2017-06-13: The Littlest Hobos
- Log: The Littlest Hobos
- Cast: Neriah Parringer, Jennifer Braddock, Corwynt, Layna Manydays, Gwen Whitlock
- Where: Ruins of Memory
- Date: June 13, 2017
- Summary: A crew of five explorers hits the Ruins of Memory.
The Ruins of Memory are located in the Ranchlands, as a towering structure nestled in the foothills. The temple's outer layer has been thoroughly pilfered, with large and emptied rooms that have little but inscriptions on the walls. The Ruins allegedly date back to the Metal Demon War. The lower levels of the Ruins of Memory, however, have not been breached. There, one can find fiendish puzzles and drop traps that make this a dangerous place to explore. Nonetheless, it is said that ancient treasures and ancient history lay within. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C55flOnlXMg
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: Neriah Parringer has created a party! To join, type +party/reset and then type +party/join Neriah Parringer. DG: Jennifer Braddock has joined your party! DG: Layna Manydays has joined your party! DG: Gwen Whitlock has joined your party! DG: Corwynt has joined your party! DG: A party led by Neriah Parringer is now entering Ruins of Memory. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
======================<* CHALLENGE - Entering the Depths *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- The exterior of the Ruins of Memory has been well-combed. Drifters have cleaned out the huge ground level, which is easily moved through. However, as you approach the deeper parts, you can find a great hole leading into the depths of the ruins. It will require caution to enter the depths in one piece, but the rewards may be worth it. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
Some people in Adlehyde are a little anxious about Althena's Guard taking over the damaged city. Neriah Parringer is not one of those people. They're strange foreigners from the Moon, sure - she was /sure/ the Moon was made of cheese - but they've never done anything bad to her. Besides, they're trying to help.
She stayed in the village long enough to nose around for some like-minded adventurers to go exploring with her. She had just enough money to do a little hiring and just enough charm to do a little asking.
Now, the young woman in the fluffy newsboy hat approaches the entrance to an ancient structure, nestled up against the mountains in the northern part of the country. The upper level of the ruin, a series of empty and crumbling corridors, has been picked clean. There are no monsters to be found yet, and Neriah guides the group through at a quick pace.
Soon enough, though, she pauses at the edge of a large hole, yawning open in the middle of an empty room. "Oh wow, that looks like it goes down pretty far," she observes as she leans over the hole, holding up the torch she brought with her. The light from it is nearly swallowed up by the darkness, shadows dancing across her face - but she soon nods crisply and glances back. "I think I can see a floor at the bottom. Though, pretty down there."
With care, she maneuvers to the edge of the hole. She kneels there, then begins to gingerly dangle a leg over the edge.
"I hope someone's got a rope. I mean, it's fine if you don't. I can just drag myself along if I break my legs jumping down."
DG: Neriah Parringer has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Entering the Depths.
<Pose Tracker> Jennifer Braddock has posed.
A lantern shines the path towards the edge of the hole. Jennifer kneels besides the edge before she opens up her coat, revealing a wound up lasso helpfully. "Came prepared." She says icily.
She had heard the day before Neriah was looking for backup to investigate this place, and she was awfully in need of payment anyways. Maybe this tomb has some shiny goodies she can pawn off for cash later, ancient caverns and tombs are good for that sort of thing.
Ammo and hooch sure ain't cheap, that's for sure.
DG: Jennifer Braddock has used her Tool Lasso toward her party's challenge, Entering the Depths.
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
Corwynt sure isn't anxious about those pesky Althena's Guards, that's for sure, although it must be noted that were it not for the horribly bushy and horribly fake moustache he was sporting, the Strange Drifter Corwynt would indeed bear an uncanny resemblance to the Storm Fist Corwynt, second in command of the local contingent of the Guard, also known as a little guy in a black martial arts gi who spent half the battle of Adlehyde flying in the sky punching Metal Dragons.
Probably not the same guy, though. That would be crazy.
The moustachioed martial artist takes a look toward the edge of the hole, watches as Neriah gingerly moves toward it, shrugs, and then hops off, dropping downward. After about ten feet, a faint green-white glow emerges from his body, as he channels the Blessing of Althena to command the winds to slow his fall as he floats toward the bottom of the dungeon.
Unless someone fell on his head, that would be bad.
DG: Corwynt has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Entering the Depths.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna's been looking to make herself more well-known around the Digging circuit, and today's no exception. She'd actually met up with Neriah's group on their way to the Ruins of Memory - being an infamous pirate, she preferred to keep away from Guard territory unless she was looking for a fight...which she wasn't, at least not yet.
She stands at the mouth of the pit in her traditional 'dramatic captain's pose' - arms folded in front of her with coat and hair fluttering in the breeze.
"Don't worry, lass, I can catch you if you fall." Layna says with a chuckle, glancing towards Neriah. Fortunately, one of their number came prepared.
"I think the lass with the lasso's got you covered, though." She comments, chuckling to herself at her own joke. She then observes as the 'Strange Drifter' with the interesting facial hair just up and jumps down...
That glow, though, and those winds...
Layna cracks a grin.
"So it's like that, is it...?" She says. Looks like she wasn't the only one with the power of wind here. Still, he did it first, so if she did the same it'd just look like she copied him.
One point to the 'Strange Drifter', then. She'd just have to go down normally.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Entering the Depths.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Count Gwen among the people who are anxious, though she's not about to expose her stance just yet. That'd take away the one thing that made her useful to the 'Fiends of Destruction' or whatever the heck they're called, namely: she can play innocent if caught. ... Besides, the Guard're probably just here to help, in the end. Misguided, sure, but doesn't mean they're evil. She probably may have even agreed with them, had she not met Hiro and the like first.
