2017-07-08: A Venture into Sacred Grounds
- Log: A Venture into Sacred Grounds
- Cast: Avril Vent Fleur, Catenna, Matilda Whitehead, Kourin, Cyre H. Lorentz, Morgan Newkirk
- Where: Academy City of Linga
- Date: July 9th 2017
- Summary: Drawn by a vestige of a familiar feeling about the place, Avril comes to the Sacred Grounds of Linga. Others come too, in search of whatever it is that this place may be holding.
DG: A party led by Avril Vent Fleur is now entering Sacred Grounds of Linga. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Annoying Ascent *>======================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The path to the Sacred Grounds of Linga leads your party up a long and twisted mountain slope. Bare patches of earth suggest a path once existed, but now it seems you'd have to be half-goat to follow it in places. The first challenge of the Sacred Grounds, it seems, is climbing your way to the entrance. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
It would seem that the way to the Sacred Grounds have seen better days. The path up the slope is in places patchy and in other places just about nonexistant as it winds it way this way and that. A few sections are just about dangerous to traverse, cutting far too close to the side of the mountain. One slip could be treacherous.
For Avril's part, a side trip -- at her request, once she'd heard about the city -- from Lacour had led her here, vague sense of familiarity with the town building upon vague sense of familiarity once she had approached the path to the Sacred Grounds. There was... something important here?
This was probably where she'd been met, staring up at the path in silence.
Right now, Avril considers the winding path she's treading with a doubtful frown. "It seems dangerous here," she comments, staring at the cramped path that's cut far too narrowly. As if to undercut her comment, a few small pieces of it crumble off. "..."
Drawing the Medium from her gown, the young lady closes her eyes and focuses, the artificial channel to the Guardians briefly calling up Lucadia's fleetness.
"There," Avril says, a moment later. "That should suffice. Let us hurry."
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Annoying Ascent.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna's fairly sure she hasn't tried to plumb the depths of the Sacred Grounds of Linga yet. She's not entirely sure why. You'd think a secred place would be up her alley.
Her casual dress flutters around her legs as she moves towards the long mountain slope, peering up the vast incline with a small frown. She'd have to have a goat somewhere in her family tree to navigate that mess, and the best she can manage on that front is an alpaca.
Avril's someone she's unfamiliar with - but as the woman calls down the blessing of Lucadia, Catenna raises her eyebrows, smiling quietly. The power of the Guardian floods through her, suffusing her through with a lightening feeling. "Then we are of a kind," she murmurs, her tone low, but with a warmth to it.
She doesn't reach for her own medium just yet, but rather for a coil of rope with a grappling hook hanging from one hend. Planting her feet, Catenna swings the rope over her head, then casts it up the slope. The hook sails through the air in a long, lobbing arc before descending. In the distance, there's a steely 'kting' as the hook hits rock, latching onto a solid outcrop.
"Let us hurry," Catenna urges in that heavy accent as she begins to scale the slope, the magic and the rope cast making things much easier.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Grappling Hook toward her party's challenge, Annoying Ascent.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
There's one place Matilda is always eager to go, and that's the Sacred Grounds of Linga. It is, after all, the place that is the pinnacle of her art on Ignas; whenever she hears of the mere possibility of someone making an effort to explore the fruitful cave and its unusual plant life, she's there!
That is to say, she's here. Now. Not too far behind Avril, in fact. "It's fairly dangerous -- there are some unusual monsters deep in the cave, and not every plant that lives here has been categorized," Matilda offers. "For now, though -- let's keep moving." She takes a moment to stretch out her fingers. She's still getting used to her new gloves.
She does not, for now, have much in the way of further comments; she does give a glance to Catenna. When it comes to being 'of a kind,' she feels completely cut out -- not that she lets it bother her as she makes her ascent the old fashioned way -- one hand over the other... albeit with the aid of a Guardian.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Annoying Ascent.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin and Spirit have accompanied Catenna - and thus everyone else - and are managing to keep up with relative ease. Kourin has changed her hairstyle slightly - she's braided it, a new look for her. Her outfit, once the uniform of the Guard, has also changed drastically and repeatedly, but she's settled on a practical set of otherwise nondescript travelers clothes.
"Careful, Spirit," she warns the dog after his hind legs slip after a gravelly jump.
DG: Kourin has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Annoying Ascent.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"You know, I do have to wonder how sacred these grounds must be, considering the amount of foot traffic this place seems to get." A familiar, hooded face-- to at least a handful of this expedition's membership-- makes his way up the cliff face... Well, uh. The easy way? He's sitting on a wooden plank, around which has been secured what looks to be an enormous sheet of patchwork leather. The chute is open, catching a staggering updraft that only this strange man on his makeshift perch can feel.
