2017-08-05: Moths and Scutums

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=================================<* Mirapulse *>==================================

The town of Mirapulse is best summed up in one word: desolate. Built into the jagged rock walls of the mountain ranges of eastern Ignas, Mirapulse and its surrounding areas are one of the few territories on the continent directly controlled by the mysterious Veruni. Nothing green grows here; the surrounding landscape of Mirapulse is nothing but brown and rock and dirt, with sparse, spartan homes few and far between that are decorated more prominently by ramshackle carts and shacks. There is a ramping, winding path that encircles the entirety of the rock-encased enclosure, creating a second level of roughshod homes and stores -- and most prominently, a large saloon built directly into the mountainside.

Mirapulse is known ostensibly as a mining town. Those who are born here grow up to be miners, irrespective of their own wishes, and the human citizens of Mirapulse all toil in the ruins and caverns that dot the mountains surrounding the simple town, excavating not resources, but ancient technology, relics and other ARMs for their Veruni masters. The mines of Mirapulse run deep and plentiful; excavations are carried by the Veruni trans-continental railway to Gounon, and further still into the heartland of the Veruni Control Zones themselves.

It is rumored that actual Veruni can be found in Mirapulse, serving as overseers to the citizens of the town, but very few people who venture into the Veruni-controlled territory... because the few who do rarely ever come back.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u9eNGFqGpU
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has created a party! To join, type +party/reset and then type +party/join Ida Everstead-Rey.
DG: Elena has joined your party!
DG: Claude C. Kenny has joined your party!
DG: Talise Gianfair has joined your party!
DG: A party led by Ida Everstead-Rey is now entering Temple of Rejection.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Don't Wine About It *>======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The entrance to the interior of the temple is, generally speaking, a massive  
 stone wall with no noticeable locking mechanisms or method of operation.      
 Right now, though, that wall just simply isn't there, letting you freely      
 wander in to the massive entrance hall, full of beautiful, stone-wrought      
 paths and pillars and at its very center, three large, floating crystals:     
 one red, one white, one blue.                                                 
                                                                               
 At least, that entrance is open for as long as it takes you to step inside,   
 at which point the wall will just suddenly reappear behind you as if by       
 magic as alarms blare all around you for your intrusion, easily as big as a   
 Gear and dense enough to withstand the strongest of blows. There's no way to  
 go but forward, now, with a stone-carved console from a bygone era capable    
 of opening one of many paths further into the Temple of Rejection if you can  
 but figure out how to use it, but hey, it's not all bad: some kind soul left  
 a couple bottles of that extremely popular and extremely expensive Johnny     
 Appleseed wine out of the goodness of their hearts! Wait. Aren't those        
 supposed to be a sacred offering to the temple--? Well, whatever. Enjoy!      
 You're gonna need it.                                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida needs materials to reconstruct Devil's Due. She also needs to case a new archaeological site that--evidently--just produced new finds despite existing as a known quantity in the region for decades. This is what led her to the Temple of Rejection, after a brief stopover in Gounon to hitch the horses, buy some gear, and walk to the temple on foot.

It isn't even five minutes in before things start going wrong.

Ida takes all of ten steps into the temple, poncho billowing around her, before the horrible cacophony begins. She whirls towards the door, but the door is--not there. "Damnation," she hisses, glancing around the room before spotting the console. That looks to be some manner of control mechanism. Ida rushes up to it, pulls out her mother's notebook, and turns to the (comparatively miniscule) section on symbols found in Gounon. All of three on the control panel are recorded.

Ida does not touch the wine. Instead, she palms something else off her belt, takes a swig, and puts it back.

It occurs to her that she's not nearly drunk enough to deal with this. Or with life in general, lately.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flora's Notebook toward her party's challenge, Don't Wine About It.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

More and more, Talise has been thinking about home.

It's entirely possible that this mysterious temple could hold something that might help her find her way back to Lunar - but even if it's not, she's got to support her friend, especially after Ida was wounded at the hands of yet another cosmic horror. Maybe Talise couldn't have prevented it. But it bothers her that she got so caught up in the tournament that she was lost in a match with Alisha instead of protecting Ida and the others.

It's why she's sticking pretty close to Ida, sword in hand and ARM slung over her shoulder as she moves towards the console. Another of those damn windows. What is it with those damned windows?

Scowling, Talise gives the console a kick. "Why does everything have to be so damned futuristic," she mutters, suddenly furious with herself again.

How the hell is she ever supposed to help Ida when even when she does figure out technology, something new and more advanced just crops up and confuses her? How is she ever supposed to feel like she has a place on Filgaia?

DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Don't Wine About It.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia Lampbright, the tiniest of Drifters, has followed along to help Ida out, since she's asked Ida to teach her how to use the newest addition to Sephilia's own gear--a fine antique flintlock rifle that's taller than Sephilia herself, strapped awkwardly across her back. The fact that Ida's been so badly hurt so recently only increases Sephy's eagerness to help her friend.

"I think maybe Dad wrote about something like this in his journal," she says, though she doesn't sound at all certain. She leafs through the pages of George Lampbright's journal all the same, looking for anything of value. She does not touch the wine.

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Dad's Journal toward her party's challenge, Don't Wine About It.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Claude C. Kenny came along with Ida, because he just bought a bunch of traveling equipment and needs some sweet, sweet Gella.

The noise is a bit of a surprise but not a crippling one, as Claude is in the space military - he is used to annoyingly loud alarms that just go on and on and on in case you didn't know it was RED ALERT after the first thirty seconds. He sighs, grits his teeth, and starts tuning it out. As the others walk forward, Claude turns his back to everyone and consults his jacket pocket for a moment, slipping the contact lens for the heads-up display into his left eye. That accomplished, he steps toward the console, frowning at the analysis.

"Well, if all else fails, you can just push random buttons," Claude says as he pushes several buttons, not at all randomly.

DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Tricorder toward his party's challenge, Don't Wine About It.
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.

Elena still felt moderately bad for not being able to support Ida better when Lady Harken decided to go slasher crazy on the Lacour arena. The only reason she hadn't been all up in Ida's way over it - and for that matter the reason she hadn't had time to chide her recklessness - was because of Elena's own recklessness in engaging Grahf.