And it's definitely NOT a member of the Guard that's here right now, wearing that funny mustache. "Yeah, down here there should be some nice stuff, if I remember right," Gwen says, having joined the brave party on account of, well. NOBODY IS SENDING PACKAGES, SHE NEEDS MONEY- er there could be something to contribute to the rebuilding of Adlehyde! "It's a long, long drop, tho, so... uh..."
She watches Corwynt drop down with the aid of wind, then frowns. "Maybe I can try to climb down..." Surely a second time will do the trick!
If not, maybe she can angle herself so she's not falling on that nice man.
She'll probably fail to do so.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Entering the Depths. DG: The party led by Neriah Parringer has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"Hey, you're smarter than I am," Neriah observes with a smile up at Jennifer. She'd introduced herself to the taller, stronger woman but hadn't had much of a chance to chat before now. "Thanks for your help." Reaching out, she lays a hand on Jen's rope, hooking her knee around it and beginning to slide herself downward with care.
She pauses just enough to smile gently up at Layna, her cheeks colouring a touch. "Yeah... yeah, it's a big help. Now I won't fall forever into the abyss of absolute darkness."
The Strange Drifter, though, gets a curious look from her, before she nods to Gwen crisply. She doesn't know the woman, but she's paying her, so that matters. "You'll have to show us the way, then. It'd help."
With a soft hiss of clothing on the rope, she descends into the hole. Neriah makes her landing neatly, with a soft click of heels against the stone floor below. The room beyond is a simple antechamber of some sort, a cold draft blowing through the rotting stone of the chamber, teasing at clothes and hair.
The eerie silence doesn't ruffle Neriah. "Alright, where to?" she asks.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Rubble Pile *>========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- A massive pile of rubble, consisting of small rocks and crushed pieces of wall, has fallen into the way ahead. Some work to clear it may be the only option! =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jennifer Braddock has posed.
Jennifer nods. She'd come prepared for this sort of thing after a few mishaps in the past convinced her to get a good rope. THe lasso's good quality and useful enough for climbing and snaring varmints, that's for sure. You can never have enough rope, in the Drifter's experience. "A job I did a year back had me forced to go without climbing rope when I was in a cave like this. Broke my leg and left be bedraggled for months." She says matter of factly as they descend.
Of course, it's never that simple. THe rocks ahead are enough for Jennifer to shake her head. "Shit. Don't tell me nobody brought TNT today." She says sourly, frowning as she waits for the others to reach the bottom before retrieving her rope.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Sure thing," Gwen says to Neriah. "It's just down this way-"
You know, here that massive pile of rubble is. "I think it was down this way." She idly scratches at the temple of her head, then flicks her hat back on her head. It'll certainly help keep those rocks from getting into her hair, after all. "Well, time to start hauling some rocks! If this ain't the way, maybe we'll find a *new* way."
And so, without much in the way of explanation or organization, Gwen just starts hauling rocks away, favoring her gloved right hand with the task. "Just leave the heavy ones t'me, I'm good at this!" Except one... won't budge. After a few yanks with much grunting, Gwen sighs, then settles for punching the stubborn rock.
It gives way, but so does a pile of rock on either side, scattering out as Gwen hops away. "O-okay, jumped ahead of myself there, but we're all good, right? Let's keep going!"
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Armored Fist toward her party's challenge, Rubble Pile. Virginia Maxwell (Virginia) pages Loren Voss, Layna Manydays, Neriah Parringer, Ethius Hesiod, and Sephilia Lampbright: oh nice, thank you
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
Strange Drifter Corwynt touches down lightly, his bare feet whispering onto the stone floor. Well, that part was easy, he thinks to himself.
Moments later the universe punishes his hubris, as he faces a giant pile of rubble. "Nothing for it, I suppose," the little martial artist agrees companionably to Gwen, then sets about lifting and carrying medium-sized stones away from the pile. His wind magic is little good here... next time, he thinks, he should make sure to bring Leo along...
DG: Corwynt has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Rubble Pile. DG: Jennifer Braddock has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rubble Pile.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"Yeah? That sounds un-fun," Neriah muses as she falls in beside Jennifer, nodding quietly. "You seem to have gotten through it, at least. Plus nobody came by and chopped off your legs, which is a plus."
As the group moves on, she nods politely back to Gwen, only to frown at the sight of the rubble ahead. "Problematic," she murmurs as she reaches back, coming out with a simple spade - the sort of thing an excavator might carry. The outfit probably gives that much away, too. (Shut up, Wild Arms excavators wear skirts and fluffy hats.)
Neriah steps up to the pile and digs her shovel in, before giving Corwynt a curious look.
"No, there's definitely something for it," she explains as she holds up her shovel.
Then she digs back in. The steely blade scrapes against the stone as she begins to doggedly scoop gravel and smaller pebbles out of the heap, before long moving up to larger rocks. There's nothing glamorous about it - just helping the group dig out the rubble pile.
"I wonder what they hid in these ruins," she muses between digs. "Something valuable, maybe...?"
DG: Neriah Parringer has used her Tool Trusty Shovel toward her party's challenge, Rubble Pile.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Aye, lass, don't go doing that." Layna says with a nod towards Neriah. The 'abyss of absolute darkness' sounded, uh...unpleasant, to say the least. Fortunately, none of them had to. Unfortunately, there was a pile of rocks in the way.
Layna waltzes up to the pile and looks them over. With a shrug she takes a step back, letting those more inclined to lifting and breaking handle it. In the meantime... Layna reaches into a coat for a bottle of most-likely alcoholic liquid.
"Got some drinks here, if anyone need somethin' afterwards. Lift your spirits after lifting some rocks, aye?" She says with a chuckle.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Rubble Pile. DG: The party led by Neriah Parringer has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
Strange Drifter Corwynt frowns in Layna's direction as she offers free alcohol, IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION OF THE WISHES AND COMMANDS OF THE GLORIOUS GODDESS ALTH--
(er)
"....no, thank you," he mutters politely, then continues hauling.
