2017-07-01: Bureaucracy and Battles with the Caravan Kinship

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  • Log: Bureaucracy and Battles with the Caravan Kinship
  • Cast: Jacqueline Barber, Shalune Amira, Ethius Hesiod, Catenna, Kourin, Lunata Croze
  • Where: Lacour - Arms Coliseum
  • Date: 7-01-2017
  • Summary: Following their discussion at the pub, the Caravan Kinship takes on the Lacour Tournament of Arms' exhibition matches. They...do not go as any of them expect.

This scene takes place shortly after 2017-07-01: What's in a Name?.


=========================<* Lacour - Arms Coliseum *>=========================

Situated immediately adjacent to Lacour Castle, the Arms Coliseum is a temple to the pursuit of perfection in physical prowess. Built more than three centuries ago by King Etienne I, the Coliseum is laid over with ancient Symbols that blunt weapons and protect combatants on the brink of death, allowing competitors to fight to the best of their ability without fear of killing their opponents.

The Coliseum is the site of the annual Lacour Tournament of Arms, a competition that fuels the spirit of martial artists and weapons merchants both. The Tournament is a spectacle that draws visitors and competitors from across Filgaia, and is the major event on the continent while it is running. A series of smaller tournaments are organized throughout the year; entering as a combatant is free of charge, but spectators pay a nominal fee that nonetheless provides a significant boost to Lacour's coffers.

DG: A party led by Jacqueline Barber is now entering Lacour Coliseum.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Legal Waiver *>======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 "Congratulations! My name is Personal Assistant Pete, and you're registered   
 for this Exhibition Team Fighting match here at the Lacour Tournament of      
 Arms: Presented by Blastemol!® Before you get started, we'll just need each   
 of you to complete this 73-page waiver produced by the Blastemol!® legal      
 department. We'll need you to initial where indicated, but only on every      
 third paragraph. On even paragraphs, you'll want the team captain to initial  
 for you, but if you're the team captain, you'll need someone else to sign     
 yours."                                                                       
                                                                               
 "On page 3 you'll notice the symbol of the dark god Valmar..."                
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Tire============================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Last time, on Dream Chasers...

Jacqueline and friends got together to discuss entry into the Lacour Tournament of Arms exhibition matches, and they settled on a name.

Jay's Baes!

...No, that is a lie. In actuality, they entered as the Caravan Kinship, but when she went to actually turn in the sign-up sheet...it turns out that was not the only piece of documentation they had for her to use.

It seems their first enemy is the greatest enemy of all -

Bureaucracy.

The party sits in the lobby now, looking over the paper work.

"Okay, everyone...pass your papers over to me so I can sign the even sections...Catenna, I'll need you to sign mine..." Jacqueline murmurs.

"Wait, entry requires you to give Blastemol!® your first-born? Oh, no, it looks like this paper got mixed in from another event, we can just discard that..."

"'Participants agree that their fights must be...'cool as hell', and must agree not to swear eternal vengeance against Blastemol!® if they and/or their team get 'completely bodied'? Is that really the appropriate business term here?"

It goes on much like this for many pages.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Legal Waiver.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

"E-eh--" blurts Shalune, peering at the form as if it's a monster come to life, her upbeat and excited expression folding away into a confused - well, a confused blob. Apparently, all she needed to get ready for 'battle' was to stuff a bunch of bombs into different pockets on her coat and backpack, managing to shoulder the weight without much fuss; there's evidently some strength to her frame, at the very least.

She's also brought a well-loved broom the same size she is, last seen when she was using it to stir her pot, as if it were some kind of weapon - though the way that its wooden shaft has been reinforced with a number of long strips of hardened metal, perhaps that statement isn't too far off the mark.

But she wasn't prepared for... this. "E-ehh? We never had to fill out these when we were signing up for the tournament itself..." she trails off uncertainly, making bad time on the whole thing. "Uggh, wasn't there a thing somewhere where combatants just got automatic entry? I've done this already! Hello~o!" she blurts as she waves to the counter. The wrench in her hand is a little dangerous the way she's waving it from side to side, but perhaps it'll get someone's attention that much quicker just to get her to stop...?!

DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Trusty Wrench toward her party's challenge, The Legal Waiver.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius has seventy three pages worth of waivers to go through. He regards the thick texts with... not all that much? Though, a hand goes to his head at some point. Is something bothering him? (Other than written commitment, which is a given, no one likes this part.)

He's not the only one being directed. He looks to either side as Personal Assistant Pete goes to assist someone else. He takes out the odd eyeglass from under his poncho, covertly attempting to cast that quick electrical spell. He uses the poncho to try and conceal the glow of his tattoos. (Why won't he just let the sleeves down?!)

When the coast is clear, he brings the lens up to his eye and tries to take in as much as he can of the area beyond. Is something connected to something else? What is the nature of what lies beyond...

Ethius appears so distracted by what he sees that Pete, inevitably, is going to get on his case. There is the off-chance that this might lead to some valuable intel about the surrounding area going forward, once someone can gently guide his hand towards the freakin' papers.

This had better be worth the extra six minutes in which he slows everyone's registration, because page 8 requires everyone sign a part simultaneously and he just missed that cue.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, The Legal Waiver.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Figuring this was going to be a terribly physical occasion, Catenna took her over-robe off. She adjusts her shorts a little, tightens the laces on her vest and makes sure she's got a few shells loaded into her shotgun for the road.

But rather than physicality, something worse comes up.

Bureaucracy.

"What is all this," Catenna murmurs with a baffled blink as she sifts through the documents, leafing past a couple of them. She grimaces as she spots the third page and doesn't sign it, then flips on to the next few. Finally, she looks up towards Jacqueline as the woman beckons for their papers. "...I suppose I can sign for you where it's needed," she agrees as she taps her pen against her opposite hand.

Leaning forward, she bites her lower lip as she shifts through Jacqueline's documents. Her eyes narrow to slits as she reads a couple of lines.

"...Participants agree to have silly catchphrases at event manager's discretion?" she murmurs, blinking.

DG: Catenna has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Legal Waiver.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin, having belonged previously to a military organization, is actually good at filing tedious paperwork, and sets to it with a quiet efficiency and confidence that may surprise those used to her being hesitant and shy. "Miss Jacqueline, I will need you to initial here, here, here and here, twice on this paragraph, and then..."

