2017-08-19: Geas

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  • Log: Geas
  • Cast: Riesenlied, Noeline, K.K.
  • Where: Guardian Temple
  • Date: 19th August 2017
  • Summary: The depths of the Guardian Temple await two Demons scrambling weakly for survival. What awaits them inside?


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

The Guardian Temple.

Riesenlied and Noeline have been forced here under less than auspicious circumstances. Ideally, they'd probably like to come here under a neutral or peaceful auspice, but the Metal Demons have forced their hand into less than stellar outcomes... both for their relation with the Guardians, and for themselves.

Riesenlied is injured as they head further into the depths of the temple -- though Kalve's unguents have done well to stave off the worst of the injuries, there's still some wounds lagging her behind, like her left leg being unceremoniously impaled by an icicle spear that's got her limping gently.

Behind them is certain death. A war zone echoes out in the arid sands surrounding the Temple, where Siegfried, Harken and the others are still fighting.

In front of them lie the temple's machinations, perhaps just as certain a death, with their mortal enemies lying in wait.

But she would know the truth.

The truth of a thousand years ago, the hatred of a thousand years ago. A hatred that grew poisonous and sapped the well of culture long before she existed, that many think to not question.

Riesenlied would know the truth, no matter what.

And Noeline is there with her, guiding her, as she puts her arm around her shoulder to help her move.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

With a shaky breath, Noeline places a shoulder under Riesenlied's arm, helping to prop the other metal demon up as the pair of them make their way down into the temple. She's wearing the armor that marks her as a Metal Demon, as the member of the Ebony Wings known as the Demon Knight - though large chunks of it have been warped or shorn away thanks to Corwynt's winds, especially the helmet, lost outside in the wake of the attack.

"--are you alright?" she offers gently, affectionately, to the other woman - even if the answer is rather clear from the way in which Riesenlied is limping, tapped out after the use of her Fallen Sword. She recognizes why Riesenlied is here; the demon's desires are mirrored by her own, her wish to know more about the events of the past that have inflamed and informed the demon's hatred for a thousand years - and which will need to be addressed if they ever hope to forge some kind of lasting peace.

For Noeline, this is also a chance to try to connect with the Guardians, to find out more about Duras Drum and the fledgling, improbable accord that she appears to have established with the Hades Guardian. Already, she's focusing her power - not much, just a little flicker of some dark aura around her, but enough to try to seek for a path forward into the depths of the temple.

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

Not even a day ago, this place was a forgotten slice of dusted history. Preserved if only for the lack of knowledge of its existence.

Now, scarcely hours after its discovery, it is a battlefield.

The temple of Filgaia's guardians trembles rhythmically with the burst of cannon fire and things far more dangerous still just beyond its borders. Dust spills from the ceiling with every thunderclap of violence, threatening collapse with every moment that conflict edges ever-closer. Drifters spill through its catacombs, either to escape the war outside or to explore this piece of history and wrest knowledge from its depths to help put an end to that war just beyond.

And amongst it all, two Metal Demons limp on, determined to know the truth. But...

"You come upon this place handicapped."

... they are not alone.

They are there, waiting for them in the depths of the temple as if it was only natural that they be here, like they simply belonged. And, in certain ways, the armored figure of K.K. certainly feels like it might be more at home within these archaic halls; standing there before the entryway further in to the temple, the Trial Knight observes the pair of Demons with a tilted head and crossed arms, their stance as imperious and unyielding as ever. Their words are plain -- but it's doubtful they are referring simply to Riesenlied's physical injuries.

"And yet still you would press on, disadvantaged though you are, even though this temple may yet collapse ere long." That eyeless helm tilts in Noeline's direction as the power of the Guardian fluctuates within her like a tiny spark. Silence overtakes them for a long, pensive moment.

"Very well, then."

And just like that, the knight turns to march further in. In as indirectly direct an offer of assistance there could ever be.

"Let us away; I shall help take you as far as I am able. I would see how far your resolve would take you both."

DG: The party hasn't entered the dungeon yet. Please use +dungeon/enter for your first draw.

DG: A party led by Riesenlied is now entering The Guardian Temple.

DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.

==========================<* The Guardian Temple *>===========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - A Clash of Beasts *>======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The Metal Beasts have forced their way into the foyer of the Temple, along    
with other members of the Metal Demons. For those who seek to push in         
deeper, there is a battlefield to be crossed. Gunsmoke ARM shots shoot        
across the way, scarring the ancient stone of the foyer. Spells occasionally  
hurl across, lightning and ice scarring the very ground that they walk on.    
                                                                              
The Metal Beasts are ill-inclined to let others pass. As you make your way    
through the confusion, a pack of armored hounds begins to lope after, anger   
visible in their steely green eyes. They leap -- fangs bared, claws raised,   
and the battle is joined before you can reach the door that leads deeper      
into the Temple.                                                              
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Fright===========================================

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied's eyes widen for just a moment as the Trial Knight stands before them. She had expected K.K. to take an interest, but their intentions are not known to her... the relation between them and the Guardian was something of an enigma. Where would they stand?

But, yet, they turn, to assist them as far as they are able.

"... it is as you once said. I shall not let cowardice grip my soul. If I am to die in search of truth, then so be it; but I shall not run away and avert my eyes to the crisis that so ensconces us."

There's a loud -THOOM- just around the corner, though -- and Riesenlied's eyes are wide as the battle is soon joined once more.

With alarm, it's not Drifters or soldiers that come after them -- but their very own Metal Beasts.

"Stand down, we're--"

She yelps as she's nearly overtaken by one sailing past their heads.

"No good, I think -- something's interfering with their recognition...!" she gasps, as she grabs onto that brooch that K.K. has seen her craft last time they met in Gounon.

She concentrates deeply, and holds the tear-shaped gem, encrusted in a silver dragon-like brooch, emitting a wide field of photonic energy that soon shrouds them. It lets them -- concentrate better upon each other, feeling each other's needs and reactions to battle as the Beasts surround them...

... and just as importantly, it lets some of the Beasts approaching Riesenlied to pause and -- grovel, as they come to their senses. They turn, and stand at the ready to protect them.

"We need to get somewhere safer, fast!"

DG: You must use a Tool that matches the Challenge's Dungeon Ability. If you do not have one, use the matching Basic Action instead by typing +act Agility


DG: You use your Tool Dragon's Tear against your party's Challenge, A Clash of Beasts!

DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon's Tear toward her party's challenge, A Clash of Beasts.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline spits out a rather unpleasant swear word under her breath, at the first yell of incoming demons; her sword was left outside, so it's the scythe she summons to her hands instead, the uniquely /her/ weapon with its ornamental, crimson edge. She slams the flat of the blade into one of the incoming Metal Demons, blunting its charge before heaving it to one side.