DG: Corwynt has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Annaberge *>=========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Of the creatures that prowl the Ruins of Memory, these may be the strongest. Four-legged creatures the size of a horse, but with a fang-filled head, and a body rimmed with terrible spikes of bone, an Annaberge is a powerful foe indeed. They can gallop down the many straight hallways and have a powerful roar that might shock any who hear it unaware. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen winces at Jennifer's recounting of the old job. "Yikes! That absolutely stinks! Honestly, I should try to bring a rope myself, as, uh, gravity and I... don't... mix that well?" For reasons.
Nodding to Corwynt, Gwen answers back with a wide grin. "Eh, it builds character."
That's what she says not long before Layna's offer. "I'll take some!" Gwen reaches over as Layna's offer is extended, wiping her dusty hands on her jeans and then taking a swig from the offered bottle. "-Ah, that's nice," she sighs, then innocently walks to the head of the party, the rubble cleared to the point where they can go forward. "So I think we go... this way. Maybe, but I'm completely sure this is all lookin' familiar to me."
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
Strange Drifter Corwynt nods as Gwen indicated the way forward, and starts to precede her down the corridor, disappearing into the mouth of the tunnel.
He emerges about five seconds later, moving backwards, carried by a monstrously large four-legged creature with bone protrusions jamming out of its body. Its jaws are clamped down on the martial artist's left arm - his steel vambraces the only thing keeping him from losing the limb - and Corwynt himself is gripping the creature's throat with his right hand, trying to cut off its air long enough to open its mouth.
"Help," he sputters, his feet scrabbling for purchase. "Please," he adds, because politeness is next to godliness.
DG: Corwynt has used his Tool Vambraces toward his party's challenge, Annaberge.
<Pose Tracker> Jennifer Braddock has posed.
"You could say that. I heal quick, I guess." Jennifer shrugs. She seems to be walking okay considering, after all. Something about Baskar medicine and plenty of rest. When drink is offered, she just smirks and produces her flask. "I brought plenty of mine too." She says, swishing whiskey about before suddenly something HUGE arrives.
"SHIT, GET BACK!" She calls out to the other, less hardy sorts. Her hand goes straight for her revolver, and .45 caliber rounds bark as Jennifer fans the hammer while firing upon the beast. "Get off of him you overgrown steer!"
DG: Jennifer Braddock has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Annaberge.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"I try not to," Neriah assures Layna with a dip of her lashes. There's a touch of gravity to her voice. Layla, after all, was along the last time Neriah went into a dungeon.
Stowing her shovel, Neriah begins to move forward, but pauses and blinks as Strange Drifter Corwynt and his phenomenal moustache dash on ahead. "Okay, I guess you're taking point. Hope you're okay with--"
Five seconds later, the man with the 'stache that wins turns out to have not won after all. If nothing else, he won agigantic horse thing that comes galloping in to take a bite out of him. Neriah widens her eyes and snaps her right hand down to her belt. "Who would even /put/ fangs on a horse," she hisses as she draws her pistol. It gleams in a silvery colour.
"Why is there even a horse underground at /all,/" she mutters as she runs out to the left a little ways, ensuring she doesn't shoot Corwynt. She jumps to the side, hits the ground and rolls, ending up on her stomach.
"It's all you, Marilyn," she whispers to the gun.
Then she fires. Bullets fly; steam hisses from a pair of vents somewhere towards the back of the gun as some internal coil propels the bullets at high velocity.
DG: Neriah Parringer has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Annaberge.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna grins as Gwen accepts the bottle. She waits to see if anyone else wants some and if so, hands it off to them. If not, it'll disappear back into her coat.
Jennifer, though, gets big grin.
"Ah, lass, I /knew/ I had a good feeling about you." She says with a chuckle as the other woman produces her own flask.
"I trust your instinct, lass. Lead the way." She says with a nod toward Gwen then starts to follow her...but stops immediately as a rather large horse-line creature charges out of the shadows, carrying Corwynt.
"That way lies madness, lass. Don't overthink it!" Layna says with a glance back at Neriah, then focuses on the matter at hand.
"Just a sec', lad! Hold on!" Layna shouts.
She draws her bladed gauntlets from their holders and begins an incantation.
While the others assail the creature with bullets, Layna rushes forward with the aid of a powerful gust of wind, attempting to use the added momentum to help her punch straight through the monster...or at least do some heavy damage.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Annaberge.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Yep, just down here." Corwynt is already passing Gwen, but the courier thinks nothing of it, at first. "Yeah, though I remember there being a hallway with arrows? And there was a monster beyond that, so..."
Well, speaking of monsters, here's one now! And it's got a new toy.
It's not a toy at all.
Gwen cries out in shock, flinching backwards. Then, her body reacts in the opposite direction already running in like the panicked but well-meaning courier she is. "G-gimme cover, I'm goin' in!"
Rushing to not!Corwynt's side, Gwen's eyes are wide with fear as she forces herself to help press open that behemoth's toothy maw, at least wide enough for the martial artist to slip his arm out. Trouble is, it's hard for her to keep her own feet on the ground and keep her precious left hand safely away from danger. So, soon, she's using her weaker, human hand to hold onto the throat, miming Corwynt's own, since, well, it seems like a far better idea.
She's about ready to scream like the coward she is, but the powerful feel of her covered ARM holding against that monster's jaw is heady enough to overcome it.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Annaberge. DG: The party led by Neriah Parringer has failed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
Corwynt gives up on trying to strangle the giant demon horse and instead starts punching it in the face, even as the rest of his group begins shooting it with bullets and---
---wind magic?