Those two fights, back to back, were not kind to her.

But now Ida needs help, and Elena's all healed up. Of course she's happy to help, whatever the task ahead may be. That's why there's a Songstress with the group, carrying a bland metallic scepter not unlike a mace. Her last one got cut up, repaired, and then obliterated. Maybe this one will survive one journey.

She doesn't touch the wine, because offerings are sacred.

Also that's Valmar Juice, come on.

"It is a wonder these still function! What if it is broken, though?" Well, Elena, if it's broken, surely there's another way in. She looks over Sephilia's shoulder to look at her father's notes, curious.

DG: Elena has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Don't Wine About It.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Don't Wine About It *>======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The entrance to the interior of the temple is, generally speaking, a massive  
 stone wall with no noticeable locking mechanisms or method of operation.      
 Right now, though, that wall just simply isn't there, letting you freely      
 wander in to the massive entrance hall, full of beautiful, stone-wrought      
 paths and pillars and at its very center, three large, floating crystals:     
 one red, one white, one blue.                                                 
                                                                               
 At least, that entrance is open for as long as it takes you to step inside,   
 at which point the wall will just suddenly reappear behind you as if by       
 magic as alarms blare all around you for your intrusion, easily as big as a   
 Gear and dense enough to withstand the strongest of blows. There's no way to  
 go but forward, now, with a stone-carved console from a bygone era capable    
 of opening one of many paths further into the Temple of Rejection if you can  
 but figure out how to use it, but hey, it's not all bad: some kind soul left  
 a couple bottles of that extremely popular and extremely expensive Johnny     
 Appleseed wine out of the goodness of their hearts! Wait. Aren't those        
 supposed to be a sacred offering to the temple--? Well, whatever. Enjoy!      
 You're gonna need it.                                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida can feel her nerves fraying as the infernal howling drones on. She doesn't do anything so vulgar as punch the console, because that's a good way to break her hand and the only thing that can get everyone out of this mess. Claude's ARM covertly identifies something that might be a circuit in the wall powering something-or-other, and after a bit of guesswork, Ida, Sephy, and Talise manage to figure out the right combination.

The howling stops. Ida relaxes ever-so-slightly, though she can feel the knot of stress forming between her shoulders. "Onward," she says.

The wine goes untouched, and unremarked-upon.

DG: Talise Gianfair has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Seal the Scourge *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 It happens the very second you walk into this massive room, with winding      
 stairways and beautiful stone architecture: everything shuts off. Doors       
 slammed close. Lights go out. The entire world seems to close off to you      
 suddenly and abruptly. There was no obvious trap triggered here. It's almost  
 as if it was the temple itself doing this, desperate to cut you off at the    
 pass -- if it can't kill you, apparently, it will just try to quarantine      
 you. There's no power in this place, no light, no clever mechanisms of        
 escape. Nothing. Just darkness, and doors. Someone's going to have to try     
 forcing those massive stone doors open, if they can find them in the dark.    
 If they can overpower the temple's seeming adamant need to be rid of you.     
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise isn't as much help as you might expect in figuring out the console. She helps Ida and Sephilia figure out a couple of symbols which seem to stick out. Otherwise she seems much less uplifted than she usually does; her normal good mood and headstrong cheer have been replaced with something more subdued, almost frustated.

As the doors grind open, Talise tilts her head as she looks into the room beyond - so much more sprawling and graceful than anything she might see on Lunar. The door grinds shut behind her.

And then the light goes out abruptly, and several doors set into archways around the group slam downwards, effectively trapping them in an anteroom of doors. It's so dark that the group can't see anything.

After several seconds, there's a heavy sound.

  • CRACK*

It comes again after a few seconds. It sounds like steel slamming against stone, and it's followed by a low growl and heavy breathing.

Again comes the sound; stone crackles and splinters, and sparks shower in the darkness, shockingly bright against the black. They briefly illuminate an intensely frustrated Talise slamming her gauntleted fist into one of the doors repeatedly, as though she's simply using it as an outlet to spend whatever it she's feeling upon the stone.

DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Ogre Power Gauntlets toward her party's challenge, Seal the Scourge.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Claude C. Kenny is CAST INTO DARKNESS!

...MOSTLY!

One eye is showing total blackness, but the other (the one with the contact lens) is still projecting the heads-up display, although that's not much use when he can't see anything else in the room. His tricorder is a wonderfully flexible tool, but there's only so much you can put into a wireless contact lends, and ambient light amplification is not one of them. He experienced a brief moment of panic that is interrupted by a

  • CRACK*

"Oh hey, good idea," Claude says, then drops down and starts charging a METEOR PALM between his hands, which is NOT AT ALL a HADOUKEN or a KAMEHAMEHA, really.

DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Seal the Scourge.
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.

That takes care of the console! Elena could not make heads or tails of the notes she was peeking at over Sephy's shoulders, but luckily it seems everyone else got things handled. The Songstress wasn't much for technology, anyway. She was more classical in every regard.

She eeps as doors slam shut behind her, evidently not used to the life of an adventurer. She seems jumpy, easily surprised. "W-What is going on?!"

That seems obvious, really.

Loud cracks and smashes give her a direction to look, and with a brief flash of light, courtesy of her Mana Egg, she notices Talise is breaking down a second closed door. Elena shuffles into her dress, as Claude prepares his atttack.

"W-Wait! Please, allow me to place this!"

Between blows from Talise and before Claude energy waves the door, Elena makes her way to the door and places a spherical black bomb in the crater caused by the punches. She doesn't bother to lit it, seeing as how Claude is about to for her.

Then she gets out of the way.

DG: Elena has used her Tool Impact Bomb toward her party's challenge, Seal the Scourge.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

A few moments after the darkness descends once again, a small globe of light forms, illuminating the room in a soft glow. Sephilia's face, visibly focused in effort, reveals the source of the globe of light--it would appear that the girl has been practicing her light magic!