"--in that case, I will cover you! --I will do my best not to harm them!" she calls back over one shoulder, as two forms shimmer and mist at each of her shoulders. It would normally be a sign of a Metal Demon transportation - but much smaller, and in a familiarly spherical sort of shape that signifies--

breeeet...!

--Trouble and Strife winging out of thin air to swing around Noeline in quick, agitated circles. Immediately the first of the little robots lays down a curtain of fire to try to stymie the rest of them, purposefully aiming around them rather than at them as Noeline does her best not to outright snarl. "Stand down! Come to your senses!" she commands, that aura around her misting away in an instant as she makes herself known, simultaneously dropping back as she keeps herself between the Beasts and the demon and Trial Knight.

DG: Noeline has used her Tool Trouble toward her party's challenge, A Clash of Beasts.

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

Beasts, in the truest sense of the word, pour in through the broken walls of the temple halls. If K.K. has more to say, it is cut off by the sight of the Metal Beasts, unresponsive to even their masters, springing upon them. One lunges to pounce; metal teeth finds armor in a shriek of sparks, angrily gnawing upon the knight's gauntleted arm before they knock the creature aside. That horned helm snaps around in a quick assessment of the area. Riesenlied's gem, shining. Noeline, providing a wall between them and their attackers. And the way further in--

"They are not of their own mind, nor yours. Come."

When K.K. acts, it is decisively. There is no room for hesitation or second guessing or argument; the knight just -moves-. Whether Riesenlied or Noeline choose to follow, the Trial Knight aims to clear a path through the ranks of beasts before spinning around, light gathering in a bright spectacle upon their palms, growing and forging all that accumulated radiance--

--into an absolutely immense bow made of blue, white and gold metal, its thick cord armed not with an arrow.

But a lance.

"Noeline, retreat," they warn, and give just enough time to comply before they tilt that bow... and loose its massive ammunition towards the ceiling, hitting aging stone with a raucous BOOM of impact with every intent of collapsing it upon the beasts and cutting them off...

... and also sealing their fate. Further in. As if there could have been any other option.


DG: K.K. has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward its party's challenge, A Clash of Beasts.

DG: Not everyone in the party has acted yet. +act/complete can only be used once the whole party has acted.

=======================< Results - A Clash of Beasts >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Riesenlied                          0 --(15)--> 15                 Pass
Dragon's Tear                       3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K.K.                                0 --(12)--> 12                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noeline                             0 --(14)--> 14                 Fail
Trouble                             2   Combat  Effects: Resilient            
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Riesenlied                  0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
Conditions: Fright(2)|Suffer
Effects: Resilient(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================

DG: The party led by Riesenlied has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

The egress of the Metal Beasts is fast and savage -- they find themselves having to fight to the fullest as Noeline brings both Trouble and Strife to bear, showering the Beasts with curtain of fire and slashing away at the scythes with an emanation of darkness.

Yet, these Beasts are made to be frontline troops, and they're hardy as they are aggressive.

The Trial Knight charges through, and Riesenlied nods as she uses the few Beasts she's managed to convert to hold the others at bay -- she winces as two of them tear into each other, more or less mangling each other in the wake of their onslaught.

It is K.K.'s lance-powered bow that makes the difference in the end, as the giant-slaying arrow whistles through the air and carves down the temple wall and... yes, seals their fate of heading further in.

"... we-- need to move," Riesenlied concurs, as she strides onward, even with that limping leg. [OOC] Noeline says, "Shall I take"

DG: Noeline has drawn a new Challenge.

==========================<* The Guardian Temple *>===========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Grasping in the Dark *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As soon as your entire party walks into the door leading into this room, the  
doorway behind you slams shut. That presents two problems: the heavy stone    
door blocks the way off that you entered from. However, it has also obscured  
all sources of light. The room inside of here is pitch black. There may be a  
torch or a fire pit, but you can hear something else. A faint sound, like a   
hiss.                                                                         
                                                                              
And the sound of scales, slithering across the floor. It seems that you are   
not alone in here -- and you will need to think of a way to light the room    
quickly to escape and avoid a bite from whatever creature slithers along the  
ground.                                                                       
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Bad Luck========================================

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

In many ways, the door closing behind them is something of a distinct relief; Noeline heaves out a breath, hardly disturbed by the way they're plunged into blackness. It's a respite, or so she'd like to think, a chance to catch their breath and pause for a moment. "H-honestly... those Beasts are too much for a situation like this. Of course they would get confused," she mutters, her tone of voice one more of sympathy than anger--

--but the sound of a light, dangerous noise makes her pause and squint against the darkness. As a full-fledged Metal Demon, she's not so worried about being bitten by something in the depths of this room - chances are good that she'd be perfectly fine. On the other hand, this isn't the sort of time when they can afford to take chances.

"... I apologize, Riese, if this clashes with your own light. I suppose this is as good a time as any to check," she decides - and then concentrates, summoning a pool of black sorcery into her hand before she crushes it in a fist. The sensation and the aura spread outwards, abating and twisting the darkness into something more managable - a darkness that isn't quite dark, that at least provides an odd monochrome view of the immediate area around them. "I admit," she adds, a light strain in her voice. "I am seriously improvising, here. And I cannot say how long this will last."

DG: Noeline has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Grasping in the Dark.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied lets out a harrowed little noise as the last lingering vestiges of the battle echo in her mind, and she shakes her head. "It can't be helped..." She does catch notice of that hissing noise, and looks towards Noeline as she crushes upon that black sorcery and creates a--

--a kind of anti-light...

"... it's an unusual feeling, coming from you... but it will do," Riesenlied nods, as she concentrates and sends only a scant few Pinions to surround the area with ambient light, and begins to move forward.

DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Grasping in the Dark.

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

In the aftermath, as the Trial Knight emerges from the rubble made behind them, their armor has been rent and gouged viciously; a crack forms through their helmet, slightly off-center. But despite the damage, the knight pauses to look upon themself. And when they speak next--

"... Your warbeasts are quite ferocious."

--it's more with a tone of impressed wonder, beyond that metallic, warping din.

There's more important things to focus their attention upon, however -- like the pitch dark just beyond them. Their unseen gaze lifts, sweeping across the blackness before them, head tilt. A slither. A hiss. And the fluctuation of a Guardian's energies...

"You are growing more adept with its use," K.K. notes, voice almost curious as they lift their tremendous bow. It breaks apart once more into the light it was seemingly conjured from, motes of white that join Riesenlied's pinions and the strange monochrome of Noeline's anti-light like fireflies drifting through the air.

"It grows closer. Prepare yourselves," warns the knight, as they push forward towards what seems to be the exit. Hope for the best, perhaps.

But prepare for the worst.

DG: K.K. has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Grasping in the Dark.