The martial artist blinks at the familiar sense of the Blessing, but it's not clear from where; the monster keeps shaking him like a rag doll, smacking him into other people, and other such nonsense.
Eventually it runs out of HP before the party runs out of bullets, and drops over. This was exciting, but nobody got anywhere.
DG: Layna Manydays has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* CHALLENGE - Gargoyle Statue *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Those who built this place crafted a mighty gargoyle statue to guard over this room. Wings spread out, fanged mouth open, and claws held wide, it looks fierce indeed. It does not attack, but when you try to walk past... a barrier of red light shimmers into existence and keeps you from going further. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jennifer Braddock has posed.
Jennifer runs out of bullets just as the beast dies, and when it does, she sighs heavily. "Goddamn, that was intense. Everyone okay?" She wipes her brow, donning her hat before she removes spent casings and reloads her weapon, keeping it trained on the devil-horse's carcass.
"So...uh, the hell is this?" She asks, nudging it with the muzzle of her gun warily. Poke poke. :|
Eventually, she heads for the next chamber, staring out at the gargoyle. "ANd who builds this kind of thing? Can't have been an easy thing to map out in these tunnels." She holsters her revolver, before she stops short of passing the barrier of red. God only knows what that thing does, probably best not to touch it.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Well, that was...exhausting. Layna lets out a sigh, waving her hands through the air slightly. The bone-spikes at that monster made it /really/ hard to punch through, and now her hands kind of stung.
"Are we all right? Anyone dead?" Layna asks, looking around. No, everyone looked to be...well, not alright, but not dead, and Corwynt and Gwen still had their arms. So...that was a win, right?
"Alright, folks, let's move on. I can feel a slight tingle on the back of me neck, see? There must be something nearby." She says.
She walks forward, but...unlike Jennifer, runs right into the wall of red light.
Apparently the tingle was really just something akin to magical static.
She turns to glare back at the gargoyle.
"Oh, think that's funny, do you?" She says, studying the somewhat fierce-looking statue. She had half a mind to punch it, but it looked pretty solid...
"Okay, team, spread out! There's gotta be a trick to this somewhere!" She says, and draws the telescope from her sash. She uses it to look around the room, attempting to spot anything that might be useful here.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Captain's Telescope toward her party's challenge, Gargoyle Statue. DG: Jennifer Braddock has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gargoyle Statue.
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
Who builds this kind of thing indeed, Corwynt wonders, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. His hand drops to the inside of his gi, and he pulls out a mall chain, at the end of which is a dull blue crystal, which he presses to his forehead, activating it with a whisper of Althena's Blessing. At which point the Rememberizer grants him perfect recall of everything he has ever seen in the course of his life, allowing him to search rapidly through scouting briefings, after-action reports, and information gathered from the hundred or more Guards sifting through Digs throughout the region.
Corwynt reads all of the paperwork, and not just so Leo has more time for dramatic speeches.
The martial artist pages through the vaults of his mind until he comes across references to gargoyle traps; he sifts through these in more detail before dropping he bauble back beneath his gi. "I remember hearing a story about a trap like this from another Drifter," he says softly. "There may be a switch of some kind in its eye or ear. If not those places, then the mouth for certain, but try the other first - the mouth may be trapped."
DG: Corwynt has used his Tool Rememberizer toward his party's challenge, Gargoyle Statue.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"Look, all I'm saying is that a horse underground is really weird!" Neriah calls back to Layna.
Magic whips around elsewhere in the room. The feel of Althena's Blessing is pretty alien to her, but she shivers a little nevertheless, tensing but continuing to fire off shots at the horse. It's working, but she's down more than a few clips, and the steam wafting from the back end of Marilyn is coming fairly heavily. With a wince, she runs her hand over the back of the weapon. "Sorry, Marilyn," she murmurs to the pistol.
Then the demon horse whacks her with Corwynt, and she falls over. Her legs twitch in the air.
By the time she staggers back to her feet, wincing, the horse has gone down. "Stupid death pony," she mutters as she rubs at the back of her neck. "Everyone in one piece? I hope so...."
She glances sidelong at Jen as she koves forward. "Probably a dark horse," she muses as she follows Layna.
Red light flares. Neriah brings herself up short. She frowns, resting her hands at her hips.
"Switches, huh." She looks to the side, watching as Corwynt fools with the statue. "If there isn't one, maybe there's a way to sort of... build an arch that blocks the force field, somehow. But...." Slipping over to the gargoyle, she clambers up its side, sliding her hands up the side of its head and peering into its ear.
She peers /deep/ into its ear.
She grimaces. "Someone needs a Q-tip," she mutters as she grabs a small trowel from her belt and digs out some mouldy rubble.
DG: Neriah Parringer has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gargoyle Statue.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Her ARM hurts. Her other arm hurts too. Her feet hurt. Her neck hurts. "... That... really... sucked..." Gwen says, still breathing quickly from that close engagement with a type of horse her skills couldn't really conquer. ... If it was a horse, anyway. Looking to Layna, Gwen dazedly remembers the course of the last few events, then remembers what was, perhaps, the Most Important Thing Ever.
"Oh man, that looked really neat, Ms Manydays!" Gwen exclaims, shaking her closed fists slightly in front of her, stars in her eyes. "The way you punched it and sailed through the air and everything!"
% Oh right, there's a gargoyle. "Okay. Lessee here... Ah." Gwen digs into her vest. "While you guys are figurin' that all out, lemme just kinda... bandage a few things, okay?" The courier then whips out a heavy cloth bag, which neatly rolls out to display a variety of various first aid items. "Lemme get y'all bandaged up too. No tellin' if that horse demon had venom spit or bad germs or whatever in its spit. Just show me, and I'll do my best."
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Medical Kit toward her party's challenge, Gargoyle Statue. DG: The party led by Neriah Parringer has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna sends Gwen a grin.