The benefits of shamanism.
"I mean, some of those hand-holds look awfully well-worn." He reaches out with a crooked staff, tapping at the rock-face as he ascends towards its zenith. "You see? Here, and here, and here..." Sure enough, some of those stones seem to have been worn away in places, and in others, the rock face has darkened by continuous exposure to oil and grime. "Huh. Well, best not to underestimate this thing either, eh?"
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Reverse Parachute toward his party's challenge, Annoying Ascent.
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
Ambling up the way, the ears are what appears on the field of view first. Those familiar to some foxes ears as Morgan Newkirk makes his unhurried way towards the ascent.
Behind him just off the trail is a bit of an odd sight. A feline critter with a sandy coat and long fur tufts on the end of a pair of sharp cat ears. Just over two foot at the shoulder, the prowling can paces the Fox as he makes his way towards the 'entrence'. Wairily it peers at the others there, eyes wides as it takes the measure of the rest of them.
"Whelp," The drawl from the fox man is amused. "Seems like y'all are mighty useful to have around." A glance at Avril at that burst of agility he can feel surge forth. "Much obliged, ma'am."
His eyes turn towards the cat-thing and the Fox smirks slightly. "Right. Cat. You stay. We'll be back soon."
He totally wasn't talking to Cyre! Really!
The cat chuffs quietly then thumps himself down on a rock. Doing what cats do best. Ignoring the rest of the people there exist.
He turns, nodding towards Catenna with a grin as he flexes his gauntlet. "Evenin' again, little miss Spice." He drawls as he rolls his wrist to cause his energy grapel to spool out of the palm of his ARM.
Kourin gets a grin as a wave as he starts to wind up the grapel. "New look there, Kourin?" He inquires before he turns to grin and laugh at Cyre's words.
"Well, if there sacred maybe there is some hidden order climbin up the whole time doin some kind of rituals up there?" He lets the grapel fly to help himself up. "Would explain all the trafic wouldn't it?"
DG: Morgan Newkirk has used his Tool Force Lash toward his party's challenge, Annoying Ascent. DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has passed this challenge! The party gained 22 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I see. Then, we will need to be careful once we get further in," Avril says with a nod, a brief glance towards Matilda. "Thank you, Matilda."
And to Morgan: "You are welcome."
'One of a kind', Catenna comments to her. Avril glances the other woman's way, looking a touch blank, tilts her head slightly to the right. "'One of a kind'? What do you mean?" she asks.
Briefly, her gaze follows Spirit as the dog's back leg nearly slips. "Please be careful," she calls out, tucking the Medium away.
"Perhaps, it is a pilgrimage site," Avril ventures, stepping forward to cross the rock pathway herself as she reaches out to take hold one of the handholds Cyre pointed out. "Some of the students come here, it seems, to judge by what the people in Linga said."
Everything adds up though, when it comes to the ascent: Cyre points out the handholds that other travelers have used in the past (while keeping somewhat above of the scenario with his perch), and the invocation of the Sea Guardian likely help, while use of the grappling hook and lines ensure others don't simply take a long fall off the path. Sure footing and carefully timed leaps will see them through and up the path towards where it leads.
DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* CHALLENGE - Keyless Keyhole *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Up ahead is a large door, its frame and surface hardened stone. The door itself doesn't seem to budge no matter how hard you push, but there is a keyhole - too bad you haven't seen a key anywhere in this place. Maybe there's some way... =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Now now, Matilda is still Catenna's cool friend. She's just not a cool friend who has found Christ. But that can be arranged if Matilda will sow some seed faith.
As Cyre comes prowling up the rock face, Catenna glances at him out of the corner of her eyes and clears her throat softly. "Yes... yes, it does seem to be... quite well-travelled. But...." She sets her jaw and continues to climb, the effort of it enough that she doesn't finish her sentence.
Then Morgan picks out a nickname for her and it turns out to be Little Miss Spice. The priestess's cheeks flush gently. "Good day again," she answers him, though there's a hint of mild embarrassment under the stoicism.
She skips over another rock, and soon enough they're at the top. Coiling her rope up and stowing it, Catenna sends a mellow smile back to Avril. "I carry Celesdue's Medium," she explains before whisking along.
And before long, she stops in front of the drifter's worst nightmare: A door. The priestess lowers her eyelids and sighs, setting her hands at her hips and squinting at the keyless opening. Laying a hand against it, she gives a little push. "It may be too solid to move through, ah, the use of main force," she says in that heavy accent of hers, looking back to the group -
Which is when she realies that Morgan, too, has ears and a tail. Her eyes widen as she looks between him and Cyre.
She closes them, then.
(No, self. Their ears may be cute, but...!)