=====================<* The Guardian Temple - Round 2 *>======================
======================< Results - Grasping in the Dark >======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Riesenlied                          15 --(5)--> 20                 Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K.K.                                12 --(8)--> 20                 Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noeline                             14 --(6)--> 20                 Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Riesenlied                  10 --(5)--> 15                 Fail
Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Fright(1)|Stupify(2)|Suffer
Effects: 
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================

DG: The party led by Riesenlied has failed this challenge! The party gained 5 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> Noeline has posed.

Noeline is grimacing already; she sucks in an uncertain breath, shaking a little as she does her best to marshal her newfound power. Bolstered by Riese's pinions and the Trial Knight's light, they have a light through the area--

--but already Noeline's power is beginning to fluctuate, perhaps hindered by the additions just as much as it is helped. "Not-- good enough yet--" the demon rumbles to herself, then lets out a rather unladylike yelp as something within her wrenches, and the odd light winks off and then on.

It's not gone for long - but it's long enough for the hiss around them to rise to a crescendo, and something flits through the darkness quick enough to send Noeline into a nearby wall, impacting against it with a heavy noise. "--gh-- go!" she calls, something almost like panic at the edge of her voice as she does her best to propel Riesenlied forwards. It's not a pretty retreat, harried by the unseen creatures.

DG: K.K. has drawn a new Challenge.

===========================<* The Guardian Temple *>============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Collapsed Stairway *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Sometimes, stairwells lead to higher and lower levels. As you round the       
corner, you come across one such stairwell. Rubble has collapsed from the     
ceiling and filled this one to the brim. Unless you can find another way      
down, which would involve backtracking, you will need to remove it. It        
promises to be an arduous process, though, because the ceiling will need to   
be supported -- and the rubble moved carefully, lest you cause an even        
greater collapse than before.                                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Injure, Overwhelm==================================

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

The beast finds them.

The lash of -something- from the dark. A shout of panic. Noeline's voice, distant. Within the darkness, the Trial Knight's armor glints with the fading light.

"Push on," they say to Riesenlied, a simple command, but one that seems like it will brook no argument to the contrary.

"Now is not the time to look back."

And with that, the Trial Knight pushes into the darkness; they'll look for Noeline, to take her by the hand with a grip that has certainly cast many others to their doom so many times before...

"Come -- this time is an ill fit for sacrifice."

... before looking to help pull Noeline through the darkness towards safety, using that armored body as a shield for any of that strange creature's pressing attacks.

Further they'll press on, though -- through halls, towards a stairwell that seems to lead further up into the heights of the temple. The passage -is- clear...

... but all that changes in an instant with the deafening boom of artillery fire and the dangerous rumble of the temple as the walls BURST into ancient stone rubble, burying that stairway in a barrier of precarious debris.

The Trial Knight says nothing. They simply march forward and hold their hands up.

By the time they swing down, there's a large warhammer brought about pretty much out of nowhere to bludgeon that debris away.

-Carefully-.

"Tell me true, Riesenlied. Of what do you expect to gain from this? What do you believe these Guardians will have to say to you, should you manage to garner their attentions?"


DG: K.K. has used its Tool Where Did You Get That Hammer toward its party's challenge, Collapsed Stairway.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"N-Noeline--" Riesenlied shouts, but as her Pinions return to her, she knows that she won't be of any use in the darkness, the way she is. There's a grimace on the Metal Demon's face as she proceeds towards the staircase and leans against a nearby pillar with a beleaguered sigh, looking exhausted -- physically, mentally, emotionally.

It's with relief that she sees both of them emerge, with a hand on her face as she looks towards the warhammer and steps... largely out of the way -- she concentrates mainly on supporting the ceiling.

"... for all this time," she expresses.

"For all this time, I have heard the Guardians' hatred from Lord Siegfried, from Berserk, from Alhazred. From the stories that have been distilled through time, further and further chipped away from truth..."

She slumps.

"... it has turned my brethren into such finely honed killers and marauders both. But not once have I ever heard it from the lips of a Guardian."

She looks towards the ceiling and strains as she holds onto it further, her wings fluttering weakly as she pushes.

"... I can't proceed ... until I hear what they have to say. Their silence is painful. Even the one time I have been exposed to a Guardian at length... they deign to speak to me..."

She lowers her head.

"... there is little sadder than an inability for two people, two bodies of people, to communicate ..."

DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Collapsed Stairway.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline looks haggard, her tiny connection to a sealed Guardian waning all too quickly; she hangs her head as she makes it back to Riesenlied's side, muttering out an apology before she turns to the rubble ahead.

She is not a fighter, has never been a fighter - but what she /is/ is someone who can manage to pick herself up time and time again, and there's still a light in her crimson eyes as she steps forward after the Trial Knight, her joints aching as she heaves some of the errant rocks that the armored figure misses out safely out of the way.

"... I am with Riesenlied, but-- perhaps I could say my reasons are more personal. I wish to know what sparked this animosity - I wish to know what has sustained it all this time, and I wish to know it from more than one viewpoint. We need to know, if we ever want to resolve it. Sitting there with only wishful thinking on our side can only take us so far," she mutters, though not unkindly - knowing that Riese might see it that way, she lays a hand on the other demon's arm in support as she draws in a breath.

"And I also want to know - why me? Why has Duras Drum deigned to speak to me, however dimly, from behind his seal? And how might I strengthen that connection, if it will serve as an example in the days to come of what might be?"

DG: Noeline has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Collapsed Stairway.

========================< Results - Collapsed Stairway >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Riesenlied                          20 --(28)--> 48                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K.K.                                20 --(23)--> 43                Pass
Where Did You Get That Hammer       2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen           
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noeline                             20 --(30)--> 50                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Riesenlied                  15 --(5)--> 20                 Fail
Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Injure(2)|Overwhelm|Stupify(1)|Suffer|Tire(2)
Effects: Strengthen(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================

DG: The party led by Riesenlied has failed this challenge! The party gained 5 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> K.K. has posed.

That rubble is unyielding and substantial, clotting the stairwell so thoroughly and so precariously that it makes clearing it an ordeal unto itself. It is the consequences of a warzone wreaked on a place not truly meant to withstand modern warfare; gouts of rubble pile in even after more debris is cleared, and errant swipes or movements simply cause further collapse.

Even with K.K.'s considerable strength behind it, that process takes time. But still, they persist, wordless even through and after Riesenlied and Noeline's explanations, until the very last of that rubble is cleared -- until they push through. The knight's sense of pride and stoicism shows through in how little they allow the physical symptoms of their mounting exhaustion to show, but it is there -- in how sluggishly they move, in the brief moments of time they pause.

In the involuntary spasm of their fingers, now more frequent than their rare occurrences.

But still. They move, wading up those stairs, and only pausing once they've reached the top -- to stare down towards Noeline and Riesenlied, a silhouette of damaged armor amongst what might lie beyond.

"... And, should they inform you that what you fear is true, should they inform you that you and your get are not meant for this land and that they will purge you so that their ilk may persist on... should it turn out that your connection to the Hades Guardian is naught but mere fluke?"