"Aww, thanks." She says with a chuckle. Her attention then turns back to the situation at hand.
"An eye switch, aye?" Layna replies with a glance towards Corwynt, and then to the statue.
We all know she only said that because she found it amusing...but she goes for it anyway. There's definitely a switch there...but it's only when Neriah cleans out the obstructions and hits another switch hidden deep within the gargoyle's head that the barrier of red light flickers, and then vanishes. It seemed that, at least this time, they both needed to be hit at once to activate it.
And then, with the help of Gwen's medical kit, they're all looking a bit better than they did before.
"No idea, lass. But then again, I'm not from around here." She says in response to Jennifer's question with a shrug as she moves on. Who really knew where these ruins came from?
DG: Neriah Parringer has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Blue Books *>=========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- The Ruins of Memory used to be an ancient library. Bookshelves line the walls in parts of the ruins, such as this long hallway. However, when you enter, some of the books rise. They open, pages aflutter - and ancient Symbols on them flare to life. Then, ice, fire, and lightning come crashing down as the animated books attack. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jennifer Braddock has posed.
Jennifer shrugs to the pirate type. As they search around, fruitlessly looking, before heading through the room, they head into the library. There's a silence that causes Jennifer to grow uncomfortable, and she reaches for her gun just as she hears pages fluttering like wings.
Then fire and ice and lightning. "Get to cover, go!" She calls out, feeling firebolts graze her duster as she takes cover behind a shelf, drawing her revolver. Gritting her teeth, she opens fire in retaliation.
DG: Jennifer Braddock has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Blue Books.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"Who knew all it needed was an ear cleaning," Neriah quips as she hops down from the statue, watching the red field flicker and vanish. She curls her hand and gestures, nodding crisply back to Layna. "Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking? I don't think I've seen you around before, and you don't quite look like you're from Adlehyde, if you don't mind me saying so."
As she speaks, she slips past the gargoyle and pushes open an old, rotting wooden door in the wall behind it. Through the arched entryway, there's a long corridor lined with decaying bookshelves, lined with old tomes and woven with haggard cobwebs. Immediately, Neriah's eyes widen.
"I hope they're full of ancient forbidden wisdom," she says effusively as she reaches for a leather-bound tome, sliding it off the shelf and flipping it open. There's something written on the cover:
50 SHADES OF GRAHF
"'Dost thou desire the power, Isabella,'" Neriah reads, before the tome suddenly hurls itself out of her hands and slams her in the face.
With a yelp, she falls back into another shelf. "No, no, I don't!" she flails, only to gasp in surprise and roll out of the way as the book hurls a fireball at her.
More books flutter up from the shelves. Pages ripple, casting forth bolts of lightning, fire and frost. Some of the tomes just hurtle at the group. One comes hurtling towards Corwynt:
YE OLDE LITTLEST HOBO
DG: Neriah Parringer has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Blue Books.
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
Strange Drifter Corwynt's arms whistle out to parry the books as they come hurtling in; he catches one on his vambrace, grabs it with his free hand, and prepares to throw it at the others...
....stops at the illustration of a lonely dog....
I find adventure everywhere,r and friends with whom I'd like to share.r This is my stop along the way.r Don't really know how long I'll stay.r Stop over. The world is my friend.r Stop over along the road without end.r Travelling around from town to town.r Sometimes I think I'll settle down.r But I know I'd hunger to be free.vRovin' is the only life for me.vA-driftin'. The world is my friend.r I'm travelin' along the road without end.
Corwynt stares at the book. Looks around the room.
Tucks it into his belt.
COntinues punching.
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
Strange Drifter Corwynt's arms whistle out to parry the books as they come hurtling in; he catches one on his vambrace, grabs it with his free hand, and prepares to throw it at the others...
....stops at the illustration of a lonely dog....
I find adventure everywhere,
and friends with whom I'd like to share.
This is my stop along the way.
Don't really know how long I'll stay.
Stop over. The world is my friend.
Stop over along the road without end.
Travelling around from town to town.
Sometimes I think I'll settle down.
But I know I'd hunger to be free.
Rovin' is the only life for me.
A-driftin'. The world is my friend.
I'm travelin' along the road without end.
Corwynt stares at the book. Looks around the room.
Tucks it into his belt.
COntinues punching.
DG: Corwynt has used his Tool Vambraces toward his party's challenge, Blue Books.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
Another book hurtles through the room. It fires off a few ice balls and then attempts to sail into someone's face.
LITTLE BASKAR HUT ON THE PRAIRIE
<Pose Tracker> Jennifer Braddock has posed.
Jennifer's eyes LIGHT UP with rage as she sees that book. "YOU." She begins to open fire just in time to find out she's out of ammo again. "That piece of filth is nothing but LIES about my ancestors!"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen *knew* she had forgotten something. Namely, this hallway full of books! "Okay, guys, be careful. If I remember right, there's-"
She stops, the corner one eye catching on the masterful kerning of a certain book. "Wait, was that-" Gwen whips her head around, seeing the deceptive titling of one book, innocently sitting by itself on a shelf. "Oh hey, it's a book about Nightburn Acklund!"
Instantly, she's back to being ten years old again, quickly latching onto the book and opening it, ready to devour any tales within.
Oh.
No, no. It wasn't about Nightburn Acklund. It was a book on the illustrious career of Nigelburne Acklend, famous astrologist from a short period of time when looking to the stars was all the rage. "I-I guess it was kind of silly to think a book on Nightburn Acklund'd... be... in here... because he's not that old, and everything..." There's a telltale blush on her cheeks as she closes the book, looking over her shoulder with a sheepish grin.
"... Also, the books kinda do attack you here."