DG: Kourin has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Legal Waiver.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata looks rather baffled and has to take a step away with a shake of her head, dizzy at all the legalese and jargon. "I--I need a break... ... aah..." she rubs at her eyes and uncorks her thermos and takes a bit of soup from a cup, with a relieved little sigh. "Soup always makes my mind feel fresher... does anyone want some?"

She sets it down near the pages and--

--the cube bumps into it, causing her to gasp with a shriek as she says, "R-Ramda! No, bad!"

Fortunately, the page she splashed over appears to have read:

'I hereby sign in the service of all and any named bodyparts of Valmar, list following but non-exhaustively including: The Left Toenail, The Appendix...'

DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Soup of the Day toward her party's challenge, The Legal Waiver.
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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> Catenna has posed.

"I-- I would love some, Lunata," Catenna says with a blink and a straightening of her shoulders.

She takes a little spoonful of the soup. Her eyes light up with silent delight.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata fetches a little blackboard like she has before, which reads:

TODAY'S DUNGEON SOUP:

Pureed kumara chicken stock soup flavoured with lentils and fennel

served with a side of poppadoms

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Much like Kourin, Jacqueline is also good at tedious paperwork, though for her it is because she's a businessowner. She takes Kourin's pages - as well as everyone else's - and begins to initial them where necessary.

Sadly for Shalune, no one arrives when she swings her rope around, forcing her to actually do it herself. Jacqueline's there to help, though, and also gently reminds Ethius that he actually has to do the paperwork if he wants to get anywhere in here.

While they wait for him so they can do the synchronous signing required by Lacourian law, they all take a short, pleasant soup break courtesy of Lunata.

Eventually, though it's certainly tiring, they manage to get through it all without signing any questionable agreements.

You don't get to claim any innocents today, bureaucracy!!

DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge.
====================<* CHALLENGE - Skill-Testing Question *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 "Oh no! It looks like our contestants are going to have to contend with the   
 dreaded SKILL-TESTING QUESTION! Punch the symbols for plus, minus, divide     
 and multiply until they equal 53! If they win, they'll get some free          
 blueberries! If they fail, they will get shame and scorn!"                    
                                                                               
 "A GOOD EDUCATION IS TOTALLY BADASS!"                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

There's a problem, though.

When Jacqueline flips to the next page, there's a large diagram in the middle of it. A set of directions reads as follows:

'SKILL-TESTING QUESTION: Find (x)'

What follows is an incredibly complicated mathematical equation with ridiculous numbers of brackets and fractions and formulae. It's downright dizzying. Catenna just stares at the page for a minute, then frowns and folds her arms under her breasts. "Do they really think that this is a test of our skills, or are they just miserable cusses," she mutters with a glance at Jacqueline. Pausing, she takes another spoonful of Lunata's soup.

Finally she nods, picking up her pencil and leaning forward to jot down her answer.

She circles the x. Then she draws a little line leading to it. Then she jots something in cursive.

Here it is

DG: Catenna has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Skill-Testing Question.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata looks baffled. She wasn't expecting this from the arena, but...

... she blinks a few times.

"Wait, from inside the soup...!"

Indeed, from within the smoothness of the creamy, pureed kumara.... alphabet pasta slowly pops up. "3 and 2! In the soup! Clear as a crisp spring morning!"

Soupology is a very important business to Lunata, okay.

DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Soup of the Day toward her party's challenge, Skill-Testing Question.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

"I am prepared for shame and scorn," Kourin says, a determined expression on her face. "I have faced shame and scorn all of my life! You cannot punish me with such things!" Even so, she makes a concerted effort to solve the puzzle before her--until Spirit decides he's going to help! He's a Good Dog and he doesn't know math!

DG: Kourin has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Skill-Testing Question.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

"U-uuh..." whines Shalune as she stumbles out into the arena, a thankful and relieved noise let out as they finally escape the dreaded mass of paperwork and find themselves facing down their opponents! She's pumped, she's ready to go, she's got a ton of stress to burn off after all those forms--

--and yet, what is waiting for her are not combat opponents so much as a mathematical machine that's asking her to solve more in the way of puzzles. "T-this isn't what I signed up for~r..." she whines as she leans on Lunata for a moment, letting out a heaving sigh. She might be smart - sometimes - but she's what you'd call an intuitive learner rather than a theoretical one.

In other words, an idiot savant.

Her complaints last a moment longer, before she remembers she's supposed to be facing this with eager and upbeat cheer, to put on a show for the crowd, if nothing else - so she pulls herself up, pumping her fists as she strides forwards towards it and rolls up the sleeves of her sweater. "Okay, okay-- um-- oh! If I just unscrew this bit, and--"

  • * *

"--there!" she beams brightly. On the machine in front of her:

31 + 21 = 53

... and yet, somehow, the machine beeps happily to accept her answer. Whatever did she do to the poor thing?!

DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Trusty Wrench toward her party's challenge, Skill-Testing Question.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius can be seen with a cup of the soup. It has somehow been heated up even more than it already is, in his hand. He might not be able to get around to eating it. It has long passed the threshold of believability that he can even hold it. It feels nice to his face, though, through the reinvigorating vapors that somehow pierce even his bandanna around his face...!

"Are you certain, Miss Lunata, that it is not merely chance that the pasta pieces simply surfaced first?"

He casts an eye towards the machine, then to Shalune, then to the machine.

He stops to count on his fingers.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Skill-Testing Question.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"Those aren't necessarily exclusive." Jacqueline replies dryly, looking back at Catenna. She...honestly doesn't know what the point of this particular section is.

"I get the feeling someone just left their college work in and is trying to get people to do it for them..." She murmurs. She stares at the brackets and the fractions and the formulae.

Was...any of this necessary for anything? At all? She starts dismantling it mentally to try and solve it, which promises to be slow work, but Lunata points out something helpful.

"3...and 2...?" Jacqueline says, and her face lights up.

"Oh, I see!" Jacqueline grabs the papers they had been signing and looks through them.

"Perhaps...on page 3, or 2...or even 32..."

Maybe there was a hint, or even the answer...!

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Skill-Testing Question.
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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> Catenna has posed.