Forcing her mind away from kemonomimi heaven, she moves through the corridor, playing her hands along the walls. "There may be a switch. A... loose brick, perhaps, or a flagstone. We must find what the trigger for the door is...!"
DG: Catenna has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Keyless Keyhole.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
"You're welcome, Miss Avril," Matilda says, with a smile. "I've been here a few times before, of course -- so I'll try to kep you abreast of what I know!"
The topic of the 'sacred' in the Sacred Grounds comes up, and Matilda brightens. "Actually, 'sacred' is really more historical... mostly it's a resource-gathering site now," Matilda notes. "These caves haven't been meaningfuly passable for... well, suffice it to say it's a very long time! The front is full of compounding resources, and the rear... well, I understand it used to have an altar or something, but again -- those days are many years hence." It always pays to have a local!
As they get situated within the ruins and come to the door, Matilda says, "Oh, good -- we must have managed a very good angle of approach!" The compounder moves up to the door, saying, "Exactly, Miss! There's a trick stone in almost all of these, as I recall -- though Mr. Jeane never bothered telling us underclassmen the secret..." She starts to run her hands up and down the hard door. "Ah -- Mr. Lorentz, could you give me a hand?" she asks, gesturing.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Keyless Keyhole.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin nods to Morgan in response to his question. "I...want to avoid being recognized at a glance," she says. "You are...no doubt aware of the bounty that has been placed on me," she continues, explaining. "The Guard are my former comrades, and many of them would know my appearance well. With so many in Lacour for the tournament..."
Spirit barks. Kourin smiles at him. "Spirit, see if you can find something to open this lock," she encourages him.
Spirit is a Good Boy, and even though he doesn't know what Mistress is asking him to find, he knows he is good at the Finding Game. He bounds around, sniffing at the ground, as Kourin joins the effort to search for a way in.
DG: Kourin has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Keyless Keyhole.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Hmn, if that's true, then I genuinely wonder what was being worshipped in here. That's actually pretty interesting. Maybe we'll run into the vengeful spirit of a forgotten god or something like that?" Cyre chuckles; nomenclature can be funny sometimes. "Hello there, miss Catenna!" Cyre gives her a toothy (fangy!?) grin. Something... under his hood seems to stir!? Or maybe she was just seeing things? "Lovely day for an adventure, isn't it?"
He dismounts from his makeshift, wind-powered elevator once he reaches the top of the slope and spends a moment collecting the enormous chute back into some hidden pocket in his cloak. "Looks like we have a locked door?" Cyre frowns, making his way over to the enormous stone slab. He runs a gloved hand over its surface, searching for a catchment or a handle or something that might turn to open this thing up. "Strange that it has a keyhole but we haven't seen a key." There's a beat. "...Maybe we should check under the welcome mat?"
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Keyless Keyhole.
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
"Usually the secret is ta find the stone thats just a bit too regular, or in this case one that looks a bit discolored. Since like Cyre pointed out, rock gets discolored the more people touch it." Morgan calls as he steps forwards to look at the wall to one side of the door.
There is a chuckle at Kourin's comment though. "Well good on you, I usually find a bounty a good way ta gage how well things are going. Its like a score card. Just one that ya shouldn't always go wavin around in the wrong places."
Experimentally he starts trying a few of the rocks as one ear flicks back and forth and his tail curls round one leg.
"Anything specific we looking for in here, miss?" This comment towards Avril. "Just so we know what to keep an eye out for?"
DG: Morgan Newkirk has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Keyless Keyhole.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Any advice that you can give about what we might face here would be appreciated," comes Avril's response to Matilda, her gaze briefly lifted as she stares towards the top of the mountain. "I have this feeling that there is something important here..."
"A Medium...?" Slowly, Avril blinks at Catenna. "But I don't feel anything -- oh, of course." It must not be artificial, she realizes mid sentence, catching herself. "I see."
As they ascend, Matilda fills them in on what the 'sacred' in Sacred Grounds even means. "That... appears to match some of what I heard, but the context does help. So this place was once... Um..." Briefly, Avril hesitates, furrowing her brow as if something's nagging at her. "What sort of altar? Does it still exist?"
And then, there's a door. "It doesn't look like there's a key." Silence trails out on Avril's part as she glances hither and yon, her hands clasped before her. "I don't see a handle. Perhaps there could be a switch...?" Her gaze glides across the pathway leading up to the door.
Or a trick stone. Approaching the door, she runs a gloved hand down its length. "Is it possible for it to be above the door, or somewhere nearby? Or is it always in the door itself?" she asks Matilda, before taking a step back as if to check for anything unusual.
Morgan asks, then, what they're looking for. "I don't know," she answers him, glancing back over a shoulder. "I feel that there's something important here, but... I can't remember what it is."