The book in Gwen's hands demonstrates this warning, delivered way to late to be of any use, by firing a lightning bolt at her. "GHhGhghghghGHghGHg! OW, OW, stop that!!" And now, she's punching books as well, her left hand tilting her hat to try to better hide her blush. God, it's not like someone'll care, but DAMN IT HER HERO
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Blue Books.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"My home's the sea, lass. Bright and beautiful! But...alas...far, far away from here." Layna replies with a nod. Also, on the moon, but she wasn't sure how Neriah would take that.
In the room past the gargoyle, there was a library.
"Well now, this is a friendly little place..." She starts...
And then books start flying around, attacking people. Well, how lovely. She would've like to pick one some up to bring them back to the ship, but for now...
She incants a spell, sending out gust of wind in an attempt to knock some of the books out of the air. She'd get nowhere if she attempted to punch each of them down seperately!
Certainly, some of them were pirate-related...but Layna is living that reality, and doesn't give them more than a second thought!
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Blue Books. DG: The party led by Neriah Parringer has passed this challenge! The party gained 27 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> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"This is not what I like from books!" Neriah grouses, groping at the shelves. A few books that are /not/ alive tumble off; she grabs one and stuffs it into her jacket before coming out with her pistol again. Marilyn's distinctive hiss-underlaid report rings through the corridor, and a book suddenly bursts apart, pages fluttering everywhere. The cover page drops to the ground with part of a hole through it.
THIS HOUR HAS 22 METAL DEMONS
For a second, Neriah stares at Jen. "Wow," she murmurs. Something in her chest flutters and she tries not to think about it, instead checking up on the rest of the group. Corwynt seems to have the same idea she did; she smiles faintly in appreciation.
The group tears into the books, Gwen punching them out of the air along with Corwynt. Layna, meanwhile, just blows them away, whirling the flying books into a little tornado. Tomes tumble to the ground, dog-eared and dangling open. Soon enough, the ground is littered with reading material - but at least none of it is flying around hurling magic.
Soon enough, there's not a book fluttering through the air. With a relieved huff, Neriah picks herself up from the shelf and smiles, adjusting her jacket with a tug. "Well! I feel like I've done a lot of reading today. If we're all okay, let's go on," she urges, gesturing towards the nearby door at the other end of the hall and heading for it at a quick stride.
On the way, she checks the title of the book she picked up.
THE RED GREEN SAGA
DG: Gwen Whitlock has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* CHALLENGE - Mirrored Sunlight *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The sun can reach even deep places, when it has a channel to do so. A single sunbeam shines down on the floor - which is well and good, but the doorway at the other end of the hall has slid shut. The way forward may not be clear, at first. However, upon closer inspection, there is a small hole in the center of the door in the shape of the crescent moon. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
As they walk into the room, there's hesitation in Gwen's steps, though more out of awe than caution. "Whoah... Look at this..." She moves to the center, gazing up at the source of the single sunbeam as a hand carefully shields her eyes. "To think they'd build a way to let the sun get all the way down here, whoever 'they' is..."
She turns to the group. "Yeah, I, uh, have no clue where we are now," the courier admits with a shrug. "Must've been a quake or something recently that altered the layout. That or a cave-in. Happens all the time. But this looks pretty promising." She's already getting that medical kit out, rolling it out and looking around for- ah. A pair of scissors. That's certainly metal. "I bet they used reflective surfaces to help it reach down here, but, to get somethin' that won't degrade over time n' all..." She holds the scissors to the light, reflecting a shard of it to dance on the floor and wall just beyond. "Where should I try to focus it?"
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Medical Kit toward her party's challenge, Mirrored Sunlight.
<Pose Tracker> Jennifer Braddock has posed.
Jennifer takes a moment to breathe, then reloads. She glances to Neriah and shrugs a shoulder. "...sorry. Mom's a Baskar. Kind of sensitive over that." She admits with a sigh, before she carries onwards, trying to ignore the slight burn on her arm. She's gonna have to get that looked at later.
She produces her flask, taking a quick nip to help cool her nerves a little bit.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
The door ahead grinds shut. Neriah blinks and rubs her cheek with one hand. "That's odd. The layout changes? Or maybe we went through a wrong door somewhere," she theorizes, eyes on Gwen. The smile she flashes her is brief, but accepting, as though the woman's uncertainty doesn't bother her. "Besides, a new challenge can be fun. And if we fail, the worst that can happen is we die horribly, right?"
Walking forward slowly, Neriah steps towards the sunbeam, the light of it playing across her front. Jen gets a little nod from her, hand resting at her chest again. "It's alright. I don't hold anyone's background against them."
The girl in the newsboy hat leans forward to consider the opening in the floor. Biting firmly down to her lower lip, Neriah squints down the hole, then up towards the ray of light streaming through from above. "/Is/ it a reflected light trick?" she murmurs as she pulls Marilyn out again, buffing the chrome sheen of the unusual pistol on one sleeve. "Then let me try something."
Gingerly, she turns the gun, letting the sunlight play across it. She wiggles it in her hands as she tries to play a ray of light towards the moon opening. "Try on that moon, Gwen," she suggests.
DG: Neriah Parringer has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Mirrored Sunlight.
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
"Hm?"
Strange Drifter Corwynt looks up from his book, then tucks it back under his gi, face flushing a little. "Ah... right. Reflection." The little martial artist fingers the Rememberizer again, a whisper of his magic eking out, before he peers more closely at the door. "Well, the moon symbol here would be the obvious--- yes, that," he agrees with Neriah.
DG: Corwynt has used his Tool Rememberizer toward his party's challenge, Mirrored Sunlight.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna looks up towards the source of the sunbeam as well, then lowers her gaze towards the room itself.
"Hm...good question..." She says.
Everyone else tries to focus light on the moon, but Layna.
"Now, maybe this is supposed to be a lesson about joining opposites...but why would you shine /sun/light on the moon?" She asks. It's hard to tell if she's sounding accusative or just curious.