"It may in fact be both," Catenna murmurs with a grimace back at Jacqueline. "I have no idea how to do any of this. I do not like mathematics."

She's blushing. In fact, even looking at her handwriting, it's not all that complex - a few straight strokes.

Catenna really does not want Jay to find out that she doesn't read or write Ignan very well.

Nevertheless, the party hands over the skill-testing questions - and the processing machine pings affirmatively at each and every single one. Catenna waits as hers is processed, before blushing with obvious relief and letting a sigh escape her. "Goodness. Maybe now we can begin."

Then she blinks at Kourin a couple times as Spirit brings his skill-testing question to the machine, too. The machine whirrs for a moment before spitting out a response:

much skill

such wise

very test

smart doge

wow

amaze

DG: Lunata Croze has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Halftime Interview *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 "ALL RIGHT! While we reset the Arena for the next round of the match, we're   
 gonna go down to the sidelines for an interview with Miss Blastemol!®         
 herself: BLASTINA!!!! GO FOR IT!"                                             
                                                                               
 "hey there master tman i'm down here to talk to them there peeps bout how     
 dey gon' whup dem guys in dere butt-butts, SO WHADDYA GOTTA SAY FO YOSELFS?"  
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Injure==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata lets out a sigh as the group collectively processes their mathematical equation and the machine approves of their work... only to find that their efforts are only going to be met with... an interview?? Blastina heads on down and inquires in her most... riveting collection of slang words Lunata's ever heard:

"hey there master tman i'm down here to talk to them there peeps bout how dey gon' whup dem guys in dere butt-butts, SO WHADDYA GOTTA SAY FO YOSELFS?"

Lunata pauses, and can't believe she, of all people, is the one making this statement:

"When do we get to fight??"

DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Halftime Interview.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin frowns. "What is she even saying? Is that a dialect here on the Blue Star? I can't understand. Is she asking us what we have to say for ourselves? I...I have to say that I am grateful to Althena for the chance to be alive and fighting in this tournament, but I also wonder when the fighting part of the tournament will begin?"

DG: Kourin has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Halftime Interview.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

The door opens onto the next challenge!!

Which is... an interview. In some slang that Catenna's never actually heard. She controls her expression and manages to get it down to a Vulcanesque raising of one eyebrow. Her hand goes to her hip and rests there.

Lunata leans in with a keen question but Catenna follows it up by resting one hand on Blastina's. She leans forward and takes a breath.

"Ak yah ashkhari kurata hai chi ya' sabhai diri si kia prapt hota hai mayn suhcha tha ki yah ek yud' shetr' tha," she says in her own language, figuring this is some battle of incomprehensible dialects. "Ki yah ham apanye chaoshal ka parikhshan nahen kareng?"

Somewhere off in the distance, the crowd boos as Catenna establishes herself as a foreign heel.

DG: Catenna has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Halftime Interview.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

"--oh, oh--" blurts Shalune, perking up in honest and delighted... understanding?! For just a moment, she bobbles from one foot to the other, then grins into what might be a microphone in any other world but here is just a stick intended to catch their attention.

"wassup blastina addlehide in da house an lookin to rumble yo! our butt-butts gonna butt-butt the competition right out thats what im sayin so look forward to it yeah"



Shalune perks up into a smile right afterwards, plain and innocent and with her hands in front of her in a well-meaning hover, seemingly completely unaware of the cadence of what she just said.

DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Halftime Interview.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna stares at Shalune like she's just sprouted a second head.

<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin stares at Shalune like she's just sprouted two extra arms.

<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Spirit stares at Shalune like she's got a treat in her pocket. His tail wags.

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Shalune just smiles brightly. "Um, they're wishing us good luck, I think!... was that okay?" she adds, tilting her head ever so slightly.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius is blatantly walking in the Arena in the background with that lens up. How brazenly is he going to flaunt his curiosity, as he sometimes even just passes within arm's length of Miss Blastemol!® herself in his strange quest to gather whatever information has guided his erratic set of actions to this point.

He turns around to the rest of the group at one point to even raise a finger up over his mouth to say 'shh' before continuing.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Halftime Interview.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline would never judge Catenna if she found out. In fact, if she did, she would offer to help Catenna learn. Whether or not Catenna would appreciate that or just make her feel embarrassed is another matter entirely.

Also another matter entirely - the fact that they're currently being interviewed. Jacqueline puts on her brightest saleswoman smile and addresses Blastina.

"Well, ma'am...it's very simple. We of the Caravan Kinship use potions and explosives provided by Jay's Curatives and Curios and Shalune's Scrap, respectively. If you need quality curatives or rapid repairs, you know who to look for." She says, turning the interview into an opportunity to advertisement.

She...seems to pointedly ignore Shalune's...

whatever that was.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata stares at Shalune like... well, she has crossed arms as she coldly informs: "Lunie-timeout."

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Halftime Interview.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

"E-ehhh-- why!?" wails the pink-haired girl, her eyes blank circles as she neps out as hard as Lunata ever has, her volume trailing off behind Jay's more measured comments.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"Now now. We can exorcise the demon from Shalune's tongue once we are done the challenge," Catenna suggests, folding her arms.

DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

"awwwww fo shizzle my nizzle, check wat dis gal shalizzle got f'yalls, tite am i rite??" exclaims Blastina as she throws down the reverse horns and swans one way after Shalune makes her declaration. "aite yo, we bout to boogie, don't you worry bout no thang! peace!!"

The bombastic interviewer disappears with a... well... burst of Blastemol!® branded explosions.

Just what on Filgaia was she saying?

Maybe Ethius can translate.

DG: Kourin has drawn a new Challenge.
===================================<* CHALLENGE - Triacontuplet Terror *>===================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
-----------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------
 "Next up in the Arena, we've got the Terrifying Triacontuplets! That means    
 there are 30 of them, and all of them are identical! These guys are all       
 pretty puny, but you've got to punch each one of them in the order of their   
 birth! If you get it right, you win! If you get it wrong, they will throw     
 hammers at you!"                                                              
                                                                               
 "FERTILITY SHAMANISM IS A DANGEROUS GAME!"                                    
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

The gate opens, thirty small men dressed identically dash out, and Kourin stares in disbelief. "And how are we supposed to know their birth order?! Do they answer questions!? DOES ONE OF THEM ALWAYS LIE?!" She is getting shrill. Somewhere, she found a spine since she's arrived on the Blue Star, and she's now feeling another bout of actually being willing to show it coming on.

