as they find the Golem core. "Perhaps this specimen should go to you, our new allies," she says.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Past the explosion of lasers and lightning, along with her attempts to thin the fray and at least get some of these monsters out rather than straight-out murdered, the Drifters (if they can be called Drifters...) discover the glint along the wall, and her eyes widen again for a moment. The emanation from her horn is unmistakable, and she cups at her mouth as she steps to it.
"... you..."
Riesenlied places her hand to her chest with a quiet gasp, as she shakes her head and very gently places a hand upon it. "Were you the one... calling out?" She lowers her head. "All of this time..."
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
The empusa emporium...is now closed. And it seems that, somewhere in the heat of battle, a rather interesting item has been uncovered. Ambrosius approaches the glint of light from the wall.
He recognises what it is just as Noeline does. A golem core...this was a very valuable find. He glances toward Prima when she speaks.
"That is...not your deeecision to make, Miss Priiima..." He says, chiding the (presumably) younger Veruni. He stands up straight, casting his gaze about at the Metal Demons.
"However... consiiidering...your recent...'acquisiiition'...I think it is...reasooonable... On one condiiition..." He hesitates, letting this sit in the air for a moment before proceeding.
"I must reeequest...that you shaaare...any reeesearch data...that you obtaaain from this cooore..." He says. It was of interest to the Veruni as well, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
Prima is chastised. "I said perhaps," she says defensively, sullenly.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Some ways away, there is an extraordinarily complicated minecart array. It's full of switches and confusing tracks, and barriers that can only hope to be destroyed by correctly aligning minecart tracks to ram one through. It is a fiendish puzzle! Among the very most fiendish in the region!
Slipping away past the empusae to allow the rest to deal with it, Yarobeleedt salivates a noxious liquid from his maw as he giggles with unrestrained mischievous joy.
"Oh, so this next." Yarobeleedt hunkers down, shoulders raised, as he grinds his forearms against one another. "Look at mine carts. Their carts. I see I see I see I see it." A terrible plot forms in his mind. In truth, he has already internalized what the solution of the puzzle is! He knows that silly ^Long Voweler^ will have interest in what lies beyond. He will ruin his aims here, and make him pay for the humiliation at the Saloon! Just a simple removal of a bolt here. Jam a wedge into a small part of the track there.
The puzzle is now impossible... r.
"Will pay up, down, left, right. Cash credit debit blood. Fufufu. No cheques." There, with that small adjustment, all he has to do now is to promptly put on the nicest little face he can before Ambrosius sink up to him all polite-like, make everything look like his idea, his guidance, and the failure will be on the Veruni who dared to stop him from slaughtering humans at the saloon.
Somehow, his approach is polite, by standards of being a slithering body horror whose body language is so alien and inhuman as to never truly map to human equivalents one for one.
"Oh! Oh. It is a ^Great Trick^ ahead!" Yarobeleedt says, as they all find their eyes feasting upon this shiny core. "Must be ^Useful Things^ being yond! If line up cart to break wall?? Make queue with tracks? All most there! A head, the head. So okay at okay all! Now now--"
His suspicious schmoozing stops as the glint along the wall catches his attention.
"Hello? Heaveno?" Yarobeleedt tries to get their attention as they are enamored in this incredible discovery. "Not done! Not end. The end of before the end but not the end?!" He flails his arms towards the super-complicated minecart track puzzle. "Good things?? Raisins for here and there??"
Beat.
He swings his arms down in a barely halted tantrum. One forearm whips out to such lengths that it hits a switch, as his head trends downward. "Granular!!! It is ^Treasure^."
Just before he can sulk off, he fails to notice he's on a minecart track, and just unleashed a minecart. It careens down the path, rams him from the front, and carries the screeching mass of metallic life on a wild ride through the entirety of the puzzle.
It hits the part he altered and proceeds to sputter off the track and launch him through one of the reinforced doors (oh, ouch) that in reality loops all the way back outside.
...That answers how they might carry it out, then.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied gets like this, to those who know her -- when it comes to ostensibly automated relics from the past. Dragon Fossils, once proud Dragons, and the core of the Veruni Golems as well... it is as if she can sense them, on some empathic level, some resonance that has caused some triggers within her mind in the presence of other Drifters' ARMs as well. "... I do not mind who claims it, but would it not be accurate to say you could furbish a home for it back at your headquarters?" Riesenlied sounds genuinely curious.
"But if it is to come with us, as a power source for Lolithia... our intelligence on Golem research is limited compared to yours, but it would certainly help propel it," Riesenlied admits. "We would be happy to share the results of such research."
Just as she starts to catch herself from her Core-induced trance, however, she just starts to realise Yarobeleedt had... gone off somewhere... "Oh, Yaro--" she winces as the sinewy demon rolls down the miencart, exclaiming, "Wait, that's dangerous--" and wincing further as she hears a rather loud crash and ... stares down where Yaro's just fallen against the door to the exit.
...
"See? Dependable," she says to no one visible in particular.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Huh. That was surprisingly easy. When Ambrosius sends out waves of water to flood the empusae, that makes Ragnell's job of ~lightning up their lives~ easier; whichever one was the alpha, they're good and gone by the time everyone's done with them. She raises an eyebrow over at Ambrosius. Hmmm... Was that a coincidence, or...? Either way, it looks like that's all that was left before the treasure of the Lightless Shaft reveals itself: a golem core.