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Keyless Keyhole. DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has passed this challenge! The party gained 32 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.
"Is that so?" Catenna murmurs, blinking back at Matilda. "I did not know there was such history to this place... how interesting." The girl's just full of useful information!
The group roots through the corridor, feeling around for whatever the trick stone happens to be.
Then Cyre grins at her. Catenna moues her lips as she looks up from the wall, fingers tracing the wall as she goes along. "Hello again, Cyre... and yes, it is a... it is a lovely day to explore. Please remain safe."
Her fingers halt over a stone. She blinks at it, pressing at it - but it's not her who finds the loose stone. Rather, the success belongs to Matilda. The woman's fingertips find a little flaw in the surface of the door itself - and with a bit of pressure, she's able to find a lever hidden within the rock itself. Stone grinds sullenly against stone as the door slides open, revealing a dark cavern beyond.
Blinking, Catenna squints into the gloom. She looks back to the group, then, clearing her throat. "Then let us move on," she says, sliding her Medium into her hand.
Catenna's Medium is not artificial. It's a stone tablet with some writing and a moon symbol on it.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* CHALLENGE - Fallen Filligree *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- These strange, swirling creatures look like they may once have been guardian spirits, nearly-formless creatures of pure air. Unfortunately, the air in this part of the cave is pretty rank, and the creatures bring their full flavour to bear as they fight. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Treasure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre's medium isn't artificial either. It's a thing that he keeps very secret, very close to his heart. Such things are important to his people, after all. One must treasure it like the air one breathes.
Sometimes, though, the air can kind of stink.
Sometimes, the air can stink pretty darn bad.
SOMETIMES, THE AIR IS FILLED WITH SWIRLING CLOUDS OF STINK, LIKE THE SULFUROUS EMISSIONS OF HELL ITSELF.
This is what the party finds itself face to face with. Dancing, vaguely brown-ish twisters that reek on a level not entirely physical. They reek spiritually, too, smelling of stagnation, corruption, spirits which have been forgotten, whose worship has been forsaken.
A priest would quell their rage.
Cyre just kind of extends a hand and blasts them with a sharp gust of wind. "Iiiii really do not think we have time to deal with these right now. Scatter them! We can come back to put them to rest later!"
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Fallen Filligree.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Thanks to everyone else's assistance, Matilda is able to narrow her search quickly, and press her fingers into the stone in short order. "Here we are!" she says brightly, as the door opens into the cavern proper.
It helps that Matilda's spent a good five or six years of her life in Linga. She's been going to this cave for a long, long time. "Ah -- I"m not sure... most expeditions don't make it dreadfully deep. We seem to have gotten a good angle of approach and are making excellent time, though!"
Things can't keep going that well, though -- sure enough, the group almost immediately runs into the airy spirits of the cave. "Oh -- oh my, I've only seen this once! What approach did we find?" Matilda asks, with clear enthusiasm -- shortly before reaching into her coat and hurling a bottle into the middle of the group of spirits. "That should disrupt the air around them -- move quickly!" she says, before drawing Freischütz and firing into them in hopes of dispersing them, per Cyre's instructions. Taking control of the situation like this is hardly her usual approach -- but she must admit, it feels good to assert herself a little more than she usually does...
DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Succubus Bottle toward her party's challenge, Fallen Filligree.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Just what Catenna needs: Ghastly fart fog.
Gasping softly, Catenna nearly gags as she catches the first whiff of the scent of these rank, creatures. She reaches for her collar, only to realize she can't pull it up because her collar is a fairly deep, wide V. "Goodness," she gasps instead, pinching her nose between her thumb and forefinger and recoiling away as though to merely inhale in here would kill her. She cringes and presses back into the doorframe.
Cradling her medium in her free hand, she utters a few words. "Diwalab diabe," she attempts.
Nothing happens.
She tries again, to no avail. Then she widens her eyes as she realizes that the way she's holding her nose is distorting her words too much for the call out to Celesdue to truly be clear.
A horrible feeling occurs to her. As Cyre plays with the wind, though, she braces herself.
And she releases her nose.
"Ni'oalan diale," she calls out clearly as she plays her fingers over her medium. There's a low thrum in the air - and then an immense gravitational force fills the corridor.
Don't ask how, but Catenna is somehow using gravity to affect gas. She's pulling the fumes into the floor as hard as she can and compressing them magically.
If she does it right, she'll manage to actually re-liquefy a couple of them into smelly puddles.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, Fallen Filligree.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Matilda finds the hidden lever that allows the door to open. "Well done," Avril comments, taking one last glance around before heading onwards.