"What if I just call a blizzard on all of them at once?! What if I sic my dog on them?! What then?! By ALTHENA this tournament makes no sense! Who came up with these challenges?! I want their name!"

You all right, Kourin?

Spirit growls at the puny triacontuplets, sniffing at them menacingly.

DG: Kourin has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Triacontuplet Terror.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata steps down next to a triplet of the triacontuplets and begins to speak, but then they interfere as one of them raises a hand:

"The triacontuplet next to me always lies."

"The triacontuplet two rows from me is a truth-teller."

"The triacontuplet next to the triacontuplet next to me never lies."

"Triacontuplet always tell convenient half-truths."

"... e-eeeh..." Lunata looks defeated.

DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Triacontuplet Terror.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

"Regrettably, a cursory examination has revealed... there are exactly as many as has been announced." Ethius informs. It might have been too much to hope that he would've gotten a better peek at how the Arena ticks - all he's picked up from his sneaky peeking is simply a sight of the buttons. Nothing so much about power sources connected to other mechanisms - just the puzzle pieces and the frame in which they belong to.

"Miss Kourin, it would appear they have kept track of their birth order. It can be understood that there are visual cues in play in which to determine birth order... but I have no knowledge as to which extreme to work from. I could scarce tell the oldest from the youngest. Nonetheless..."

Ethius goes about trying to take stock of various appearance differences to determine a gradient, if not the order.

He casts an eye up into the audience every so often, as though looking for someone, or something, at the same time. Who?

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Triacontuplet Terror.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Finally they're let into the arena.

Only for thirty small men to scuttle out and confront them. Catenna blinks a couple of times and sets her hands at her hips, clucking her tongue softly in disapproval. "If this is what passes for a combat tournament in Lacour, I think I may have misjudged this city," she says drily, glancing at Jacqueline.

Then she throws Lunata a glance. "We will never actually guess it successfully," she points out. "Not without taking hours. However, there is a way, I believe."

Sliding her Medium into her hand, Catenna looks down at the little stone tablet, then up once again to press her lips together. Then she plays her fingers over it.

A sudden pulse of gravity ripples beneath the triacontuplets. If it works, it'll hold them in place.

At which point Catenna casually strolls up to them and begins to take their wallets out of their back pockets so she can check their birth certificates.

DG: Catenna has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Triacontuplet Terror.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

"A-aahh!" blurts Shalune, her eyes still blank circles from when she got timeout'd. Wait, can she move? Should she move? Is that kosher, to just-- come out of Lunie-timeout? These are worrying questions that should be answered before she gets timeout'd in a ruin, in Shalune's mind! But more importantly!-- "They broke Kourin and Lunie!"

"Uh-- uh--" she stumbles, automatically looking towards Jacqueline for the answer before she huffs and pumps her fists. A loophole! You need a loophole, Shalune! "Well-- well--"

K I T T A ! ! !

She blinks in honest surprise, amazed that the answer could be that easy. Her broom in one hand, her wrench in the other. "--if they're unconscious, they can't throw hammers. Right? Then we can just go through each combination without havin' to worry about it."

)?
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Trusty Wrench toward her party's challenge, Triacontuplet Terror.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline frowns. Their name was pretty clever, but...punching all thirty of them in the order of their birth?

"So...they just said 'punch', specifically? I think Kourin has a point - just don't punch them and I think we'll be fine." Jacqueline comments with a shrug. She definitely didn't have any intention of punching them. Her thing was magic and potions.

Sure, they could do the weird logic puzzle...or they could just take the easy, quick way out and just get rid of all them at once.

Even if there were contingencies in place, they couldn't throw hammers if they were too unconscious to actually throw them. Jacqueline does not realize that, for a moment, she was on the exact same wavelength as Shalune, and because of this looks at Shalune in surprise when she voices what she just thought.

...But then Catenna does the smart thing and uses her gravity magic to try and freeze them in place.

"Good thinking." Jacqueline says with a smile. "Who wants the honor of bopping them?"

Hopefully it would actually work!

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Triacontuplet Terror.
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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> Kourin has posed.

Kourin stares in amazement at Catenna's brilliant plan. "Yes. I KNEW you little--I knew you'd always lie, but there's always a way around these stupid riddles!" She's a little unhinged by the ridiculous challenge, still, but calming down. "Okay. Here's the hard part..." She grins wickedly. "There are six of us, so that means we each may punch five of them."

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"Please read them quickly," Catenna breathes as she fights to hold the spell in place for an extended period.

DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Beating Up A Carriage *>=====================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 "We're almost at the final round, sports entertainment fans! But before       
 that, look to the centre of the Arena, where you will see a pair of           
 brand-new two-horse carriages! One is for our competitors, and the other is   
 for a couple of hobos we dressed up in martial arts uniforms! Can you smash   
 your carriage into pieces before the hobos beat up theirs?"                   
                                                                               
 "MAAAAAAAAAAAAAYBEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"                                             
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

The thirty little men are summarily punched. Catenna wipes one arm across her forehead and exhales. At this point, at least they're in the arena.

An arena into which two two-horse carriages are suddenly being led, by way of a gate on the far end of the arena. The crowd cheers as a couple of hobos come shambling out. They're wearing ridiculous orange martial arts gis.

The announcer is bellowing the instructions. Smash the carriage before the hobos do. And indeed, the two hobos begin to attack their carriage.

They're not doing much. One of the bums punches the carriage, then yelps and jumps around clutching his hand.

Catenna frowns deeply and squints at the carriage, then back at the group. "I am beginning to think that this has all been some sort of game at our expense," she sighs before she begins to walk towards the carriage. She's not even using her Medium for this one because the power of Celesdue is too precious to be used to smash a carriage ahead of a bunch of hobos.

Instead she pulls out her shotgun, loads a couple of shells into it, and attempts to blast out one of the wheels.

DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Beating Up A Carriage.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata looks like she's had enough, so standing at the back, she's suddenly glowing as her cube transforms to katana-form and Ge Ramda howls in unearthly manner, rising from within the waitress' being. Enrobed in what looks like a cross between ornate bridal kimono and ancient regalia, it rears back as it stares gleamingly towards the carriage, both spectral claws raised.