"And here I left Chauncey's claws at home today," the girl says slowly. "They needed maintenance so I asked Shalune to--anyway..." Sephy holds Chauncey out with one hand, the light held up in the other, and Chauncey becomes big--but without the trademark digging claws that usually grace his paws in situations like this.

Still, he's not without his contribution to the cause...THUD!

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Seal the Scourge.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

There's an odd wariness to Ida's movements as she walks along--odd to anyone who's known her, that is, because normally she doesn't look quite so jumpy. It's like she's expecting something terrible to happen--

The light goes out. Ida stands there for a moment, trying to breathe as she fumbles for her lighter. Sparks illuminate a far wall. Ida breathes, forces herself to focus, and clumsily channels her life-essence into the palm of her hand; a soft glow illuminates the nearby area, allowing Elena to approach the door and place her explosive. Ida backs away, and ducks behind what she hopes is a pillar.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Seal the Scourge.
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Seal the Scourge *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 It happens the very second you walk into this massive room, with winding      
 stairways and beautiful stone architecture: everything shuts off. Doors       
 slammed close. Lights go out. The entire world seems to close off to you      
 suddenly and abruptly. There was no obvious trap triggered here. It's almost  
 as if it was the temple itself doing this, desperate to cut you off at the    
 pass -- if it can't kill you, apparently, it will just try to quarantine      
 you. There's no power in this place, no light, no clever mechanisms of        
 escape. Nothing. Just darkness, and doors. Someone's going to have to try     
 forcing those massive stone doors open, if they can find them in the dark.    
 If they can overpower the temple's seeming adamant need to be rid of you.     
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has passed this challenge! The party gained 40 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> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Don't worry about it," Talise grunts back at Sephilia, pausing for a moment to let Elena plant her bomb.

The explosive goes off with a thunderous concussion. Shards of rock blasts outwards into the room on the other side of the door. Light streams through it, and Talise and Claude take it from there with an assists from Chauncey. Soon enough, the stone door is sliding apart, grinding unsteadily on its rails before the group props the doors open completely.

The way's clear and everyone can step through.

Talise's eyes fall to Ida, seeing her discomfort. The woman's seemed oddly distant lately.

Just like all my friends, she realizes bitterly. She's probably got all kinds of things worrying her and I've been totally useless in helping her out. So what good am I to anyone? Am I just stuck on Filgaia forever, being useless dumb muscle for people who don't give a damn about me...?

DG: Elena has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Consult Your Blue Book *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Oh hey look. It's a bunch of floating, blue books. Isn't that odd? What are   
 floating books doing here? Is this a library? Maybe they have useful          
 information on the temple in them. Maybe you should check it out-- OH GOD     
 THEY'RE SHOOTING WATER MAGIC AT YOU WITH CONFOUNDING AND BAMBOOZLINGLY        
 POWERFUL SORCERY THIS ISN'T HOW LIBRARIES ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK                
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.

The door has been slain, and Elena is rather content.

She just hopes this isn't some old Granas temple she just defiled. Luckily she hasn't seen anything to indicate it is yet.

Heading ever onward, the next room is small, cozy. There's a fireplace, a few couches with reading lights, tables, forgotten drinks and snacks long since reduced to dust. Oh, and books. Evidently this was someone's idea of a nice place to read and relax.

Was, being the imperative keyword.

Books with titles such as KNOWING YOUR DUNGEON DEATHTRAPS, MAGICAL TRAPS 101 and NOTES OF A CRAZED MAGE begin floating up and about by the dozen, their hard covers like wings flapping weirdly, glowing with menacing blue auras. Water begins forming around them, bubbling about. It'd be mesmerizing if the next thing they did wasn't shoot high-pressure water beams at the party. And large ice spikes. And explosive wet bubbles.

Elena eeps, and her Mist Egg lights up, showering the party in protective magic to lessen the impact of those sorcerous attacks. "That is not what books are supposed to be for! I would like a word with the caretaker of this place!!"

DG: Elena has used her Tool Mist Egg toward her party's challenge, Consult Your Blue Book.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

"Nice work," Claude offers to Talise, giving her a companionable fist bump on the shoulder. His other hand is being used to pull a fully-cooked steak out of his pocket; he holds it in the Beastwoman's general direction before taking out another one for himself. "Nice having you around for this sort of stuff - you and Bart are the only people I know who..."

The young man from space breaks off as a jet of water splashes into his face; he staggers backward, sputtering, eyes raised to look for the attackers. "Ugh, BOOKS!" he snarls, dashing forward, his hand dropping to his sword belt. "I always knew they were trouble!"

And then Claude begins slashing at them with a sword that is on fire. Suck it, knowledge.

DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Pocket Steak toward his party's challenge, Consult Your Blue Book.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia has a problem. The problem is thus:

Books.

Sephilia is all for knowledge. She's all for learning. She's even for journals! But books...books are not OK in Sephy's...uh, book.

Look, it's an imperfect metaphor.

Sephilia has another problem: She has too many ways she wants to deal with this situation.

Fortunately for Sephilia, there's a LOT of books. So, first, Sephilia unslings the Foxington Flintlock (She named it herself!) takes aim, and B O O M! there's a lot of smoke and the smell of powder, and one of the books now sports a perforation!

Sephy's not quite good at RELOADING the Foxington Flintlock in a hurry, though, so she falls back on old tactics--Chauncey. In moments, she's riding in his backpack, the smoking flintlock strapped beside her. "All right, Chauncey," she calls out, "are you ready to teach these books a lesson?" Get it? Books? Lesson?

Chauncey appears ready. But Sephy does not call for him to charge just yet. Instead, she rummages in his backpack...wait, is she getting out...

THE FOLDING CHAIR?!

She is! She's passing it up to Chauncey, who accepts it and, oh this is just BRUTAL! Folks this is a hell of a show tonight! Is the ref even WATCHING Lord Foxington--OOH, that had to hurt, it looks like he just broke that one's spine!

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Folding Chair toward her party's challenge, Consult Your Blue Book.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise blinks, then offers Claude a faint smile, her cheeks colouring a shade as she bumps fist to fist with him. "Thanks," she says, opening her mouth to say something else.