Blue eyes fall on the stone tablet. Avril's supposition was correct. Catenna uses a traditional Medium instead. "A Baskar, then...?"
She's learned some -- before the incident in the Temple of Rejection, even. But even then, all she learned about most Mediums is that they are usually used by the Baskar. As opposed to artificial ones, which can be used by anyone. Anyone human.
And her own, original artificial Medium, which theoretically it seems, could be used by absolutely anyone.
But while their way forward is no longer hindered by a door, it doesn't mean that it goes WITHOUT obstructions.
Namely, the rotting remnants of some beings that may once have been subject of worship in this place.
"So, these things stand in our way... They feel lost, alone..." Avril, briefly, hesitates, staring the corrupted spirits down. "...I am sorry," she says at last, drawing out what looks like little more than a hilt of a sword.
A hilt, if it had a trigger. The air sizzles as the beam whip manifests. Lashing the weapon from the ground and upwards at the nearest of the defiled things, she arcs the line of plasma around once more as she steps with practiced grace closer to the frontline of the battlefield.
"Be at rest."
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Beam Whip Mode toward her party's challenge, Fallen Filligree.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Spirit whines. The smell is bad! Kourin wrinkles her nose, producing from somewhere a blue clay sphere.
Cold air sinks, right? Kourin hurls the ball at the ground and it bursts into a blast of cold, helping Catenna's gravity keep these things low. She follows with ice magic, piercing through the gaseous beings.
DG: Kourin has used her Tool Rimebomb toward her party's challenge, Fallen Filligree.
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
Morgan found many cracks when looking for that specific rock. Sadly all he actually found was a spider bite to one finger. Waving his hand to get said arachanid detached the fox grumbles for a moment as he turns towards the door, ears flattening slightly against his skull in annoyance before...
...oh. These.
Morgan sighs. "This will teach me not to go some place without a passel of air fresheners..." The Digger growls as he snaps his gauntlet up. Thin veins of energy brighten on its surface as the powers in the ancient ARM call forth blue-white shields from thing air. The energy screens blocking the advance of the clouds, channeling them into Catenna's gravity, Cyre's winds, Matilda's shots, and other various and assorted magics thrown at them. Giving them no way to go but away from the little band of adventurers.
"Go on! Git!" He calls out as he notes...he's the odd man out this time. So much magic, and its just him.
He'll start moving forward as he takes short breaths though his mouth. He's smelled worse, but not by much. "Come on, lets move!"
DG: Morgan Newkirk has used his Tool Shield Gauntlet toward his party's challenge, Fallen Filligree. DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Unholy stink tornados are nothing compared to the prodigious amount of raw firepower being brought to bear by just about everyone involved in this little expedition. Gravity and ice collapse the clouds into vile, brown puddles. Gunshot and even worse-smelling fluid causes several to scatter and fade. A laser whip and a barrier system keep the creatures at bay, funneling them into kill-zones that disperse whatever's left. All in all, the operation is executed like clockwork.
Well, almost like clockwork.
Cyre pauses only just a moment to flash Catenna a double thumbs up.
Why?
Reasons.
The Zoa Priest humms a merry tune as the spirits settle back into the stone for the time being. "Well! That wasn't so bad. Let's keep going?"
DG: Matilda Whitehead has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* CHALLENGE - OWLBEARS OWLBEARS *>======================= |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Part owl, part bear, and part hate, an owlbear is a giant monster with the body of a bear and the head of a very angry owl. Also they use swords. An owlbear - the Linga Academy-approved word for a gathering of owlbears - of owlbears owl out in fury and barrel their way toward you, swords waving. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Injure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
The good news: The time being made here is incredible! The bad news: the stink gets worse, not better, after the spirits are dispersed. The reason becomes apparent shortly:
Owlbears! They appear out of the mist -- though their speed is slow, and the group has time to prepare.
"Ah -- I had always thought these were just rumors! They must've been attracted by..." Matilda pauses, before trailing off. "...It doesn't matter. We -- everyone, move back! Hurry!" She hurls another bottle at the leader of the pack, then slams another box of undifferentiated bullets into Freischütz's magazine slot-slash-reservoir and fires a few three-round bursts.
"That's quite the weapon," Matilda adds, to Avril. "Where did you happen to come by it...?"
She follows her sentence up with a long, low hop, as a second wave of owlbears starts to pour in. Is there no end to them?!
DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Succubus Bottle toward her party's challenge, OWLBEARS OWLBEARS.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna bows her head shallowly as she glances over at Avril. "Are have some things in common with them," she murmurs. "I am of the Zortroa, of Elru."
As Cyre flashes her the thumbs-up, Catenna presses her lips gently together, but it gives way to a faint smile. There's something to it that's just the slightest bit shy.