'GAOOOOooooooo-nnn...!!'

Lunata really doesn't condone violence, or even breaking things violently in stress relief, but she has to admit--

--looking at the finely, finely shredded ribbons of the carriage in front of her--

--"Well done, Ge Ramda," she whispers proudly as she reaches up to stroke the chin of her ghastly lich phantasm.

That felt good.

DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Beating Up A Carriage.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin is pleased. Punching the little men was pleasing, but her frustrations demand a target she can really let loose on. This carriage provides just that.

Ice begins to form, coalescing as Kourin focuses her energy, beginning as a core of ice and growing, taking shape into a hulking, brutish-looking golem of ice.

The golem lumbers forward on the shredded ribbons of the carriage and begins to smash, smash, smash, until the ribbons are smithereens.

DG: Kourin has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Beating Up A Carriage.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Shalune looks slowly up at the carriage. It's a very nice carriage, laden with barding and ornamental pieces, and some lovely gilt on the sides. It's also larger than all of them, and not a little intimidating from the sheer size and bulk of it.

"Oh. Um. Is that all?" she mumbles almost to herself, tilting her head to one side before she pats down at her pockets. "I mean, didn't you guys see my first match, I'm jus' sayin' here..."

The little devices she pulls out are no bigger than her palm, a set of cherry bombs in all senses of the word - small and a wonderfully vivid sort of red. On one side of each little sphere is marked a cheery skull and crossbones, almost innocent in the way it looks so cute and appealing.

"--wah, look at you go!" she blurts in astonishment as she watches the spectral lich above Lunata suddenly tear forwards, shattering the carriage into so many components; as much as she should maybe be terrified, she can't help but glow with pride and glee as she skids in afterwards, heaving a trio of the bombs forwards into the remnants of the vehicle. "Bombs awa~ay! It's a Lunie-combo!" she calls out, overjoyed.

Pause.

"--a-ah, you might wanna stand back--"

BOOM

DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Soup of the Day -Shalune Ver.- toward her party's challenge, Beating Up A Carriage.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

The forgotten blackboard that once read 'TODAY'S DUNGEON SOUP' has a backside that reads:

TODAY'S DUNGEON SOUP (Shalune ver.)

0.0122 kahns of trinitroluene

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius, mysteriously after the rush of sibling-punching violence, wastes precious time approaching the carriage and giving it a once-over. What about it piques his attention? It's a carriage. He should know what one looks like, and that they are bound to put up as good a fight as any to make it through. A careful hand inspects its wooden contours.

Others have seen how readily Ethius will take to Symbological violence to destroy any obstructions. If a door is in the way, it will be melted. If a rock is in the way, it will be melted. If a great golem is in the way, somehow, he will melt it.

What is he waiting for? He steps back to allow the others to use their powers, but there is a time where he takes another step back to give space to the assault inflicted by Ge Ramda. Lunata's power is...

...Noteworthy.

Somehow, in the greater scheme of things, Ethius can only seem to muster, at most, something resembling a grudging acceptance of this carriage's existence. It doesn't greatly offend him. It just... is.

At last, he gets to work on casting his patented flavor of sorcery, looking to build the heat of the area surrounding the carriage until it combusts into flames and stands to melt into nothing but ash and dust.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Beating Up A Carriage.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline regards all of this with yet another frown. This...honestly, isn't really what she had in mind for this event. Catenna might be right. Still, Lunata actually seems to be praising her skeletal ally, and Kourin's cutting loose with a golem.

That's...pretty impressive, actually. She's glad they're both on her side.

"Well, I guess I might as well play along, too..." Jacqueline mutters and whips out one of her Crests.

I think we all know what's coming here.

With one invocation, a pillar of earth pops a piece of the carriage that hasn't been horribly destroyed into the air. With the next, two more are summoned, slamming into it on either side in an attempt to reduce it to dust.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Beating Up A Carriage.
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has passed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

There are a lot of things Catenna is good at. Blowing things up with brute force is not one of them.

She leaves it to the Lunie-tics - and Lunata's dreadful friend. The apparition of Ge Ramda absolutely pulverizes the carriage, reducing it to little more than a chassis, which Shalune adeptly blasts into little ribbons to polish off the Lunie-combo. Then Kourin's golem pulverizes the ribbons into fragments. Then Ethius combusts the fragments into a fine ash. Then Jacqueline summons up the earth pillars and compresses the ash into a little cube. It drops to the ground and scatters.

"Ohhhhhh! And it's a narrow win for Jay's Baes!" Master Torque screams into the microphone from somewhere up in the announcers' booth. "THEY PULVERIZED IT LIKE A BUNCH OF BADASSES! 'CAUSE THEY'RE SOME BAAAAAAAAAAAD ASSES!!! AND THEY JUST NARROWLY BEAT TEAM MARTIAL ARTS MADNESS!!"

Next to Team Jay, there is the hobos' carriage.

Somehow all but one wheel of it has been broken down into splinters. The hobos barely seem to be moving.

Catenna just rubs her temples.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"B-But that's not the name I put on the sign-up sheet...!" Jacqueline stammers, shocked. Why in the world was that a name that multiple people thought up...!?

DG: Lunata Croze has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* CHALLENGE - Mirror Match *>========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 "WHOA MOMMA TORQUE! It looks like our competitors' last challenge is SHADOWY  
 VERSIONS OF OUR COMPETITORS THEMSELVES! These guys have all the same powers   
 and abilities as our competitors, so this'll be a tough fight! It looks like  
 the most difficult opponent they'll have to overcome is the darkness inside   
 of themselves!"                                                               
                                                                               
 "....OH MAN THAT *#&$ WAS *@$#ING DEEP!"                                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata's eyes widen as the remnants of the carriage -- and the mostly intact carriage, and the hobos -- are dragged off stage and they're drawn into what looks like a really cool shadowy stage for their finale, where... they fight shadowy versions of themselves!!

They loom over the group, perhaps identical except for the shadowy gradient and the yellow twisted eyes and the sneer that curls at their lips.

Lunata pauses. "Ge Ramda is saying something..." A pause. "Whatever you do... don't say 'you're not me'...?"