The words may be harsh, if only in content; but that tone is questing, searching. Perhaps testing.

"What then shall you both do?"

DG: Riesenlied has drawn a new Challenge.

==========================<* The Guardian Temple *>===========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - The Sand Box *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you walk down the hallway, one of your number feels a slight give -- and   
then the tell-tale click of a pressure plate being stepped on. A loud crash   
sounds from ten feet behind you -- and then a second loud crash in front of   
you. Two stone walls come crashing down, blocking off the exit ahead and the  
exit behind. This, alone, would be concerning.                                
                                                                              
But then you hear a rumble.                                                   
                                                                              
Two vents on either side of the wall open up, and sand begins to pour into    
the room. It isn't long at all before it is ankle deep and rising quickly.    
You will need to find some way through -- be it to smash down the wall or     
the stop the flow of sand -- before you are buried alive in this Temple.      
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Tire===========================================

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

They don't have much in the way of breathing space.

It isn't long after the rubble is cleared and they proceed forward that the 'click' happens, and the walls close in and sand starts to fill.

"... then I want to know that," Riesenlied shares, too exhausted at this point to mount much in the way of panic or surprise. "I want to hear it from them, I want them to speak true and clear of why we were so unfit for this land we are as anathema..."

And then she rises into the air, as she examines the contraption that's pouring sand out. It is with gentleness that she tinkers with it, having seen such devices before and having a surety she can stop the flow, somehow.

"... and I'll find that bridge."

She narrows her eyes as she twists a lever.

"I don't believe in absolutes. I don't believe in uncrossable distances. Where one's will has not yet been extinguished, I believe there will be a way to cross that gap, to overcome that wall... no matter how harsh and difficult that process may be."

DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Sand Box.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

From somewhere below, even as the sand starts to lick at her boots, Noeline laughs - almost brightly - in response to Riesenlied's answer. She strides forward, nimbly moving through the start of the shifting dust, and simply drives a plated fist into the stone wall ahead of them. "--that-- I believe strongly in Riesenlied's answer, Trial Knight. I would not be here if I weren't." Another strike; her gauntlet is cracked and pitted, and each punch is probably painful, the way the demon clenches her teeth.

But her eyes are bright and wild, and she repeats the motion again, seeking to simply tear straight through the wall ahead of her. "But more than that - I'm prepared. Even if such a bridge is impossible to find, even if there might not be any way for us to coexist, I will still continue to live as hard and as true as I can. I have chosen this path - I will follow it as I see fit, acting as I see fit. To be anyone other than Noeline Carver would be a disservice."

Part of the silvery plate flings away with the next punch, and she beams toothily. "To me and to Riese both. ... besides," she adds with a chuckle. "It isn't as if Mother would let me live long, hm?"

DG: Noeline has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Sand Box.

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

click

Sand pours. Walls fall in to trap them. And even as Riesenlied works with that device, the Trial Knight wades fearlessly through the rising sands, feeling the grains sneak their way beneath metal plating even as they coarsely caress white steel.

"To want to broach a gap, undeterred, no matter what may seek to impede you... That sentiment is in itself an absolute, Riesenlied." Soon, the Trial Knight is joining Noeline at her side near the wall. Hammer still manifested in their hands, they bring it down to help her in that painful process of trying to crack open the wall -- even as Riesenlied tries to subvery the trap entirely.

"But 'tis not a foolish thing, to want such a thing absolutely."

Every word punctuated with a deafening crack of hammer to stone, the Trial Knight sets about their work -- unrelenting, unhindered. Stubborn to a fault. But for however warped their voice might be -- that little hint of approval in their tone still manages to carry through after Noeline's words. It isn't as if Mother would let me live long, hm?

"Then I would see you live," is their simple response, amidst the raucous.

"True to yourself, if naught else."

DG: K.K. has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward its party's challenge, The Sand Box.

==========================< Results - The Sand Box >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Riesenlied                          48 --(29)--> 77                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K.K.                                43 --(32)--> 75                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noeline                             50 --(32)--> 82                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Riesenlied                  20 --(10)--> 30                Fail
Conditions: Injure(1)|Overwhelm|Reckless(2)|Suffer|Tire(2)
Effects: 
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================

DG: The party led by Riesenlied has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied finds that she's not focused enough -- she grasps at the constraints she's given to work with, coughing as sand starts to billow into her breathing, and backs away from the contraption she's managed to slow, but not stop.

Fortunately, it is with both Noeline's fist and K.K.'s warhammer that they manage to smash through the barricade with a crumbling, immaculate power.

The winged woman tumbles over and lets out a heavy, fettered breath as she holds onto that now-bleeding leg of hers again where the frosted lance once pierced through.

"Maybe it is selfishness... but I want to cling onto that outcome," Riesenlied sounds particularly resolved, even more battered as she comes out, the glint in her eyes undefeated yet.

DG: Noeline has drawn a new Challenge.

==========================<* The Guardian Temple *>===========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - The Hidden Switch *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The door at the end of this hallway is closed. A push won't open it, and      
some examination indicates that it must lift up into the wall above it.       
There isn't an immediately obvious way to make it do so. However, a large     
set of reliefs are carved into the wall around the door. They depict the      
Guardians in stylized form, each surrounded by elements of their domain.      
Perhaps, they provide a clue -- or hide the way forward.                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline's last punch fragments the last of that gauntlet away, leaving her fist bloodied with silver, covered with oddly-coloured bruises; she winces with a gulping yelp afterwards, stumbling through the open door in a wave of released sand.

She manages to catch herself on her hands, at least, squinting as she just about manages to stop herself going underneath the flow - and then summons the strength together out of nowhere to haul herself back up to her feet, instinctively reaching for Riesenlied to help the other woman back up to her feet in turn.

She's shaking from tension and tiredness, and this is-- almost a surprise to her, unable for once to simply push the feeling out of her limbs even as she finds her balance, pushing through the rest of the sand as it drains away into nooks and crannies, leaving them staring at an almost nondescript door barring their way.

"... that is my plan," she replies to the Trial Knight, even now managing to find some good cheer out of nowhere at all - and some more determination, to propel her forwards towards the door as she breathes out a long breath. "... and even if we do not reach the Guardians this time - there is always a next, and a next. I am told I can be quite stubborn, at times. And Riesenlied is anything but willing to give up, as you have already heard."

She pauses, glancing at the reliefs with a furrowed brow, naming each of them under her breath.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied wordlessly drapes herself onto Noeline's shoudler once more, squinting with a bit of a gasp as the dark-haired Metal Demon pulls her to her feet. There's a smile, beyond that tension and exhaustion, as she squeezes that bloodied hand of hers with her own -- silver blood intermixed with red -- and she says, "... just... a little further."

It sounds like wishful thinking. But it's also positive thinking.

She looks towards the door and stares -- shivering just a moment as she reaches forward and touches onto one particular part of the wall around the door.