We could go into how much actual sense this makes, but Layna doesn't know this, so there's little point.
Instead, she looks around, trying to find a switch or something that might lead them in the right direction.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Captain's Telescope toward her party's challenge, Mirrored Sunlight. DG: Jennifer Braddock has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Mirrored Sunlight. DG: The party led by Neriah Parringer has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Corwynt has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* CHALLENGE - Sealed Doorway *>======================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The door at the end of this hall has a great lock on it. Unfortunately, no key was ever to be found inside of the ruins to this point. Perhaps it was stolen or perhaps it was lost. It is no matter - the door must be broken down through other means. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"That too! Seems I'm always findin' new stuff when I go back. There's always somethin' you just don't notice before, y'know? Like, one time, at the Berry Caves, there was this weird metal box? Managed to get back there and get it runnin', but nothing really made sense to me." Mostly because she was being a battery for the terminal to run on. THE ADVENTURES OF GWEN WHITLOCK, IDIOT COURIER
"Oh! Whoops. Didn't see the moon there. My eyes got used to the light." Gwen's scissors don't seem to unlock anything by itself, but combined with Neriah's gun it shines through the hole, opening a hatch nearby, which Layna promptly finds. The crescent swivels around, and a full circle, symbolizing a sun, comes into view. The door clicks, allowing everyone to move forward.
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
Except the door clicks open to reveal another door. With a lock.
And no key anywhere.
A muscle tics along Corwynt's jaw, as he suppresses his irritation. Clearly the corruption of the Destroyer upon the Blue Star knows no bounds, when even simple /doors/ turn against the souls of the faithful. He takes a step back, pulls his right arm backward, and begins channeling power into the palm of his right hand, green-white energy and winds swirling around him as he does so.
He's going to be charging for a while - long enough for other people to do stuff and get out of the way.
DG: Corwynt has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Sealed Doorway.
<Pose Tracker> Jennifer Braddock has posed.
Jennifer sighs, shaking her head as she waves off both sympathy and any evidence of that freakout before. She's...a little defensive about the Baskar thing, to say the least.
She's quick to draw her gun after they come up to the door, and she looks for the latch before taking a shot, just before Corwyn is about to smash the door down. Getting out of the way is wise, and she does exactly that.
DG: Jennifer Braddock has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sealed Doorway.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"Really? I think I remember that box." Neriah smiles up at Gwen, folding her arms loosely beneath her chest. "I was there not too long ago. It didn't make sense to me either, but I'm not an expert on metal boxes...."
Then the door swings open - only to reveal another door. Neriah opens her mouth slightly.
She closes it again and huffs, shaking her head. "Wow. Dick move, ancient ruins," she grumbles as she considers the problem. It's dealt with by others as Corwynt powers up and Jen shoots at it.
"Okay. I think I might be able to help," she says as she draws her shovel. Taking it in both hands, she taps the door a few times, as though testing its solidity. Indeed, it's pretty damned solid, clunking heavily as the shovel head hits it.
The dark-haired woman turns her shovel in her hands and digs the pointed head of the big spade towards the door. With a clash of steel on hard surfacing, she whacks it once, then again, then again - and there's a faint sound. Something crackling. A little microfracture in the door face, being chipped away at and expanded by the shovel's blows. It won't shatter the door alone, but it might soften it up for the charging Corwynt.
DG: Neriah Parringer has used her Tool Trusty Shovel toward her party's challenge, Sealed Doorway.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
The door slides open, and Layna grins.
"Well, that wasn't so-" Layna's cheer is soon crushed by the sight of yet another door behind the first door.
"By the Goddess, what is /with/ these people?" Layna groans, massaging her forehead. She...needs a drink after this. She reaches into her coat and pulls out another bottle. Or...was it the same bottle? Either way, it was good drink. And, seeing Corwynt prepare something that looked fairly impressive, she steps back.
"Well now..." She says with a whistle and takes a swig. She had to see this.
"Anyone want some?" She offers, holding the bottle out.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Sealed Doorway.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Oh really?" Gwen nods to Neriah. "It needs a source of power, like electricity. Back in the Badlands some towns had these things called Plants'd produce energy like that, so I tried to see if I could hook up somethin' similar. If you can get a steady current goin', you might get something from it, but I dunno if you'd get anything useful beyond historical stuff. I also... can't recommend what I did? Which is why I'm keepin' that a secret." But man, did Gwen ever feel like she was part of something epic for a short while, before her own body's energy began to run out.
At the sight of the door, Gwen's face falls. "Well, I guess we're right back to where we started," she sighs, shaking her head. "But, hey, look on the bright side! Maybe there's something there they're *really* wanting to protect! Or distract, but hey, even that's a find!"
Always look on the bright side.
Looking to Corwynt as he begins to charge, Gwen accepts a sip of Layna's stash of alcohol, wipes her mouth, nods her thanks, and joins Neriah, keeping mindful of Jennifer's shots. "You guys got the right idea. Let's get this door all warmed up for whatever he's cookin' up back there!" She pulls her arm back and slams it into the door repeatedly.
The sounds her right fist are making would be cringe-inducing if it was skin and bone; Gwen doesn't seem to be approaching this with any sort of finesse that a martial artist may bring. Still, she keeps going, all until she's called back, rubbing her knuckles and she hops a few steps backwards to safety.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Armored Fist toward her party's challenge, Sealed Doorway. DG: The party led by Neriah Parringer has failed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Corwynt screams, and then punches a tornado at the door.
Spoiler: it is a really bad idea to punch tornadoes at anything underground. There is a /lot/ of debris.