A pause.

"Oops."

The Shadow-Lunata pounces, and her eyes widen as she springs back -- the clone also has a box, albeit in white, and has also manifested what appears to be a version of Ge Ramda wearing a...

...really tacky red plaid version of the kimono. Ewww.

Ge Ramda howls angrily, and readies Lunata for battle -- the two square off in the distance as she's forced into iai-stance.

A taiko drum is heard banging against the darkness. A shakuhachi plays a haunting melody.

A male singer goes 'Iyoooooo-h...!!'

"Ge Ramda... show me the way..." Lunata's eyes widen for a moment, then the two dash -- and draw swords as they cross each other. One clean cut, one kill.

Who will emerge victorious?

DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Orochi-Agito toward her party's challenge, Mirror Match.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin narrows her eyes as a shadow-copy of her strides forward, rapier at the ready. She draws forth her own rapier. "I've already faced the terror of my own failings for my whole life," she says. "I told you earlier! You cannot frighten me! I cannot be defeated this way!" With that, she lunges.

Shadow-Kourin parries expertly, extending her own rapier in a counterattack--and the blades snicker-snack back and forth in a blurred duel, demonstrating the young woman's skill with the blade amply.

Spirit growls, ears laid back, as a shadow-copy of him slinks forward. The pair of dogs sniffs curiously at each other's rumps, then...both of them sit down and wag their tails. They're Good Boys. BUT WHICH GOOD BOY IS THE BEST GOOD BOY?!

DG: Kourin has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Mirror Match.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

After all these hilarious challenges, the last thing Catenn was expecting was a serious challenge.

Before Catenna can do anything, however, the entire party will find themselves gripped by a powerful force. It is as though gravity for the entire group has doubled.

Standing at the very back of the shadowy party is a woman in patterned black robes. Her angular features don't match her complexion: She's incredibly pale, with white hair and dark eyes that seem to conceal everything.

Catenna's teeth clench.

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

"E-eh-- I don't wanna beat up Mrs. Hetfield!" blurts Shalune immediately, her eyes wide as saucers.

shalune she is probably not your shadowy antithesis, however hard those lessons were

What she faces instead, though, shocks her to her core - a black-haired, sour-looking girl with not a single bobble hat in sight, instead festooned with white lace and an incredibly frilly dress.

... did... someone let Noeline into the arena?

"Ugh, but this is so boring," grouses the unusual girl, immediately causing Shalune to whine and grip her broom to her. "W-what? I don't wanna hear that! We're here to fight, right?" she burles, her eyes wide and lost as if the many bizarre trials have made her uncertain of even that much.

"Whatever." "Aaah!"

DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Mirror Match.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

She's normally the one throwing gravity, but at this point Catenna's the one falling victim to it. Planting her heels and bunching her shoulders, she groans as she struggles to keep the force of gravity from pulling her down into the earth. Her body feels like it weighs hundreds more pounds than it actually does. Glaring across the way, she fixes her eyes on the mirror version of herself -

(Why does my mirror duplicate look like a necromancer,) she grumbles inwardly.

Clenching her teeth, Catenna takes a moment to think about how she would deal with this. The party has the same powers they do, presumably at similar amplitude. After all, there's a mirror Ge Ramda, too. Which would seem, she surmises, to call for an alternate strategy. Wincing, she reaches back, seemingly going for her medium again.

Instead she curls her fingers around the grip of her shotgun... and she swings it forward. She takes aim.

She's not aiming at her mirror duplicate. Instead she fires a covering round towards the thick of the mirror horde. It's not intended to seriously damage them. Rather, it's intended to distract and give all of them a bit of pain to deal with - and to keep them busy while Catenna herself powers through the gravity clutch and sprints towards her target.

"Huoooaaaaah," she shouts shrilly as she lunges across the battlefield, winds up --

And attempts to tackle Mirror Lunata to the ground and punch her right in the nose as hard as she can.

She's counting on the mirror party also having the same dynamics as the real party. Namely, if someone seriously tried to viciously hurt Lunata in the real Caravan Kinship, she'd expect all her friends to do what she hopes the Mirror party does: Freak out and target her all at once.

Thus leaving everyone else in her party with a free shot...!

DG: Catenna has used her Tool Shrapnel Shell toward her party's challenge, Mirror Match.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

"Shadowy versions?" Ethius looks up to the announcer.

The grip on his crappy bronze spear is held tighter. Something about this strikes a chord, as he moves in front of some of the gathered. He slams the butt down, one arm held back as if protectively.

...

Shadow Ethius appears wearing clothes wholly unfamiliar to the group. Some kind of uniform? It's form-fitting. It is black in color. His hair is neatly trimmed, but his face has... no features. It is blurred out entirely. No eyes. No nose. No face. Just the dark tone of his skin, all over.

The same blurriness seems to be applied to his chest, too. His hands blur into mosiacs. He has a quarterstaff of his own, but it looks... different. (Probably because of censorship mosiacs.)

Our Ethius falls to a kneel as Shadow Catenna gets to work on hindering them.

Shadow Ethius says nothing. It's somehow even more chilling than Ethius himself doing this. There is Symbological chanting, but any words spoken are met with a strange tone. There is no hiding the symbol that forms at his feet, as a terrible heat starts to strike at specific areas around people.

Some might even feel like there's something awful inside of them - like sand - got in their veins.

Bursts of electricity fly out every so often, doing terrible things to electronic devices that might be brought to bear.

Through this storm, Our Ethius pulls a satchel from his belt and enchants it, before tossing down a smoke cover.

Whether they need to retreat or press the attack, something strikes Ethius simultaneously in his heart, and in his chest.

"Move." Our Ethius says. Move to attack, or move to retreat?

He... seems to be running past the shadow doubles...? Where?

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Mirror Match.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

The final challenge was here, and it was an opponent that Jacqueline could not expect. Herself.

Jacqueline stares into the eyes of her shadow-self...or she would have, if her glasses weren't instead a pair of sunglasses. Instead of a dress and a shawl, she has a formal business suit, though her bags are still present.

Both stand, arms folded in front of themselves, as they appraise the other. And then, they begin to pace. Simultaneously, they each pull out a familiar bottle of black liquid. They hurl it at each other...and the two bottles collide in mid-air, scattering the liquid uselessly in the center between the two of them.