She winds up smearing a relief of a wild-maned unicorn, entranced with butterfly feet, with some of her blood.

"Ah--"

She hesitates further, as she shakes her head. "... there is a clue here... the Terrestrials..." A pause. "Noeline, you know more of the Guardians than I do..."

It's clear that she's bothered by that depiction behind her.

DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Hidden Switch.


<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

Exhaustion has reached such fathomless heights. Everything in this temple is geared to oppress, to make every moment a struggle. As Noeline and Riesenlied press on past that sand trap, K.K. lingers a moment, staring past the ruined wall and the spilling sand beyond. Their fingers twitch. Their head tilts.

"..."

And with that, they pivot upon their heel, murmuring a simple, "I understand," beneath their breath.

...

By the time they have reached the etched murals decorating the next room, Noeline and Riesenlied are already inspecting them. K.K. lingers towards the back, their head tilt, their arms crossed over their chest. Through body language alone they look almost fascinated by what they are seeing, looking from one image to the next in quiet contemplation as Noeline and Riesenlied contemplate.

"... Think upon where we are, and who amongst these would let you pass further beyond the boundary before us," is all they say -- offering simple words of advice instead of taking matters into their own hands, as if curious to see what Noeline and Riesenlied will decide upon.

"The way forward must be chosen carefully. Focus upon the reliefs, and grasp the truth."


DG: K.K. has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward its party's challenge, The Hidden Switch.


=======================< Results - The Hidden Switch >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Riesenlied                          77 --(14)--> 91                Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K.K.                                75 --(14)--> 89                Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noeline                             82 --(13)--> 95                Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Riesenlied                  30 --(20)--> 50                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Overwhelm|Reckless(1)|Suffer|Tire(1)
Effects: 
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================

DG: The party led by Riesenlied 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> Noeline has posed.

"... Moor Gault. Grudiev. Fengalon. Schturdark. Noua Shax. Aru Solatu--" Noeline counts off, indicating each symbol of the Elemental Guardians in turn with a tilt of her head. "And the Celestials, above them. Dinoginos, Lucadia, Solais Emsu, Celesdue, and Rigdobrite. ... I notice the Guardians of Ideals are not present," she adds with an amused sort of huff, hiding the tiredness behind her voice. "Which does rather mean that my own patron is not represented."

How odd, for a Metal Demon to have read so extensively on the Guardians. Noeline's knowledge obviously predates the escalation of the campaign against Adlehyde - and the tone of her voice certainly suggests scholarly pursuits rather than a simple reading of the capabilities of her enemy. Her gaze flickers first towards Riesenlied, and the relief of Odoryuk behind her - and then towards the Trial Knight, as she lightly chuckles.

"Well, no pressure," she supposes with a light shrug, and then shakes her head with an amused huff of air as she steps forward. Briefly, she wonders whether to offer a more metaphysical bent - but has then touched a number of the plates, Grudiev and Dinoginos -- and then, as if to recognize the sway that the Guardian holds over Riesenlied, the bloodied plate of Odoryuk.

She's rewarded by the door rumbling open, to allow them passage, and softly sighs in relief.

DG: K.K. has drawn a new Challenge.

===========================<* The Guardian Temple *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - The Collapsing Bridge *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The next chamber comes to a stop over a wide, gaping chasm that extends       
through the deeper parts of the temple. The bottom is lost in darkness, but   
you can see that the way ahead is across it: a door on the other side. The    
chasm, mercifully, has a well-worn rope bridge across it.                     
                                                                              
Unfortunately, it is too well-worn. As you step onto it, the ropes begin to   
fray. The ancient boards begin to crumble. You will have to run quickly --    
or find another across -- as the bridge begins to give out underfoot!         
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Injure=========================================

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

For a moment, the Trial Knight's unseen gaze falls to Riesenlied. It strays towards Odoryuk, just as Noeline presses upon it, and the door leading inward hisses open with a shudder and the expel of dirt and centuries' accumulation of dust. They say nothing; merely tilt their head at a curious angle before they press on.

"Well done," they offer, that tinny voice sincere in that simple praise before they disappear through the darkness beyond the door.

...

What they come across next is a chasm that seems almost too vast for the dimensions of even a structure as large as this temple. There is darkness, merciless darkness, like a yawning abyss just beneath them. A bridge to pass by upon, eroded through the endless wages of time. The Trial Knight, silently, snaps their hands to either side of them. Light gathers upon their palms, growing brighter and brighter until twin, curved short swords a born within their palms.

And then they hurl both swords towards the opposite wall at the end of that chasm. Twin trails what looks like glowing red thread twine out from the hilts of the weapons as they soar and IMPALE into the stoney surface of the wall. One of those threads is offered to Noeline, if she will take it.

"Fly," is their simple suggestion before they break into a run and -leap-, aiming to use that grapple line to -swing- their way across that endless dark.


DG: K.K. has used its Tool Grapple Line toward its party's challenge, The Collapsing Bridge.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied is coaxed to move further, even as her legs start to shake. There is fatigue, fear and yet a tirelessness still within her as she keeps that hand held to Noeline in their hour of reckoning.

"This-- how is it that..." she seems baffled, but it isn't time to be baffled. She lets out a faint noise as she nods towards K.K., gasping just for a moment as the swords rail across the gap and create a line through them.

"... let's go together," she offers to Noeline. "If we fall... we fall together."

She drapes her arms around Noeline's stomach, as she concentrates all of her being into this seemingly final push--

--and her wings spread, brighter than ever before, most of its feathers burnt off and sheared, yet indefatigably shimmering with light like never before.

Then she waits for Noeline's impetus, as they do as the Trial Knight suggests.

They fly.

DG: You use your Tool Dragon Wings against your party's Challenge, The Collapsing Bridge!

DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon Wings toward her party's challenge, The Collapsing Bridge.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"I will support you to the very end, and then further," Noeline whispers in return, her smile somehow managing to be quiet and bright all at once - no matter how battered she looks, cut and bruised and perhaps more injured than Riesenlied has ever seen her. None of her trademark flightiness is present, stripped away by the resolve she's displayed along the way - and she catches one of the lines with a fierce determination, the little spherical figure of Strife chiming near her feet as it offers some meagre support.

There is little more to say, it seems - and with a final effort, she launches both her ARM and herself forwards and up at the same time as Riesenlied, her teeth clenched as she makes one final, distinct effort to push forwards towards their goal.

DG: Noeline has used her Tool Strife toward her party's challenge, The Collapsing Bridge.

======================<* The Guardian Temple - Round 6 *>=======================
======================< Results - The Collapsing Bridge >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Riesenlied                          91 --(10)--> 101               Pass
Dragon Wings                        3   Agility Effects: Fanfare              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K.K.                                89 --(18)--> 107               Fail
Grapple Line                        2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noeline                             95 --(8)--> 103                Pass
Strife                              3   Agility Effects: Rally                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Riesenlied                  50 --(15)--> 65                Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Injure(2)|Overwhelm|Suffer
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================

DG: Riesenlied is too exhausted to continue!