She has little time to start a conversation, nor brood over the state of things, before the flapping books appear and begin to hurl water and ice at her - but the distraction of her own thoughts proves dangerous. Before she can react, an ice spike slams into her and rips through part of her chainmail; the armour saves her from serious injury but she's thrown to the ground with a thud, nearly dropping her steak. She winces.

Then she bites into the meat. She chews it roughly and swallows.

It helps. Rolling to one knee, Talise rips one of the knives at her belt out, sidearming it towards a bookshelf just behind the hovering tomes. The knife strikes there, the hilt pulsing as the spell within it releases and begins to pour lightning bolts through the air. The storm of bolts dances about, attempting to punch through the flickering literature and scorch them into dust.

Talise does attempt to grab one of the books out of the air and slam it against the ground. She glares at the spine of it and the title there:

DEGRASSI JUNIOR PHOTOSPHERE

DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Bomb Knife toward her party's challenge, Consult Your Blue Book.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida takes another drink from that little flask once she can see it. She swallows, and the smoky, peaty house fire in her mouth burns its way down her throat. This distraction means she's at the back of the pack when the odd fluttering starts, though she recognizes it immediately. "Well then," she says, holstering the flask. She fumbles a revolver off her belt, a jet of freezing-cold water clipping her side as she tries to aim. This is not a metaphor--the water freezes into ice the second it touches her. Ida's lips twist in an ugly scowl, and she smashes a fist into the icy remains; they crumble to the floor with a sound like glass breaking. Ida takes a breath, trying to force herself to relax. She starts shooting.

t

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Consult Your Blue Book.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Consult Your Blue Book *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Oh hey look. It's a bunch of floating, blue books. Isn't that odd? What are   
 floating books doing here? Is this a library? Maybe they have useful          
 information on the temple in them. Maybe you should check it out-- OH GOD     
 THEY'RE SHOOTING WATER MAGIC AT YOU WITH CONFOUNDING AND BAMBOOZLINGLY        
 POWERFUL SORCERY THIS ISN'T HOW LIBRARIES ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK                
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 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> Elena has posed.

Ice and water magic alike is halted in part by Elena's supportive spells, allowing the party greater focus and mobility. Claude shares food, and then does what every librarian never wants to see: mow through rare, ancient magical volumes with a flaming sword. It's effective. Very effective. Paper-type Pokemon take quadruple damage from dual-typed Fire and Steel attacks, don't you know?

Lord Chauncey performs an ancient wrestling ritual which is easily as effective, smashing books into the wall like it's going out of style. She breaks a book's spine, which is another afront to every librarian in existence.

Talise has a knife, which doesn't need to be on fire to cut pages and books apart, depowering their magical onslaughts in the process. Slamming a book down works just fine too!

Ida should probably ease off on the drinking, but at least she hasn't shot any of her party-members yet. A few more books hit the ground, the last of them, with nice big holes in them from her firearm.

As the door leading to the next room opens with a loud grinding noise, Elena dotes over Ida like a mother, looking concerned. "M-Miss Everstead, you are wounded! Please, wait a moment, I will..." She approaches her Mana Egg and dispenses healing, watery magic for Ida... if the grumpy lady will stand still long enough.

DG: Claude C. Kenny has drawn a new Challenge.
====================<* CHALLENGE - This is No Mothra Boy *>=====================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You come upon a conspicuously large and empty room, almost designed like an   
 arena floor. It must be a great surprise, then, when the door at the          
 opposite side of this chamber opens up to unleash an absolutely               
 massive-looking moth-like creature, unleashed upon you by the temple in an    
 effort to deter or, hopefully, kill you outright. Venom spews from this       
 creature's proboscis, poisonous powder from its wings. It'll soon fill the    
 entire chamber with its merciless venom to choke you with it, if you don't    
 kill it. Quickly.                                                             
                                                                                                                
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Claude C. Kenny leads the way into the next chamber, talking excitedly to Talise about his newest innovation - cooking fresh steaks ON A SWORD THAT IS ON FIRE. "Seriously, it's like having your own barbeque anywhere, on the go!" he says as the T-bone sizzles on the flat of his flaming sabre. "I don't know why more adventurers don't think of this sort of thing."

But then suddenly, a moth!! And more worryingly...

!!!WARNING!!!WARNING!!!WARNING!!!

Genus: Opodiphthera

Species: Unknown

Target's emissions correspond to CATEGORY 2 biotoxin

"What?" Claude asks aloud.

CATEGORY 2 toxicity corresponds to inhalation LC50 less than 500 ppmV

"....what?"

!!!WARNING!!!WARNING!!!WARNING!!!

"Yeah, okay, THE STUFF IT'S SPEWING IS PROBABLY BAD!" Claude shouts. "You should probably stay away from it!"

(one second later)

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Claude screams as he leaps forty feet across the cavern, driving his burning sword into its thorax.

DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Pocket Steak toward his party's challenge, This is No Mothra Boy.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia, though she's taken the time to reload the Foxington Flintlock, doesn't use it here. She doesn't apply strategy. She...basically shrieks in disgust and gets Chauncey flailing at the giant icky bug thing with the Folding Chair. Because Sephilia does not like bugs.

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Folding Chair toward her party's challenge, This is No Mothra Boy.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Ida," Talise calls back with an alarmed sharpness to her voice as she realizes her friend's been hit.

Elena's got it. She bites her lip, flashing Ida a faint, encouaging smile - until Claude sidles up beside her and tips her off to an incredible invention.

"Why didn't I think of that," she realizes, touching a hand to her cheek and widening her eyes. "It's perfect. And all you need is a sword that's on fire. How hard can tht be, right?" She admires Claude's flaming sword steak with a broad smile.

Until something more pressing looms ahead. The huge moth flutters in, spewing toxins everywhere.

"It looks bad!" Talise shouts, covering her mouth with a fold of her coat. Grimacing, she unshoulders her shotgun. The moth's floating; she pumps a couple of rounds of buckshot off towards it, aiming to damage a wing or bring it down enough to hit.

Then she shoulders her gun again - and she draws Rastaban with a steely hiss, and starts forward. Lunging, she brings the blade above her head. Light glints along it.