DG: Neriah Parringer has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* CHALLENGE - Rolling Boulder *>======================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- One massive, final hallway awaits. It may seem deceptively simple, as it leads to an open doorway. Through there is a suggestive glitter of something -- perhaps treasure, perhaps somehting else - and it might seem that you only have to walk to your prize. Until, of course, you hear a click and then a thundering crash. A massive round boulder drops down from above you - and starts rolling, ready to crush you under it! =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"That's fine. Maybe I'll go back at some point," Neriah says with a little smile back at Gwendolyn. "Though getting there was tougher than I thought and I had to do some things I don't like doing."
Here, she glances at Layna and purses her lips. Then she goes back to work on the door before clearing way for Corwynt to deliver the Hundred Hand Slap at his leisure.
The door crumbles beneath his fist and explodes in a hail of rock and wood. Neriah yelps as a few shards of wood bounce across her. Without thinking, she holds her right arm up. With a strangled cry, she skids backwards.
Something dark briefly flickers around her. Stone smashes into the sphere and disintegrates. Then, in the blink of an eye, that dark flash is gone, and Neriah's staggering forward with a pained groan, clenching her right fist tightly. Her teeth clench together, but she steadies herself with a hiss of breath.
"Let's go," she says, forcing a smile as she pushes through the door. She carries herself like she's trying not to appear hurt.
There's not a scratch on her.
Beyond the hallway, something glitters. "That must be the treasure," Neriah surmises with a breath. Starting forward, she moves into the hallway - and then something clicks above.
Neriah slowly lifts her eyes to the ceiling. "...I hope that's not the sound of the demons coming," she groans.
It's not, but it's more immediate. With a crash, a massive boulder plunges from above and begins to trundle inexorably down the corridor towards the group. "Run!" Neriah shouts, her face even more pale as she breaks into a dead sprint. No time to hurt right now. Just run run run.
DG: Neriah Parringer has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rolling Boulder.
<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.
"WHAT?" Corwynt yells, because he's a little deaf right now for some MYSTERIOUS REASON. But then he feels an impact up through the floor and into his feet, which causes him to turn and---
"WE SHOULD RUN!" he shouts. "THERE'S A BOULDER COMING TOWARD US!"
DG: Corwynt has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Rolling Boulder.
<Pose Tracker> Jennifer Braddock has posed.
Jennifer grunts in annoyance when she finds her shot did -nothing- to actually get the door open, but her thoughts are interrupted by the SUDDEN TORNADO OF DOOM.
A random piece of debris catches her in the chest, and she's knocked off her feet. Luckily it's not serious, other than getting the wind knocked out of her. "GAH! HELLFIRE, man!" She calls out at Corwyn in the aftermath, brushing herself off sourly before she gets up, and goes through the doorway. "Uh...maybe warn us next time you try that, partner." She suggest,s but her tone indicates she doesn't take it personally.
There is something off, as she feels something -very wrong- when the debris hits Neriah. It's gone now, but it definitely stuck. That Baskar heritage is showing.
But they have other problems now. She hears a BOULDER coming their way, and she looks back at the thing. "Shit. /RUN./" She books it, running like hell down the tunnel AWAY from the boulder.
Adios, Sapito.
DG: Jennifer Braddock has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rolling Boulder.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
They finally, finally break through the door. Layna's looking a little worse from wear from all the debris, and when they finally get through...there's something of a glitter. But that's not all there is.
Layna turns and begins to run.
"I think I would've /preferred/ the demons, lass! At least I can punch those!" She shouts back at Neriah. Well, she /could/ punch the boulder...but the boulder would probably win that fight.
"Seriously! Did we take a wrong turn somewhere!?" She asks, directed at...generally everyone.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Yeah, it may just be worth it for the berries. Adlehyde'll probably need some for the rebuilding effort." Gwen turns to the door to watch Corwynt unleash his magic on the door, the splinters prompting her to shield herself with that right arm of hers. "Hey, you o-!"
Something strange twists in her gut, the sensation akin to her eyes learning to see a new field of color, but being unable to form any ideas of just what each color is and what it means, just yet.
The feeling leaves her so distracted that she can't quite remember in time something critical: that this is where the boulder happened.
"Oh."
Oh, that's /right/.
"Yeah, those aren't demons, that's a boulder." Gwen, ever so helpful, grins sheepishly, then begins to run like mad. "We, uh, better start running nowwwww!!"
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rolling Boulder. DG: Not everyone in the party has acted yet. +act/complete can only be used once the whole party has acted. DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rolling Boulder. DG: Neriah Parringer is too exhausted to continue! DG: Corwynt is too exhausted to continue! DG: Jennifer Braddock is too exhausted to continue! DG: Gwen Whitlock is too exhausted to continue! DG: Layna Manydays is too exhausted to continue! DG: The party has failed this challenge! All party members are now Exhausted. Your party can no longer continue and is forced to retreat! DG: The party led by Neriah Parringer has been fully Exhausted by Ruins of Memory!
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
On and on the boulder rolls. "I'm running, I'm running!" she shouts as she sprints for the door, wishing she had a rope or some rocket boots or something. But soon enough, the party...
...is able to keep ahead of the boulder! They all hop up onto a ledge at the far end. Neriah wipes her forehead with the back of one hand, sighing heavily. "That was too close. I thought we were goners," she puffs before smiling ruefully up at Gwen. Then she looks back towards Corwynt. "Alright. One more door." She takes ahold of the door at the back of the ledge, pushing on the hinge.
The door doesn't budge. Instead, the entire wall swings back.
Revealing another length of corridor and a huge boulder sitting there waiting behind where the wall was.
Neriah opens her mouth, then closes it.
"Can't stay for long," she says with a big smile. "Just turn around and I'm gone again!"
The boulder rolls after the team. It'll chase them all the way back through the ruin and to the entrance, in fact. It's clear enough they're not going to be able to do this today.
Maybe tomorrow.