DG: K.K. is too exhausted to continue!

DG: Noeline is too exhausted to continue!

DG: The party has passed this challenge! All party members are now Exhausted. This attempt is over.

DG: The party led by Riesenlied has been fully Exhausted by The Guardian Temple!

DG: The party will now draw a conclusion.

===========================<* The Guardian Temple *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - The Guardians' Lament *>=====================
|Type: Landmark    |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 4          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Oh no!  What will HAPPEN?
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

The best that can be said of this endeavor is that they make it.

They cross that chasm. Roughly, and with no small amount of difficulty -- but they cross it. Even the Trial Knight, stoic as they may be, lands on solid ground with a decisive stumble, collapsing forward until they have struck upon one knee with a raucous sound of metal hitting stone. They do not bow -- they do not dare -- but poised as they are, it's clear they've reached a point of exhaustion.

"... this is no temple of worship," the utter after a long moment, as those swords crumple away and all they are left with is the dark and the dank. Until all that is left is fatigue the knight has not felt in an age. Just what they mean goes unsaid, but they know this manner of place intimately. Like recognizes like, after all. People did not worship here.

They underwent ordeals impassable.

A temple of trial.

It is the final thought the Trial Knight has within them, before they feel the rock groan beneath them.

crrrr--RRNNNCCHH--

Before not just the bridge, but the unstable cliffside they have all landed upon gives way, and ushers them all into gravity's embrace to collapse into the yawning darkness beyond.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied's wings are not meant for this kind of trial, not when they've been burnt and exhausted beyond measure through the trials of combat before. When she's spent virtually all of her energy to shield others from the weave of aerial fire from Aveh's battleships, when she bears wounds that would hospitalise others.

But it's with conviction and resolve that she proceeds, the flapping of her wings harder than ever before, in a desperate bid to at least make it towards the other side. "... it is a temple of measure," she whispers. "The measure of one's worth, one's character, one's essence..."

She descends to touch down with Noeline, aided by Strife as they are, until they reach towards the other end onto a ledge.

"... but... to whose measure?"

She lowers her head. "To the Guardians... but to what end? They have existed since before our brethren touched down upon this planet, centuries ago..."

That thought is interrupted as she hears the groaning of rock--

--and there's a gasp as she falls and is drawn into the void below. "K.K.! Noeline! Noeline--!!"

As her vision succumbs, she reaches out--

--and briefly, she passes a bloodied hand. Her vision, ever so ensconced by that presence that has menaced and rejected her all this time, is gripped by that of the Guardian closest to her:

The Guardian of Life, Odoryuk.

It is oppressive, it is debilitating...

...and it is too much.

Darkness overtakes her.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline's senses pick up the telltale shift of rock - the start of a chain reaction that threatens to tear their footing away. She even starts to move, willing her muscles to bunch in readiness - but exhausted as she is, she cannot respond in time, and her footing is suddenly ripped from her. She just has time to reach out once more, to catch Riesenlied by the arm as she desperately attempts to tap back into that trickle of Duras Drum's power, hoping that its internal darkness might mesh with that below.

In any other case, it would be her accidentally dragging the other demon to her doom - Noeline has no wings, no flight to save her - but here and now it is instead a promise, one that is proven by her yell, still defiant and still full of her own form of hope. "--I'm here! Riese, I'm here!" she calls through the sudden dim and din - and then even she, so proud of her sharp senses, feels them overcome as they fall.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

They descend into the depths of the earth, into the depths of Filgaia itself.

They land in an abyssal place; a place where the constructed stone halls of the Guardian Temple are no more, a place shaped not by Elw and human hands. They land in a deep, dark cavern, and the light down here comes only from scattered blue crystals that glow lightly. It may take them time to awaken, for nothing made this fall gentle. Their nature is all that saved them from being crushed.

And, it seems, they are not alone. The thing that shares this cavern is resplendent in white, but it is also alien in the extreme. Armored white segments line its back and two huge, hulking claws scrape into the ground. Its hind legs are similar, though red, bloody flesh can be seen on its underbelly. A long, segmented tail swirls after.

Its head has a golden crest and no eyes, and its mouth is terrible and fanged. Coming from it is a long, sharp, single-sided blade with golden etching in it. A sword, as unnatural as its body is natural. The sword shifts, seamlessly, into a feathered white wing.

The Sword Guardian, Equites, stands there.

It is silent and damning, its presence itself a statement. The Guardians send not a Guardian of Life, nor a Guardian of any ideal, land, star, or justice. They send their blade to deal with them.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

It is quiet -- too quiet.

It feels as if every bone -- if she can be told to have bones -- in her body has been shattered. Such is the wake of her pain, since as a Tainted, she cannot naturally regenerate so easily. But of all that's been told of Riesenlied, she operates on more than just function and power -- she operates on her resolve.

Weakly, to her knees, she stares towards the creature, breathlessly.

Is this it, then?

The Guardians have sent their blade to dispose of them. It is what they must do, when faced with a threat, and a threat is what they came as, no matter what is their wont.

But she can't just back down here.

Her sword is long gone, blown to the winds out in the desert. She has no sword to call her own, save for...

...

No, it isn't its place.

She rises, bloodied, that pierced wound at her thigh more problematic than ever. Her wings are naught but tatters at this point, reminders of the true, ugly, draconic failure that she was shaped to be.

She looks up, her face bloodied... and she holds her hands out to either side, as if to protect.

"If you must strike me down... then I will bid you to do so. But..."

She gathers her breath.

"Please. Find it within you, in whatever power that you hold that sustains this world... please, spare her, for she bears the mark of one of your kin."

She gazes towards that blade of ideals.

"And tell me... even just in a few words..."

She trembles.

"Why... why does such hatred exist between us?"

Her hands clench into fists as her voice starts to quaver. Blood continues to trickle from her forehead where she landed on it, red and thick unlike that of other Demons.

"What happened, so many years ago? The answers elude me. Fact has been fabricated into propaganda, poisoning our young. A poison that well bridges us."

There's tears in her eyes, as the light of empathy starts to shimmer. It is the last vestige of power that she has -- but she dares to do the unthinkable:

She dares to shine it upon the Guardian, to link with it, even if it may very well destroy her.

"Tell me... how can we bridge that gap?"

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

Beyond the cracked veil of a tarnished helm, an eye of burning gold creaks open.

The world that awakens to K.K.'s sight is one of stretches of darkness illuminated by smudges of cerulean bobbing through the air. Their helm is practically split down the middle, glimpses of that single eye and a hint of pale blonde hair beneath as they stared fixedly forward.