"HOOOOOOOAHT!" she shouts as she completes the slash with a massive downwards cut. She actually hangs in the air for a few seconds.

If she did it right, some part of the moth might start sliding apart along a neat seam.

DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, This is No Mothra Boy.
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.

"Well, not everyone has a flaming sword," Elena says to Claude, guessing that may be a reason. "Although I must agree it would be very useful to be able to have a surface to cook on at any time." Some might be worried about contamination, but the fact it's a FLAMING sword probably helps with that a lot. Fire cleans all, after all!

Suddenly, giant toxiic butterfly.

Elena angles her Mana Egg up high, and its watery blue sheen once again flows into the party. It shields them from the poison (or cures it, if it's too late), allowing them to spend more time killing the giant butterfly and less time worrying about its toxic cloud of bad stuff.

"I will keep its poison from reaching you!" she says out loud, for clarity.

DG: Elena has used her Tool Mist Egg toward her party's challenge, This is No Mothra Boy.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

The books are down. Ida takes a moment to try and relax again, closing her eyes and holding the revolver loosely. "It's not bad." Irritation mingles with guilt as Elena speaks up, and rushes over to tend to her, the soothing energies of the Mana Egg washing over her. The horrible numb frostbitten sensation starts to fade, and she opens her eyes. "Thank you," Ida says. She still sounds out of it, but not because of anything anyone's done--or her injuries, for that matter. Her thoughts start to tumble over each other, and most of them are unpleasant.

And then a horrible flapping noise. Ida's eyes widen a bit too much as the moth cousin of the giant butterfly in Rujm el-Hiri appears. This time, she's a bit quicker on the draw--she raises both pistols, and starts shooting, pausing only for a second as Claude and Talise rush in. She waits a good ten seconds for them to clear the firing arc before resuming.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, This is No Mothra Boy.
====================<* CHALLENGE - This is No Mothra Boy *>=====================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You come upon a conspicuously large and empty room, almost designed like an   
 arena floor. It must be a great surprise, then, when the door at the          
 opposite side of this chamber opens up to unleash an absolutely               
 massive-looking moth-like creature, unleashed upon you by the temple in an    
 effort to deter or, hopefully, kill you outright. Venom spews from this       
 creature's proboscis, poisonous powder from its wings. It'll soon fill the    
 entire chamber with its merciless venom to choke you with it, if you don't    
 kill it. Quickly.                                                             
                                                                                                                
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has failed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Poison is basically the worst type, but the Moth is also Flying, so maybe that evens it out? Maybe?

Talise's slash carves one of the wings from the venomous creatue's body, allowing Claude and the Lord of Foxington to beat it senseless with chairs and also fire. Some bullets from Ida help finish the job, but AT WHAT COST?!?!?

(Answer: a lot of HP damage from poison, notwithstanding the Mana Egg)

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================================<* CHALLENGE - The Final Shield *>=====================================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 4          | 
-----------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------
                              Targets located.                                 
                                                                               
                       Now entering elimination mode.                          
                                                                               
                        Targets will be exterminated.                          
                                                                               
 These cold words greet you the second you enter this large walkway that       
 scales above lower floors. Mechanical, automated, they usher the appearance   
 of the temple's guardians -- a pair of distressingly human-like warriors,     
 bedecked in blue and red armor respectively, wielding the powers of water     
 and fire as if it were their birthright. These are the Scutums, the final     
 defensive measure of the temple; surrounded by autonomous bits to eliminate   
 their targets with magical and technological might, these doll-like           
 creatures will not stop until they are dead, or you. Best get to work on      
 trying to ensure it's not the latter.                                         
                                                                                                                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia is upset at the bug, but she eventually calms down enough to help with the healing before moving on to the next room, her warm glowing healing magic helping as it can...and then the group proceeds.

"Targets? What? And--ugh, whoever said that likes BOOK WORDS!"

Sephy looks surprised to see the guardians. "Are they some kind of golems or Gears like Big Shal or--oh bother!" The Scutums advance, automatons activated by the proximity of unauthorized intruders.

Book words, yo.

Sephy shoots the fiery one with the Foxington Flintlock, staggering back at the force of the blast, then--as before--switches to riding Chauncey into battle, folding chair smacking into the other.

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Folding Chair toward her party's challenge, The Final Shield.
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.

The cost is indeed a ton of healing. Thankfully, Elena can count on Sephilia to help, so the Songstress isn't TOO drained. Otherwise she might have been in quite the pickle for this new problem.

"These are... intimidating!" she states, saying the obvious. "What manner of enemies and concerns did the makers of this templer have...?" Really, what pushes someone to build those things? There must be something very powerful or valuable here, to warrant such protectors.

Elena grips her scepter, using it to direct another stream of blue magic as her Mana Egg lights up brightly. This time, the supportive spells are more fine-tuned. Claude, Chauncey and Talise find themselves moving faster, like the wind is in their proverbial sails, making their steps lighter, their leaps carry on longer and faster. Elena, Sephilia and Ida, the backrow, are covered in shimmering, watery shields instead.

There's a bit of life left in Elena, and a bit more magic in the air. The water Ether freezes when combined with wind Ether - not that most people could tell it's Ether, that Mana Egg is a nice distraction - and a blast of cold is aimed right at the Fire Scutum, producing countless sharp, thrusting icicles on impact.

DG: Elena has used her Tool Mist Egg toward her party's challenge, The Final Shield.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise sneezes heavily after dropping out of the moth's poison cloud. She waves one arm and staggers onward, coughing into her coat. She feels like crap. Even a bite of steak doesn't help completely.

Nor does the mechanical announcement that greets her as she arrives. Talise clicks her teeth together behind her collar and widens her eyes. The machines confronting her barely seem mechanical - they feel alive, and yet not. Cold, lifeless things mimicking the living, yet with no hint of a soul behind them.

Talise's magical potential has been fairly limited to date. Yet she can almot feel how empty these things are, even as the bits dart around them and the red one gouts flame towards her in a rippling wave. "Look out," she calls as she lunges hard to the side, slamming her shoulder painfully into a wall.