Not that Ragnell recognizes it for what it is when she sees it. She holsters her guns and raises an eyebrow at it, then glances over first at Riese and how she speaks to it, then at Noeline. "Large friend?" she asks.
As for the rest, though, she leaves that discussion up to the Veruni and the Metal Demons. Ragnell's just a tag-along here, and this kind of thing isn't useful to her. She *does* look over at Yaro as he skulks over, throws a fit for some reason, then sulks onto the minecart and gets sent for a ride. A long and twisty and painful ride.
'See? Dependable,' Riese says.
Ragnell hooks her thumbs in her pockets. "I *do* see," she remarks.
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
Prima just stares.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
For all of Yarobeleedt's antics and ire directed at him personally, Ambrosius...doesn't actually seem to take notice. Instead, his attention is on Riesenlied.
"Iiindeed...we certainly could...however...I beeelieve it to be...for the best...that it goes to you..." He replies with a nod, just before she admits that it would be helpful to them as well.
"Thank you... I will truuust...your word...on thaaat..." He says. He believed her to be a trustworthy sort. As such, he had no qualms with handing over such a valuable item to her and her people. He trusted that she would stay true to her word.
"Now then...I beeelieve...there is little...reeeason to...stand arooound here much looonger...let us...be off..." He says, turning in the direction of the newly-opened exit.
They didn't find anything worth destroying, but they did find something useful. He would consider this mission a success.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline does not chip in as to exactly what Yaro can be depended on to do - but she does huff softly, flicking out some of her hair as she turns to watch the demon fly off the rails figuratively and literally. "... aah... well, in the aftermath of all that business in Adlehyde, three different factions each have a Golem, and the Metal Demons would be one of them. But there is much we don't know about it, so an experimentation model - as it were - would be rather useful," she informs the Seraph with a bright hum.
A glance at Ambrosius - not to mention Riesenlied - does leave her humming thoughtfully. "We might not have the suitable facilities to store it at present, though I'm sure that Cetiri would appreciate a look," she admits. Goodness, is she aiming to cut Alhazred out of the spoils, or does she just prefer not mentioning that particular name all that often?
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Thank you, Mister Ambrosius..." Riesenlied says as she quietly lifts the Golem Core and cradles it gently, almost in the way a mother would a child, her wings very gently furled around herself and the spherical power source. "I think this joint venture has worked out rather well, myself. I am very pleased to meet you, Miss Prima, and to work with you in a slightly different capacity, Mister Ambrosius." She bows her head. "And thank you as well, Miss Ragnell, your assistance is greatly appreciated."
She looks towards the Core, quietly closing her eyes as her own core begins to emanate once more. One day, she would understand the pain of others, like how she can understand this little one's pain...
<Pose Tracker> Prima has posed.
Prima nods acknowledgement. "Perhaps the next time, I can meet this "Zed" of whom you speak," she says. "He sounds...fascinating."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell looks thoughtful at Noeline's explanation. "Hmmm... That *is* a stroke of luck," she remarks, looking back over at the golem core. "'Specially since the Veruni seem happy t' let you keep it as long as you share the results." She glances over at Ambrosius and Prima. "Do they have one too, or?"
Either way, she'll leave along with the others--though not before a nod to Riesenlied and a, "Sure thing, Riese." The way she carries that thing... She really is a gentle soul, isn't she. Just like...
Ragnell shakes her head, tips the brim of her hat down, and focuses on the trip back out.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
There is a much-valued opportunity to massage one's feet against Yarobeleedt's lower back again, on the way out. That is also worthy of a Discovery card blurb in itself.
Everyone wins today! (Except Yarobeleedt.)
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"I am...not adveeerse...to providing...guidaaance...on proooper care...and stooorage...of the core..." Ambrosius replies with a nod as they start heading towards the exit. He couldn't tell them how to actually use it, but he knew enough about how to handle it.
His talents as a mechanic rarely came up, but he knew a thing or two about machinery and how to take care of it.
"And, iiindeed...I must thaaank...all of you...I look forwaaard...to working with...you all again..." He says.
At least for now, this alliance was looking to be a useful one.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"You could say they have many - not one of the big three that were divided up in the attack, certainly, but any number of lesser versions and the technology to match. I-- do have to admit that I'm quite certain that Ambrosius' people could probably find much more out of it than we could, at present, and I like to think that I'm no slouch when it comes to these matters." If she's not a Metal Demon, Noeline's being pretty loose in including herself with them - but then she's also talking at mid-air as far as everyone else is concerned, so who knows what goes through her head?
Her chatter continues as she pick her way out along with everyone else, apparently without a care.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Huh, really?" Ragnell says to Noeline, openly interested. "So then why not do it the other way 'round, let them tinker at it and then take their results? Though," she adds, glancing at Ambrosius, "looks like he's perfectly fine with helpin' out one way or another regardless."
...And so on and so forth. In this way Ragnell will be happy to encourage Noeline to chat more about the Veruni, the Metal Demons, and the golems. ~*Nosy*~!