The shyness doesn't last, mostly because all of a sudden, there are owlbears. They come trundling out of the mist, slowly, but enough for Catenna to be surprised. She draws in a soft breath before stepping back into the depths of the party ranks, positioning herself closer to the back than to the front.
Long fingers dance through the air above her Medium. Chanting softly in her own language, Catenna begins to cast, unleashing her spells in rapid succession. The first wave of Owlbears comes lurching in more slowly than expected, encumbered by the insane force of gravity doubling and tripling itself to increase the real weight of their bodies and make every movement a struggle. The spells themselves will not crush the monsters, merely encumber and slow them down for her better-armed comrades to pick off at their leisure.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, OWLBEARS OWLBEARS.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin pulls out a second one of the blue clay orbs. "These beasts are vile," she states, hurling it towards them and drawing forth her rapier--she wields it with a facility speaking of long hours of training, her free hand gathering the energy for a large spell. After a brief but violent few moments, a storm of ice forms above the owlbear of owlbears, raining frozen doom upon them. Spirit barks and darts among those outside the range of the spell, herding them in towards the sharp icicles falling thanks to Kourin's magic.
DG: Kourin has used her Tool Rimebomb toward her party's challenge, OWLBEARS OWLBEARS.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Gravity is a hell of a drug. There's something else keeping those owlbears down, though. A veritable double-whammy of crushing force. Cyre makes his way forward from the rear echelons of the group, his staff held aloft and its crooked head somehow aglow with shining winds. The air feels... Heavy. Heavier than it aught to. A tremendous pressure wave blasts down upon the endless hordes of owlbears, not just slowing them down, but crushing them. Pressing them into the stone floor.
It has the added benefit of blowing that awful stink back, too.
Hooray, wind magic!
"Just keep them back, just like this," Cyre mutters around the sorcery being woven into the air itself. "Keep them back, pick them off. I don't like our chances in a melee, not with so many of us all clumped up together here."
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, OWLBEARS OWLBEARS.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
The corrupted spirits are defeated, but it does little for the smell, sadly.
The laser beam fades out moments later, its current charge expended. The remaining 'hilt' of the ARM remains in Avril's hand as she straightens from the crouched posture that the form of her final strike had left her in.
Blue eyes slide again sidelong towards Catenna. An accent, she catches it now, but cannot place it. "Similar then... I was unaware of it." Her delicate brow creases, as if she were silently interrogating something -- perhaps some past discussion with another person -- over that statement. "Elru..."
She glances over her shoulder at Matilda. "Where did I find it...? ...I don't remember. It was on my person when I awoke in the Golem's hand."
That's... a heck of a thing to just come out and say and positively begs for further explanation--
but
--they have company. In owlbear form.
"There are more opponents. I am sorry," she says, throwing her hand out sharply as the beam whip burns to life again. "But we must get past you!" She darts forward, then, once again lashing the burning line of light before her as she moves in.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Beam Whip Mode toward her party's challenge, OWLBEARS OWLBEARS.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Gosh, stop apologizing!" Cyre says over all the horrible sounds of combat. "They're owlbears! They're all jerks! I've never met an owlbear who didn't want to eat me!"
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna's accent is distinctive - and not quite the same as Baskar from around here, or even from Aquvy.
"I have met owlbears who do not want to eat me," Catenna murmurs over the thrum of gravity spells in action. "And not all beasts are mindless and savage."
These ones are, though. She keeps casting.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Oh, I see--" says Avril, driving a further lash of her laser whip towards owlbear flesh.
...Yeah.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"What, really?" Cyre asks as he doubles up on the pressure again. "I don't see how that could be, I mean--"
WIND BLADE.
"You look pretty tasty to me."
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
"There will be time for playfulness later," Kourin says as she skewers one.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna blushes deeply and shoots Cyre a look. "You," she begins, but Kourin cuts her off.
She casts her next spell, though she's still blushing.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Freischütz's report rings out mid-conversation. "Is this really what we're discussing?!" she asks, over the gunshot.
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
"I'm gonna have ta go with Cyre on this one!" Morgan calls out as one of the owlbears lunges towards the Drifter. Claws shread fabric as it catches his shirt as the fox leaps back in the nick of time. His own ARM comes up as he grins slightly.
"What you think?" He calls out to the group at large as his arm starts to glow with its own compleatly non-magical power. Blue energy coalecing into a weapon attached to the back of his arm as he levels it at the cretures. "I think this calls for something loud, and explosive."
What forms is a large bore weapon, heavier than a rifle but not quite a cannon.
As a round charges he grins as the creature bears down on him. Eyes wide and ears up.
The roar of the automatic shotgun fills the air as his ARM thumps out solid slugs into the massive bodies of the opponents.