It gets her out of the way of the fire - but it hurts. Coughing again, she sidearms her last knife into the fray, lightning arcing from it to scream towards the Scutum tandem and their accompanying bits. Then she's starting forward, taking Rastaban in both hands and clenching her teeth.

She jukes to one side, eluding an inevitable blast of flame. Her coat streams around her as she comes in to the side of the Fire Scutum. Her sword sings in the air with a whisper of steel that almost seems to slice through atoms. She swings fast and controlled, aiming to rip a leg out from under it with two hard strokes - and then she rolls her shoulders and dips her blade low, gathering her strength.

With a deep growl, she brings Rastaban up in a hard, ascending cut - one that leaves luminous echoes flickering behind Rastaban's blade, in a bluish-tinged light. She does not seem to realize it's happening, or that the hints of light sing in the air like siren song.

DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Bomb Knife toward her party's challenge, The Final Shield.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Targets located.

Now entering elimination mode.

Targets will be exterminated.

Claude C. Kenny knows what every one of these words mean, and he screams a quick warning - "INCOMING!" - and then leaps to the attack, his blade clearing its sheath in a whistling hiss. "I've got the blue one!" he adds, having made the deduction that the glowing red one is probably going to think his fire-aligned attacks are a late-night snack as opposed to a violent exchange. A wordless battle cry escapes his lips as he leaps forward---

  • BWONG*

---and bounces off the upraised shield, spitting blood as he hits the ground. A blast of ice magic knocks the blonde-haired swordsman back, and he grits his teeth as the follow-up blast is charged. Claude braces himself for the assault, but then feels Elena's magic coursing through him; a vicious grin slides across Claude's face as he glides forward, weaving around the assault, then hurls his flaming sword at the Water Scutum's chest from a yard or two away, his right hand already pulling back, chi blazing in a rapid surge.

"DRAGON'S HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL!" the young man roars as he tries to punch the burning sword deeper into - and through - the Scutum's body.

DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Pocket Steak toward his party's challenge, The Final Shield.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida backs off as that horrible cloud of poison fills the room, but there's really nothing she can do to run from it. She feels it creeping down her throat, a horrible burning sensation following it. She stops breathing, firing off a last few shots--and then, when the beast falls from the sky under the combined onslaught, she doubles over. The Mana Egg eases the pain, the cleansing mist soothing her poor, burned throat.

Ida realizes what's happening a second after Claude does, her thoughts slowed ever-so-slightly by two different kinds of poison. She watches the automatons march out with wide eyes, and fear pierces the fog. Oh my God, she thinks, what is this place? Why did she even come here, much less bring people who trusted her?

Elena's shield rises in front of Ida not a moment too soon. The red scutum levels an honest-to-God flamethrower at her, and tongues of fire race towards the bubble, parting around it. "I'm all right!" Ida says. She reloads at a considerable fraction of the speed of terror, the absence of Devil's Due sending something not unlike phantom limb pain rushing through her nerves. She puts all twelve shots into the red scutum. Hopefully it will be enough.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Final Shield.
=====================================<* CHALLENGE - The Final Shield *>=====================================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 4          | 
-----------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------
                              Targets located.                                 
                                                                               
                       Now entering elimination mode.                          
                                                                               
                        Targets will be exterminated.                          
                                                                               
 These cold words greet you the second you enter this large walkway that       
 scales above lower floors. Mechanical, automated, they usher the appearance   
 of the temple's guardians -- a pair of distressingly human-like warriors,     
 bedecked in blue and red armor respectively, wielding the powers of water     
 and fire as if it were their birthright. These are the Scutums, the final     
 defensive measure of the temple; surrounded by autonomous bits to eliminate   
 their targets with magical and technological might, these doll-like           
 creatures will not stop until they are dead, or you. Best get to work on      
 trying to ensure it's not the latter.                                         
                                                                                                                    
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Tire=============================================
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Sephilia Lampbright is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Elena is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Claude C. Kenny is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Talise Gianfair is too exhausted to continue!
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has successfully explored Temple of Rejection!
======================================<* CHALLENGE - The Forgotten *>=======================================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          | 
-----------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------
 The room you come upon as the security systems of the temple temporarily      
 recede appears, by all accounts, to be a room for discarded or incomplete     
 projects. So many half-done devices dot this place, none of them functional   
 in any way and many eroded by age, yet all of them from a time far in         
 advance of the modern era -- perhaps dating even as far back as Zeboim.       
 There are many different treasures to be found here, including a pile of      
 strange white metal discs that look like copies of artificial Mediums, for    
 those who could tell such things. But just what are they doing here, and why  
 would this temple be in possession of such strange tools...? The only clue    
 comes in the form of a stone plaque at the back of the room, written in an    
 ancient language that nonetheless seems wholly legible to anyone, regardless  
 of native tongue:                                                             
                                                                               
 This facility was created to funnel life energy into Filgaia. It will         
 undoubtedly take thousands of years for the biosphere to return to its        
 former state. But we nonetheless leave this facility to our descendants, so   
 that they may one day enjoy a lush Filgaia once more...                       
                                                                               
 If our experiments here succeed, we plan to establish two additional          
 facilities with the same capabilities. We cannot afford to fail. And we must  
 act quickly -- before THE LOLITHIA learns of us...                            
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Whatever is sealed in the depths of this temple, it must be invaluable--if not, why would it merit guardians such as these? That's the lone sane, non-terrified thought that passes through Ida's head as the guardian constructs tear into her and her friends. The firey one sweeps its flamethrower across the party, focusing first on Chauncey, then on the shielded targets in the back. Ida's shield falls, and flames lick over her. Reflex takes over, and she dives out of the way, rolling to smother the flames before they can do more than lightly singe her. An aperture on the scutum's shoulder irises open, and several red beams trace out dots on Ida, Talise, and Sephy. What follows can best be described as a hailstorm of fireballs from the scutum's support bits.

The half taking on the ice scutum doesn't fare much better. Claude's blade slams into a wall of ice that manifests a second before impact, and while he melts through, it's not before the scutum's bits pelt him with icicles. Lightning arcs across the constructs and their support, and the fire scutum stumbles back under heavy gunfire. Claude straight-up drives his flame saber into the ice scutum's heart while it tries to impale him on razor-sharp icicles it produces from thin air. Elena has to push herself to the limit just to keep everyone conscious.