They begin pacing once more until, suddenly, Crests are drawn. Pillars of earth are sent flying at each other, colliding in mid-air.

A third time, they start to pace...until a wave of gravity forces the real Jacqueline to her knees, and the Shadow takes advantage of the opportunity to invoke an earth pillar, slamming her into the side of the area. The pillar retreats, however, when something off to the side gets her attention.

Catenna is attacking Shadow Lunata. Even behind the sunglasses, one can spot a look of unimaginable fury. Another Crest is drawn. There is a feeling of great, dangerous power welling up, but it disappears as soon as it arrives as the Crest Graph is sent flying due to a knife thrown at it with precision.

"You might know everything I'm going to do...but that's not going to help you since I know everything you're going to do! Strange, isn't it?" Jacqueline comments with a smirk. With a sweep of her hand, the earth pillar is invoked, sending her shadow copy flying just as it had her.

This fight wasn't over yet...but at least Jacqueline had removed her Shadow's most dangerous weapon. Who knew how the rest would play out?

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Reliable Repellant toward her party's challenge, Mirror Match.
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has successfully explored Lacour Coliseum!
======================<* CHALLENGE - A Winner Is You *>=======================
|Type: DIscovery   |Dungeon Ability: Discovery |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 "AAAAAAAAAAAAND WEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA             
 WIIIIIIIIIINNEEEEEEEEEEEEEER! Congratulations to our competitors! In honour   
 of their triumph in this exhibition match, they will each receive a special   
 prize commemorating their victory: A PURPLE PARTICIPATION RIBBON! Thanks for  
 coming out to this Exhibition Team Fighting match here at the Lacour          
 Tournament of Arms: Presented by Blastemol!®"                                 
                                                                               
 "NOW WALK OUT OF THIS ARENA ACCOMPANIED BY THIS /TOTALLY SICK AIR GUITAR      
 SOLO!/"                                                                       
                                                                               
 "MEEYOWEYOWYOWYOWEEYOWSQUEEDLYMEEEEEEEEEOW!"                                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

The gravity of Shadow Catenna starts to anchor the group down, making everything twice as effortful for half the effect; Lunata already finds herself grimacing as her first pass-through finds no purchase, but Ge Ramda's blocked her from receiving a fatal cut in turn as the two fast draw warriors pass on through.

Spirit and Shadow-Spirit growl, and there's only one outcome: Who's a good boy? Both of you awwww whozzagoodboy awww yizzz. (The last comment provided to you by Blastina.) Shadow Kourin and Kourin both clash with their rapiers, trading both rapier blows and rapier-sharp banter towards each other!

Shadow-Lunata coos as she turns around, swiping the blood of her sword, "The smile's five gella in public..." she places a finger to her lipsticked lips, cherry red. "... it's free in private~"

Come to think of it, Shadow-Lunata's maid outfit seems rather racy and short, adorned with more lace and fishnet stockings the likes Lunata would probably prefer to be found dead rather than wear-- well, okay, that's not a joke anymore after what happened at Rujm el-Hiri.

"Y-you...!"

"What's wroooooong, Lunie? There's no velvet rope at the Starfall Brothel, you know? Aren't you a Bae...? Jay's Bae?"

Lunata's cheeks flare out wide as she exclaims, "Get away from me!"

Catenna's strategy does find purchase, though -- as she taunts her, she's distracted enough to get slammed, which prompts... well, most of the rest of them -- Shadow-Shalune, definitely, and then Shadow-Jay as well, the moment she spots Shadow-Lunata being assaulted even after she's disarmed of her Crest -- to go after her, and give O.G. Ethius enough room to throw down smoke cover and move. But... where is he moving, exactly?

"Miss C-Catenna..." Lunata looks to Ethius as he runs. "Okay!" She runs, re-sheathing Orochi-Agito in her wake. She'll just have to trust this silent, stoic man...!

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Even Shalune plants her mouth shut, even Shalune manages to look angry as the Shadow-Lunata delivers her taunts. "H-hey--! Don't you-- don't you say stuff like that!" she blurts, red-faced for multiple reasons - but then Lunata is running, along with the others, and impulse makes Shalune pick up her feet to follow, scurrying after them.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius has two steps to his plan. One, to hide visibility. To remove line of sight. This, above all, seems the most important to him, somehow - his mind speaks of ignorance. His heart, what one of one seems to exist, seems to understand that fundamental fact.

He moves swiftly past the mocking Shadows, who have tuned their actions to strike everyone where they seem to hurt most. Their doubts, the perceptions of themselves they don't want to entertain... the replications of their techniques and strengths are on point. The honesty in which the Shadows embrace everything that makes them, them, makes them impossible to stand against in a straight fight.

One way involves the power of the heart.

Another... that's the second part.

"Surge Bolt!" There's a force to Ethius' voice, as he channels electrical energy into some unseen feature of the arena.

The colors of darkness disappear, replaced only by the lingering haze of everyone's powers, as Ethius stands with his free hand outstretched towards... what looks like nothing in particular.

Wordlessly, he peers up to the crowds. To the announcer(s), if present, squinting, as the final set of opposition disappears. He squints.

He looks away and walks back to the group, nonchalantly, that gaze softening ever so slightly compared to what the rest saw.

"Pay them no further heed." He says - a bold thing to say, when all were confronted by the uncomfortable parts of themselves.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

The gravity well actually relents for a moment as the real Catenna plows into Shadow Lunie. At the back of the shadowy group, Shadow Catenna catches her breath, then scowls angrily and begins to build her power up.

The real Catenna, meanwhile, gets the ever-loving shit beaten out of her by no less than three shadow-friends and a shadow Ge Ramda to boot. Blows come in from all sides before the shadow reaper throws her violently up into the air and slams her down with a blow about as strong as the one that totalled the carriage earlier.

Only luck keeps it from totalling Catenna herself. She hits the ground with a thunderous crash and skids for several metres.

Fortunately she's skidding in the direction Ethius was running. She hits an uneven spot in the arena floor and tumbles the rest of the way, eventually managing to claw back to her knees and scramble after her friends. Blood runs down her chin as she coughs wetly, scooting after Ethius--

And then Ethius seems to... do less than she expected. Catenna blinks at him, then frowns. "What... was that," she asks.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata is really hoping that that wasn't some part of herself, ready to just ... just ... just do all of that. Ew.