Wait. Hold on.
"Did you say you woke up in a Golem's hand?"
Then a bright grin. "You tell her Crye! And come on Kourin! In the middle of battle is the best time for playfulness!"
This said as he charges one of the creatures and leaps over it, firing down at its back as he gets out of its damn way.
DG: Morgan Newkirk has used his Tool Shield Gauntlet toward his party's challenge, OWLBEARS OWLBEARS. DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
The Owlbears, in the end, are not actually that much of a threat; there's a lot of long-distance combat potential here, so by the time the group gets to closer-quarters battlers like Avril, the herd is pretty well thinned. Morgan has their attention in a big way, too -- he's picked a loud, explosive approach indeed, and that makes it hard for the rest of them to really put together a coherent offense.
"Phew... that was close," Matilda breathes, clearly tiring out. "Is -- is that it? Quickly, take a look around the room for any remnants!" She doesn't quite manage to answer Avril just yet; she's clearly still a little keyed up from the combat, to say the least. Is she not cut out for this -- or too cut out for it?
Either way, her heart's racing in a nearly-still room.
DG: Morgan Newkirk has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Punishing Piston *>======================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- With the owlbear of owlbears defeated, the treasure you have sought lies in the room beyond! Unfortunately, the door to it is already closing, thanks to some ancient mechanism triggered in the fighting. If your party can manage to hold the door open long enough, someone might be able to slip through and grab it, but it's been a long dungeon and you've had no time to rest since the fight... =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
Barrel smoking and the echos of the cacophany caused by his weapon, the fox smirks slightly as he lowers the gun to his side. "Nothin' like a bit of excitement ta get the blood moving!" He says with a grin before he glances down at the holes in his shirt. "...man. I liked this shirt..."
A shrug of his shoulders before he leans back against the wall. "So now what--WOAH!"
...and the wall dissipears as his shoulder touches it. Leaning him lying on his back staring at...a...large stone door that is now coming right down towards him.
"Not expected!" He calls out as he raises his arms to try to catch it so he doesn't get entirely crushed. "Little help here!!"
DG: Morgan Newkirk has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Punishing Piston.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna gasps as Morgan jumps in to support Cyre's flirtations. "You are both incorrigible!" she manages to protest in between casts.
Looking ahead, she presses her lower lip at the sight of the door up ahead beginning to grind closed - around Morgan, no less. The priestess darts forward but she's at the back of the group and thus unable to really reach Morgan in time to physically help on the dot. "Hang on," she calls out, her blush draining away along with a hint of her natural colour, her face pale with worry as she dashes towards the door.
Gravity will do no good here, she realizes. Morgan is too close to the door. She would just compress him, too. As she rushes to the door, planting her modestly-heeled boots in the turf, she comes to the only conclusion she can.
She attempts to grip the edge of the door and pull back with what little strength she has. Planting her heels, she presses a knee against the doorframe as if to try and incorporate her hip strength too and give herself some leverage. It doesn't do much. Her heels begin to leave small ruts in the turf.
"It's-- it's too heavy--"
DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Punishing Piston.
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
"Incorrigible is one of the nicer things I've been called! Now push!" Morgan quips as he keeps on with his own advice.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin adds her meager strength to the effort, straining to be useful.
DG: Kourin has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Punishing Piston.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
"Certainly! Just a moment --" Matilda says, fumbling in her pack for a few moments. She finds a bottle in short order -- and hurls it toward the massive stone door. On impact, it lets out a high-pitched hissing noise; its purpose, of course, is to eat through the door, solving the problem not by stopping it but by leaving a pretty massive hole under it in which to safely stay. ... assuming there isn't a drastic amount of extra material in there, anyway.
This also has the effect of making it much lighter for the rest of the group. "Get low!" she calls, just to be safe.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Bubble Lotion toward her party's challenge, Punishing Piston.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Yes," Avril says, once the dust has settled. Charge expended once again, she tucks away the ARM. Turning towards Morgan, she begins to say, "I awoke in the left hand of a Golem--"
Blue eyes widen. A gloved hand makes it about halfway to her lips. "The door is... closing? --Something must have been triggered during--"
Shaking her head, silver hair sent briefly aflutter, the young woman hesitates no longer, rushing up to put her hands and back into the mix, ducking briefly as Matilda hurls her bottle at the door. "If... someone... can get inside..." Avril gasps, straining with the effort.
But if they went in, would they be trapped?
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Punishing Piston.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Aw," Cyre smirks, "But you're even more adorable when you're flustered, I can't help i--" Beat. "Oh." That's a crushing-wall-trap. One that everyone is... Throwing themselves to. Cyre just sort of...