And then it's over. The fire scutum twitches as residual lightning courses through its battered, bullet-riddled frame, and falls. Wordlessly, Ida reloads her revolver, and walks over to it. She fires into its body again and again, the construct twitching and juddering. Her eyes are distant. The expression on her face is one of indignant, helpless rage.

A door opens. Ida's head turns to face it. She flicks the revolver's safety on, and walks towards the door. "What is this..?" Inside, tables and shelves and racks of... things. Things that must be ARMs, but not like any Ida's ever seen. Strange metal discs. And that plaque.

Ida goes completely silent. While it's better than the anger, she looks like she's... not sure how to react. Like she's numb.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"Chauncey, buddy, are you okay?" Sephy asks in concern. The doll is scorched in several places, but intact--and Sephilia's worry over him is very evident. But the Scutum have fallen and a new door has opened...

"I'm...can I take a rubbing of that plaque, and sketch some of this stuff before we move it?" she asks quietly, already pulling out her journal. She's getting close to filling this one up already!

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Fireballs pound through the air around Talise as she powers in towards it. More than a few find their mark, striking her in the shoulders and chest, superheating her mail and melting part of it away. By the time she cleaves through the machine, she's smouldering in more than a few places, a number of burns visible on bits of exposed skin. Wincing, she comes down from that single, echoing slash, not even realizing that there was more to it than strength and skill.

Ida blasts at the corpse. Talise scowls and kicks the Scutum's head across the room like a soccer ball. It hits the wall and bounces away.

The door hisses open. Wearily, Talise slouches through, not far behind Ida.

Her smarter friend barely seems to process it. Talise, it would seem, has no hope - but she does duck towards those discs, picking a couple up and studying them with a frown. She pockets them, then moves on through towards one of the other devices - and finally to the plaque.

Her eyes go wide. "The Lolithia," she murmurs first.

Then she frowns, taking a steadying breath, focusing her mind through the pain. "This... this place looks ancient," she murmurs as she reaches into her scorched coat. She comes out with one of the other things she's learned to carry thanks to Lynnai and Ida.

It's her notebook. Flipping it open, Talise begins to jot down the inscription, eyes darting between it and the page. "...Which would mean that someone hundreds or thousands of years ago also realized Filgaia was dying. Maybe... maybe they were trying to fix whatever the reason was that Althena left the Blue Star...."

<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Claude C. Kenny drops back down onto the floor, chest heaving as he sucks in gasping breaths. "THose... things..." he manages to get out, then licks his lips and slowly pushes himself to his feet, levering his body upward with the assistance of his flaming sword. Moments later, the smell of grilling meat wafts out as Claude stumbles forward, having stabbed the thick steak with his burning blade like some sort of giant shishkebab.

He listens to the others talk while his meat grills. He scans the room with both eyes, his tricorder pushing words up into the HUD. He narrows his eyes, frowning at a few of the words - most notably Biosphere - which bespeak a level of scientific understanding far in excess of what this world should know. He takes a bite from his steak, chewing loudly.

"Where were they going to get the energy from?" he asks the room. "I mean, you can't take it from anything on the world - you'd be stealing life energy to give back life energy. No gain." Claude continues chewing and thinking, both of which hurt right now.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"Hey Claude, I have a question." Sephy taps her nose in thought, eyeing the flaming sword in the steak.

<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

"Shrmff," he says through a mouthful of beef.

(Boys are gross.)

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"Didn't you stick that sword into the big poisonous moth?"

<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Claude swallows. "Yeah," he says. "Why?"

He takes another bite of the steak.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Energy works that way?" Talise frowns and scratches her cheek. "Maybe whatever the Biosphere is doesn't need much energy. Maybe a Biosphere is sort of like a Sorcery Globe, or a Crystal Ball. Or some kind of magic orb."

Then she looks up, frowning slightly. "Claude, that probably has poison moth gross on it."

<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.

Elena is drained. It's a miracle she can walk straight after that, but her reward in all this is that nobody died. She lets out a happy sigh, pocketing the Mana Egg again and trying to catch up to Ida as she advances past the disabled defenses and into the newly opened room.

"We should not linger here any longer than we must, if more of those things appear, I do not know if I can..." Keeping fighting? Keep healing? Both? It'd be bad news for sure.

As she looks around the room, she has no idea what she's looking at. When Talise says a weird word, she even asks outright, "What is the Lolithia?"

None of this looks familiar to her. None of this looks useful to her either, beyond the idea that this could save Filgaia. "It is good to see that attempts were made to heal the world's wounds... but it seems they were not successful. Perhaps if we could find the other facilities we might uncover the reason why?"

A side-glance towards Claude, as Sephilia questions his eating habits. She reacts more to his question. "That is a... good question. I hope the answer is not sacrifices." That too is probably a secret hidden in the other facilities mentioned.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Trust Talise to see the point she's making! Sephy nods in response to Talise pointing that out. "All kinds of other gross, too! You're going to make yourself sick!

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida closes her eyes, and breathes like Claude's notes taught her to. It takes effort and focus, both of which are still in short supply after these last few months. She is exhausted and angry and scared and hurt, but there is a spark of life inside her that transcends all that. Ida breathes, and stokes it into flame. "That cannot be the Golem," Ida says. "The context makes no sense. This may be some sort of Elw facility, though--we would have to bring the technology back." Biosphere. Kalve used that term back when he was examining Gwen's arm. Claude seems to understand it, too.

"Sphere as in all-encompassing sphere of influence," she says, as if connecting the dots. "The sphere of influence of all lifeforms on Filgaia. The Demons are incompatible with it--that's why they want to either destroy it, or 'ferroform' it into something more amenable, more hospitable. Two additional facilities...?"

Ida raises a hand to Elena. "With respect, Sister, this could be extremely important. We must examine everything." How strange, Ida thinks. It's as if the mystery is... almost like what purpose must feel like? Perhaps?