She'll have to keep that well in mind. She groans as Ethius strikes the replicator and -- the colour of darkness disappears, leaving them with nothing. Her expression is flat and unamused as she says, "... I agree with Mister Ethius," in a really sour sounding voice as she just sort of shuffles on out of the arena.

"This whole arena was totally lunie-lame."

T-the sickest burn in all of Filgaia...??

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline runs, aiming to retrieve her knife. She picks it up and notes, on the end, that the shadowy Crest Graph her copy had been using was starting to dissipate. This is proceeded by the shadow copies themselves disappearing.

Jacqueline...doesn't know why, but she assumes that means they win? The crowd seems just as confused, so Jacqueline uses the time to rush over to Catenna's side. The others seem alright, but Catenna...Catenna had taken quite the beating.

"That was a risky move there, but it was good thinking. Are you alright?" She asks, drawing a bottle of pale-blue liquid from her bag and handing it over to the priestess.

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

"Right?" huffs Shalune in response, even her endless enthusiasm dented as above them the announcer reveals the extent of her prize - just some ribbons. Not even some neat metal bits and bobs she can work with. She's pretty sure the ribbon won't even go into her pot, though maybe it can symbolize victory in one of her more esoteric recipes.

"But--" she adds after a moment, and breaks into a dazzling smile as she takes one of Lunata's hands in hers, then brings both into the air in a cheer. "We still won, right? Even if it was lunie-lame, we still punched through the Tournament! That's gotta be a good sign for our first trip out, right?" she beams, dazzlingly. "I mean, it's not like just anyone could manage that, right?"

In days to come, she will probably start to sulk as that suggestion gets overturned, but here and now she's offering the group a warm, infectious grin.

<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

"Purple," whispers Kourin thoughtfully, nursing her left arm - her double managed to tag her, a fairly deep cut. "I wonder if Sir Hiro would find an accent of purple appealing on me..." She then looks around to make sure nobody heard that, blushing.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"I do not know any Lunies who are lame," Catenna murmurs as she pulls out a little white facecloth and wipes at her chin.

Her eyelids lower ever so slightly as she looks back at the arena. "...However, the arena was certainly..." She pauses for a second.

"...Uninspired."

Again she dabs at her chin, smiling gratefully and taking the potion for Jay. "I am alright. Bit my tongue," she murmurs before taking a drink of the blue concoction. The potion's healing power kicks in pretty rapidly. When she lowers it, she flashes Jacqueline a quiet smile. "I assumed that they would care for their Lunata as much as we care for ours."

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata blushes at Catenna's suggestion, putting her hands behind her back. "A-aww... Miss Catenna, that's really nice of you. And-- you're right, Lunie! Even if it wasn't what we expected, I think... um, I think I had some fun? We had some soup, if nothing else." Aww, it doesn't take much for her enthusiasm to get springboarded back with Shalune's cheering, and Catenna's support!

She looks at Jacqueline with a little giggle. "We should celebrate! Miss Kourin was really fancy with her rapier, and Mister Ethius could think of a really cool plan to get us out... yeah, I agree, we worked well together!"

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius, annoyingly, offers little to answer to Catenna about what that was - at this point, what it was is irrelevant. It's gone. All it took was one good spell in the right place.

The purple participation ribbon might well just be as good a bribe as anything, to sweep the whole gesture under the rug. The people in charge no doubt were taking notes that the mysterious Symbologist was skulking about, putting eyes where he shouldn't.

For the time being, Ethius stands with his arms behind his back as he observes the other teammates and their relief, their frustration, their shrugging. His mouth cannot be seen from under the bandanna.

He closes his eyes.

He said to pay it no more mind, but what he saw that was supposed to be a reflection of him... what was that?

His head turns as Lunata praises his name, as though pulled out of deep thought.

"I would be inclined to agree that it is time for celebration," he says.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"Any copy of me that wouldn't would hardly be a proper copy of me at all." Jacqueline chuckles in response to Catenna. She then smiles and nods to Shalune, seeing an opportunity to make a speech.

"That's right. The reward - this ribbon - it doesn't mean much." She says, holding up the purple participation ribbon, and looking around at all of them, her friends and allies.

"The important things are the bonds that we've developed here today, and the friends we fought alongside." She places a hand over her heart.

"Our limits were tested - our patience, our intelligence, our strength...our ability to handles ourselves when faced with the darkness within. And we came out on top, together. That's the best prize of all." With a smile, she then glances toward Lunata and agrees with a nod.

"Yes, I agree. I think we all deserve a celebration." She says with a nod, and turns to stroll out of the arena.

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

There's a long pause as Jacqueline does the dramatic version of walking away from an explosion, except this time it's an explosion of victory and feelings. "... see... uh. I mean, when she can say that with a straight face and not blush, y'know, that's kinda why she's the leader, right...?" Shalune mumbles to Lunata, her head bowed a little. K-kyaa...

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata nods a few times to Shalune, though it's with a look of awe and adoration, definitely. "Uh huh."

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"As would any copy of me worth its salt," Catenna says with a quiet smile for Jacqueline, before laying a light hand on Lunata's shoulder for just a moment. "And I would not have said it were it not true."

Holding up her purple ribbon, she presses her lips together, then tucks it into her inventory to listen to Jacqueline's summing-up of the whole situation. She pulls her over-robe back out and drapes it around her shoulders once more before smiling quietly. "You are right... it was a good way to work together. So long as that was achieved, then it was... no waste at all."

<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin bows her head. "I am sorry I held you all back," she says, "but glad that that is not going to destroy our bonds."

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Shalune does at least beam up at Catenna and Kourin the next moment, even if her hands are still clasped with Lunata's as they do the Double Lunie Luminous together in Jacqueline's direction. "What-- you didn't hold us back at all!" she promises, nodding as solemnly as you get when you're a brightly-coloured pile of fuzz and comfort. "Um, I'm pretty sure the arena itself held us back more'n anything. I don't think I expected any of that stuff."

She detaches from her not-so-twin, catching Kourin's arm and grinning once at Spirit. "C'mon, we all did great! Let's go party!"