Armor is rent and split asunder in ugly twists of metal. If whatever is under there is anything approaching human, they must have broken something in the collision with whatever this ground may be. Yet, when they draw themself back onto their knees, there is no stopping, no stuttering or shakiness. It is a slow but dignified ascent. Unbowed. Unbroken.

Like someone who refuses to bend, even at the face of their end.

And so, slowly, the Trial Knight rises to their feet. Slowly, that burning gold eye lifts to the sight of that creature. Of a Guardian, in the flesh, such as it could be said to have such a thing. An exoskeleton of white covering it like glorious armor, its blade singularly massive as if in testament to its very purpose, its very nature.

Equites. The Sword Guardian.

"..."

There is a manner of recognition in that stare, but if K.K. has anything to say -- if they have any purpose in this temple, with these Guardians, beyond aiding Riesenlied's journey forward -- they do not voice it here. They say absolutely nothing.

They simply affix that unswaying stare upon the Guardians' blade, holding their head high and their posture dauntless... even as light, radiant and effervescent, bubbles and dwindles all around them like little will-o'-the-wisps, perhaps by will. Or perhaps simply a reaction to the Guardians presence.

But for now... for now, they leave the words to those who so wanted to forge that communication between ones who now bare their blade at them.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

The noise that Noeline makes as she lands is unbidden, an expression of pain unlike any she's had to make in a very, very long time; she lays there for a moment, her consciousness drifting in and out in this alien place as she does her best to get her bearings in a place where there are none.

It takes some time for the realization to filter in that she isn't dead - and in the wake of that, her muffled senses decide that perhaps she can afford to rest a while, that perhaps it might be best to close her eyes and let her body seek to recover the damage its taken. There is talk somewhere above her - but she barely hears it, not at first.

"If you must strike me down... then I will bid you to do so."

--no, she decides, summoning the last of her strength together. It isn't much, but it's enough, especially when combined with the sheer stubbornness of her nature, the sheer resolve to hold fast to her own ideals no matter what. She could never be as giving as Riesenlied is - she could never be as kind, never as willing to consider her entire race, rather than just the parts of it she likes - but she's made that decision and dedication, to follow true to her own path. And that path is telling her to stand, right at this moment.

The spark of Duras Drum's aura is tiny, compared to the encompassing power of Equites... but it's there, underlining Riesenlied's statement as she lifts herself up from the ground to gaze at the Guardian before her. She coughs, almost without thinking about it, and does her best to shake away the cobwebs.

Her stance falters for a moment before she wills herself to stand up straighter, her gaze fiercer as that light comes back to her eyes - and as she moves forward to position herself between the Guardian and the Tainted. Ever the bodyguard, even if Riese can be so terribly hard to protect. But that's her decision to make.

"Though it may be hard to believe," she mutters, her voice laced with regret, "... there are some of us who do not wish to fight. There are some of us who simply wish to live - and who wish to learn, in turn, about how to live on this world. ... I bear a Medium within me. Even if I do not know how-- surely, this must be proof that there is something that can be done to bridge us."

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

Equites is silent and nearly still, as pleas are made. And yet, he is not a statue, and the way the segmented plates on his body rise and fall reveal that he is a living creature -- a Guardian, here in the flesh, though none could say for how long. He has no eyes to look at them, and yet, his gaze can undoubtedly be felt. He waits after they finish talking. He waits long enough that Riesenlied and Noeline might well wonder if he could hear them.

When he finally speaks, despite his jaw working, his voice booms out and imprints itself into their minds directly. Equites is a thing more alien than his kin.

"You ask how to bridge a gap that your kind have hewn into our world. Am I to believe the words of those who would wage war upon us?" Equites asks, and he snarls it down. He paces forward, the ground shaking under his advance.

And yet, he does not attack. He circles, instead, like a wolf toying with its prey.

"That Duras Dum has given you his blessing troubles me. Your tears offend me! Filgaia is our sole concern -- and Filgaia is dying. Your ilk come from beyond the stars... and they lay waste to our world. They drive it to death and despair."

He quiets, for a moment, before he asks: "What does a Demon know of peace?"

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied's knees quaver once more, even as she glances back towards K.K. with a breath of shock at the notice that their helmet has been rent -- yet she wonders if they truly are indestructible, the way they can seem to stand without assail at the way they rise back to their feet, undeterred.

In contrast, she's at her last at present, as she lowers her head and whispers, "... I know that many of our kin seek to destroy you."

"I know that my superiors seek nothing but your ultimate destruction, in the name of Mother."

Her tears offend Equites, yet she can't help it -- that is her earnest and unbidden response, of tears, of empathy.

She concentrates harder, and she shows, rather than tells.

There is a flash, and--

--there is an vision, of Old Petra. Of the conflict and battle being waged against Id, against the Crimson Gear. An image of Xantia striking her fist aloft, of Lily creating her powers of darkness, of Harken drawing her scythe and others -- standing alongside Riesenlied and Noeline, and the others as they desperately pool their powers to try to stem back this seemingly otherworldly invader.

There is another sensation, a memory of a Metal Demon lifting a fallen Adlehyde guardsman, as Ida and Sibyn try to get clear of the resulting light of Laevateinn that has been visited upon Id as both humans and demons try to make their escape.

--she falters, as the strain of memory and depicting it within this empathic light starts to really threaten to make her collapse once more--

--and there is an image, much more recently.

It is an image of Riesenlied, standing upon a crate overlooking the group of Tainted that have been gathered before her. Amongst them are some Veruni, Ambrosius and Kaguya.

"We will head to this point, to another village that was waylaid decades ago by hardship and tragedy. ... I believe we have here the technical knowhow and expertise to resuscitate this, and create an oasis village that shall serve as our new home: a village we call Wayside."

She lets that sink in for a moment, and then pulls her hand to a large banner whose haft she holds.

"We shall carry the torch for those that have fallen. We shall spread our message of tolerance and awareness in the wake of hatred -- a hatred that haunts us from a thousand years ago, amongst our brethren, amongst the folklore of humans that have persisted over the centuries... ... we shall rebuild, we shall stand in the wake of our wounds, for we are stronger together."

--and she suddenly falters, to her knees, as the image breaches and shatters apart. There's a lightly glazed-over look on Riesenlied's eyes as she rasps and buckles under the sheer strain and stress of the power.

The silver brooch, the Dragon's Tear, clatters slowly to the ground from where she held it.

"... please."

She's begging, as she lowers her head.

"Please... give us a chance to make a difference."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

The thrum of the Guardian's power is immense; it sears at Noeline's senses, threatening to overwhelm her. No empathic link is needed for that to happen, nor any blessing from Duras Drum. It just is, here in the shrine of the Guardians, here with one of them right in front of her.

And yet, she holds fast - has no choice but to, for what might be at stake.