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida then turns to Claude. "You're right," she says. "Did they have some means of amplifying it? Perhaps drawing it from somewhere else?" As near as Ida knows you can't just create that stuff whole-cloth, and the thought of drawing it from another world makes her extremely uneasy.

<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Claude gives Sephilia and Talise a capital-L Look and then rolls his eyes. "Well yeah, but the fire took care of that," he says, a small mouthful of steak puffing out one of his cheeks like a squirrel. "It burned off all the gross stuff." He gives his last mouthful another chew before swallowing. "Probably." He gives the steak a sideways look, then shrugs. "Well, if not, I'll just barf it up and then I'll be fine," he decides, chomping on another mouhtful.

(Boys are dumb and gross.)

The young man also gives Ida a capital-L look as she starts talking about the Metal Demons with more authority than he's heard her use before. And also the word 'ferroform,' which is not one she should have come up with on her own. He draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. Problem for later.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy rolls her eyes at Claude. "As long as you don't expect me to heal you when you get sick," she mutters. Boys are dumb and gross.

Despite Ida's use of book words, Sephy doesn't complain, listening intently. "So they...they are trying to make it...somewhere they can live? But...where did they come from, then? Are there MORE worlds out there than Filgaia and Lunar?!"

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Elw?" Talise blinks a couple of times. It's the first time she's heard the word, but she jots it down nevertheless, following by scribbling away at whatever else Ida's saying. "I thought that was weird too. I'd thought Lolithia was a Golem. Maybe the Golem was named after whatever's being referenced here." Her brows furrow slightly. "The other one was called the Diablos, right? I know that's a kind of devil. So maybe the Lolithia was some kind of demon or monster."

Her eyes turn towards Ida again. She presses her lips together tightly. Since when is Ida an expert on Metal Demons? Isn't she a naturalist? Are Metal Demons natural?

She makes a note to pull Ida aside later. Her gaze flicks towards Claude, watching his body language.

She makes another mental note to get Claude to help her.

"Yeah, Sister. I think this is actually pretty important."

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida steps aside to let Sephy take a rubbing of the central plaque. She has very good technique, Ida notes. She sees Claude and that pointed glance out of the corner of her eye, and turns to him again. "I spoke with several human-sympathizers among them," Ida says, "who were very eager to share their thoughts. Naming names may jeopardize them if their superiors find out about their sympathies." Though, Ida thinks, with more than a little bitterness, there is no way in hell that they don't know about Riesenlied.

"All I know about the Elw is that they are very old, and they allegedly created the Golems. I simply thought--perhaps those machines were like the Golems, in miniature."

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"It was Zed, wasn't it," Sephy asks quietly as she works on the rubbing. There's a note of...something, anyway, in her voice.

<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.

"I do not mean that we should leave immediatly!" Elena protests, before insisting: "But we should not stay long enough for those defenses to... what is the word, "come online" again?" Hey she's a hip young Songstress, okay?

She huffs. To Talise too.

"Will... any of this be helpful to replace your lost ARM, miss Everstead?" That was the purpose of coming after all, wasn't it? Not that Elena isn't invested in the rest, but she's curious if any of this old tech is the correct old tech or not.

She asides, to Sephilia: "I believe so. I have heard stories of the Metal Demons, claiming they are from another world. They refer to another world, rather than the Silver Star, so... it must be that there is a third, at the very least." It's not really Granas teachings, though, so she's not up-to-date on all that.

<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

"Lolithia's a Golem," Claude confirms to Talise, returning her gaze with one of his own. "But that doesn't mean it can't be other things too. I knew like three kids named Zayydi'nn in school," he notes. "It's not some obscure name like Steve."

(The future is a dark and terrible place.)

"Anyway, I'll let you guys think about that stuff," he says, heading for the tables and picking out expensive-looking vendor trash.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise definitely knows about Riesenlied. She was pretty pissed when the woman turned out to be a Metal Demon. That said, her first thought is that Ida's been hanging around with Kalve; she did seem to like him.

"Well. Their superiors are jackasses. I need to have a few words with a couple of them, anyway," she says, circling around towards Ida at a slow pace. "I don't know anything about the Elw, but... who knows. In some ways I'm just as alien to Filgaia as the Metal Demons. Maybe I'll just never fully grasp it... though one of these days I will figure out how it is that we left the Blue Star and ended up on Lunar. But I guess I can't really bring myself to hold much of a prejudice against them, either way."

Finally reaching Ida, she puts an arm around the woman's shoulder, loosely. She flashes a quiet smile down to her. "I mean, I might just be a big dumb galoot who's only good for breaking down doors for you. But maybe I can help you figure some of this stuff out."

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida doesn't quite smile as Talise puts an arm around her. "I know," she says.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"If worse comes to worse I'll start singing," Talise tosses out there with a crooked smile.

Then she blinks. "...Sweet Althena's thong, it's been awhile since I've sang much of anything, huh? Guess I haven't really felt it."

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy pauses and goes over to hug Talise. "I miss your singing," she says simply.

<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Claude C. Kenny looks around, watching Talise and Ida's expression. Watching Sephi go in for a hug. Listening to them grouse about songs and singing. And he feels... something. He looks up to the heavens and sighs. Honestly, he tries not to be sexist but this is what comes from traveling with a group of girls. When he and Bart Dig together they mostly end up getting drunk. (Also Layna, but that is different.)

And so he slides his harmonica out from his pocket, wipes the beef juice from his lips, and starts to play Home on the Range. He's not sure if they know it, but it's something.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise tends to get drunk when she does much of anything with Layna.

She puts her other arm around Sephilia, then nods along as Claude sings, smiling crookedly.

"Once we're out of here," she says, "I'll buy the first round."

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida--who has pulled out a fresh journal page and is cataloguing the room's contents--starts humming along. Even if she doesn't recognize it, she appreciates having a little music.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise gauges how Ida reacts.

She eventually reaches into her inventory and comes up with her lute. She breaks off the hugs, moving to lean against a pillar. Idly she strums along to whichever tune Claude picks up on his harmonica.

You don't want to know how she managed to stuff an entire lute into her inventory without having Ruby in the party.