Stands outside the crushing mechanism of this entirely too massive stone pillar, because that seems like a good place to be instead of 'underneath it, trying to push it up and away?'
He frowns slightly as literally everyone else decides to be all cavalier and heroic about it, though, and idly breathes a sigh. "Well." He says, fishing around in his robes for something or other, "This isn't exactly my thing, but..."
A censer. It begins emitting a fragrant, refreshing aroma. The kind of scent that somehow invigorates the soul and soothes the body. Some kind of ancient Baskar recipe, perhaps? Or maybe something... Psychoactive!?
Nah, he'd never do that without permission.
"Here, everyone. Take deep breaths. This'll help take the sting away. Push with all you've got!"
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, Punishing Piston. DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has successfully explored Sacred Grounds of Linga!
======================<* CHALLENGE - Really Weird Paper *>====================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Discovery |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Inside the chest was... some sort of really old...paper? Is this thing even paper? It's not even written in a language you understand. Maybe a linguist would help, but where would you find one of...oh right, Linga. You should send a +request regarding this discovery! =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
"Usually I'm havin' more fun than this when I'm on my back..." Morgan grunts as he works to keep himself from being crushed. Between everyone's efforts though the pillar inches its way back up into the ceiling...and...
"I can see somethin!" He calls as he wriggles further into the farther room. Long arms and legs work as searching fingers find a chest and...
And he pulls! Pulls with everything he has.
Hooking one arm around the closet ankle he can find he yanks himself back though the once more shrinking gap with a treasure just as the pillar smashes down into place.
Sitting up, breathing heavy, his back against the now sealed portal he shoves the treasure box in the middle of the group with a foot before forcing it open and...
"Huh," Papers. Well preserved too. "...looks like its gonna be a trip ta Linga in our future."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I..." Avril gasps, her arms shaking. "I'm sorry, but I can't..."
Relinquishing her grasp on the pillar, she staggers away, hunched over and breathing hard. The scent in the air at least eases some of the ache that's awakening in her muscles, but all she can do now is watch, one blue eye halfway shut as...
As Morgan fishes out the contents from behind the pillar
And as he -- and the rest -- narrowly escape an unfortunate fate.
She straightens. "Is everyone...?"
She blinks.
Trailing up curiously behind Morgan as he pries the chest open, she watches as he brings out into the light a... set of old papers.
"Oh..." Is that recognition in her eyes? Whatever it is, it's fleeting, replaced swiftly by a troubled frown. "...Have I seen this before...?"
Linga. She blinks, then collects herself. "Oh, yes. Perhaps the scholars may be able to shed some light on this mystery."
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin leans in to see the papers. "Could they be a holy text?" she asks.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Who would've thought Catenna had any upper body strength?
Contributing to holding the door open takes every muscle she's got. She tosses her head back and groans - but sure enough, working together, they're able to stop it! The priestess stumbles forward with a heavy breath, sweating profusely as she staggers into the room beyond the jammed door. "Great Celesdue," she pants, wiping an arm across her forehead.
"Yes... yes, I am alright," she murmurs. She's still breathing hard, though, as she slides up behind Morgan and Avril. As they unlock the chest, the woman's eyes widen. It's not recognition in her face so much as it a certain wonder.
An ancient secret from a time long past... and they've found it, barely.
"Yes... yes, Linga may be a good place for this," she murmurs as she looks back towards the others. Her eyes settle on Cyre for a moment, then back to Kourin. "They... may be... but we must find someone who can... decipher the text."
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
"I really don't want to hear that," Matilda says, scrunching up her whole face at Morgan's comment. That's all she offers for a while -- but when it comes out that a text has been found, there are practically stars in her eyes.
... then she thinks a second and her expression becomes quite crestfallen. "Mmff... we'll just have to hope that either Prof. Krasner is sick, or that he was rooting for someone in the round of 25 or round of 17... or this is going to be a long wait in Linga."
She laughs at this particular moment -- though it's good-natured, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
Morgan just has to give Matilda a wicked grin for a moment as he starts to leaf though some of the papers, carefully, carefully. "Found something like this before, could be similar. But all I can really tell is the language is simliar."
His eyes flicker towards Avril for a moment. "You reconise it though, Golem Girl?" He adds with a grin once more as he hands her one of the pages.
Carefully.
His arms don't quite want to move right.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Man... All the way out here for a few papers, huh?" Cyre says, still surrounded in that amazing-smelling smokescreen. He takes a few deep breaths and wobbles ever so slightly on his feet before settling down on a conveniently-shaped stalagmite. He sighs as he stretches his legs out. "Weeeeelll. At least we got something, right? Heh, might be an interesting read, at that."
Beat.
"Why don't you just hire someone else to do the translation?"