"... I know of peace!" Noeline returns with conviction, her brow furrowed as she bites down a lump in her throat. "I have lived amongst humans for centuries - doing my best to learn their ways. Learning of things I would never have learned if I remained in the Photosphere. Learning of rights and wrongs I had never even /considered/ before I set foot in the world outside!" she adds as she raises her voice, clenching her fist tight enough for her nails to bite into her palm.

"I learnt of the strength of the people of Filgaia, along with their own resolve to keep on living! I learnt of emotions and hopes that have been denied those demons of today! I /admired/ them, and still do! I wept for Arctica and Adlehyde, wishing that my race could perhaps be just a little less /utterly/ foolish!" she adds, her voice cracking as it rises.

That seems to catch her for a moment, driving her back towards silence; she dips her head, collecting her thoughts and urging her emotions to still. "... we are not even disagreeing with you. If this war - if this destruction - if it is borne from the actions of demons, then so be it. I would believe it, after the last few months," she adds with a harsh and unhappy laugh. "But all we wish to know is /why/. So that we might reverse it. So that we might atone for it. ... we were born on this planet, however strange we might be."

Dimly, she realizes that Riesenlied has fallen behind her; somehow, she gathers enough werewithal to step back, and feel for the other demon's shoulder. Her eyes cannot bring themselves to tear away from the Guardian before them. "... we simply wish to help our home."

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

Equitus speaks. Its words are a brand upon the mind, a sensation of feelings rather than enunciated thought. The Trial Knight listens to his suspicions, to his decrying both Noeline and Riesenlied, and they do not offer any words on their behalf, nor speak against the Guardian of the Sword.

They simply watch as it circles them, stance neutral yet ever-prepared should the worst happen -- a worst they are suredly ill-prepared for.

Filgaia is their sole concern. Filgaia is dying. It is a reality that cannot be denied, and one that seems only worsened by the Metal Demons' presence. The Trial Knight's lone eye shuts closed for a long moment of silence as both Riesenlied and Noeline make their pleas -- one through thought and feeling and memory, and one through words. Both impassioned.

Their fingers twitch, a sharp if brief spasm from something unseen. And finally...

They speak.

"To those who have lived long enough, sentiment means naught," the knight utters, voice flanged by the cracked helmet in a way that seems to crack towards an actual voice without ever becoming it -- always perilously skirting around that edge in a way that makes it seem, somehow, all the more inhuman. "Words, naught but air. And while your belief may hold fast, what of your children's? And your children's children? And beyond? The spirits of a realm do not forget the bonds that slip with the passage of time."

That golden gaze, cracking open, turns towards Equitus. "But the tide of the world can turn for good or ill upon the actions of life like these. You know this well, do you not? The horrors of man are only matched by their wonders." Their hand sweeps out, to gesture to the two Demons beside them.

"Words mean little. But this place is a place of ordeal. A place of trial. So place upon them your burden. Impose upon them your geas. Make them know the weight they would bear, and see if they may carry it." It almost sounds like an order, with how decisively the Trial Knight utters their suggestion. But their gaze never strays from the Guardians' blade, not even for a moment. That conviction, that absolute belief, never falters.

"If they break beneath it, they break, and you shall be proven right. But one knows naught from whence salvation may come."

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

Images are shared with Equites. It may be a strange sensation for Riesenlied, as she receives nothing in return; Equites closes whatever he feels and thinks off from her, accepting whatever she shares, and giving nothing in return. To call the Sword Guardian guarded would be an understatement.

He is quiet and silent, through it all, through the explanation. And then Noeline talks, his head swiveling quickly towards her, and he looks at her with no eyes. The armored plate over his face points at her.

"You wish to know /why/!? You turn to your victims and ask for absolution!?" the Guardian /roars/, and this time his voice shakes the ancient cavern. Rocks tremble, pebbles raining down atop them. "What explanation could we hope to offer! You are creatures born of a cursed star -- of a darkness that has shaken Filgaia and torn her heart out again and again!"

Equites stops, glowering down, and his tail swishes back and forth with rage. "You tell me that you admire and adore a people that yours have only killed. What do you truly know of them? Have you ever known a fear that last generations? A fear of the very world rotting and dying under your feet?"

Another roar, though this one turns into a soft rumble. The Guardian quiets, though, when K.K. speaks. Something in those words makes the Guardian hesitate in his rage, makes him cease in his demands. His head turns towards K.K., and then looks away from them, back to the pair of Metal Demons.

"And yet..."

The words, softly spoken, echo through the empty crystalline cavern. "You wish to know how to make a difference? Then show us that you are more than your taint. You have told us what you will do. We have heard many a promise, Demon."

The Guardian pauses, glaring forward eyelessly. "A trait your kind shares with humans. Give us more than a promise. Give us action. Create the peace you desire. Build your village. Bring our people together. Show that you will do more than kill us. Be more than what you were created to be."

He roars, again. "This is the geas that I lay upon you! Bring us more than war -- and we shall see if we have misjudged all of your kind!"

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

It is more than disquieting to Riesenlied to feel nothing in return. More than anything, the sensation of nothingness is what saddens her more than ever... yet, there is... something like a forlorn sense of hope when K.K. finally makes their interjection, and she gazes up towards the reature once more.

She picks up that Tear, that symbol of her hope and desire for the future.

"... then as you are our witness, Equites, Guardian of Swords, I stake the blade of the Fallen Sword, Laevateinn, on this oath."

She holds that hand solemnly to her chest, the brooch held at her heart.

"Already, my brethren march to their new hope in the West. We shall build it there, amidst the dunes, nestled upon the mountains -- a place where all that have fallen by the wayside, discarded in this dying world that judges so many shall be welcome!"

She looks towards K.K., her eyes bearing no less conviction than before.

"And as fain as words are, then... K.K. -- no, Trial Knight, I request of thee, selfishly...

There is a pause, from where she still kneels.

"Be our arbiter, our judge, for this is our trial. This has always been our trial."

She lifts her head up.

"And if I am to fail in this trial, then death would be too merciful a punishment for me."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

The demon spy pauses as the Trial Knight's words wash over her--

--then instinctively throws her hands up in front of her face, blocking the roar of the Guardian as it physically pushes her backwards, her feet nearly leaving the ground as she's buffeted backwards by the sound.

Its presence is overbearing in the tiny cavern, and dimly Noeline realizes the place is threatening to fall apart simply from the Guardian's ire alone. For a moment, she nearly holds her tongue; it would be so easy to clam up, to swallow her words, to just accept the judgement - as merciful as it is - without saying anything more.

But this is a chance she cannot pass up - a chance to make their plight heard, to plea further. To, at the very least, explain.

"--who else can we /ask/?! Our records, our history, are lost! None give the faintest damn about recovering them but the two of us! Those who could alter the course of this war care only about continuing it!" she yells against the winds, feeling her footing falter; she drops to one knee, and even then seeks to struggle back up to her feet. "If we are to stop it - then first we have to understand it, from as many sides as possible!"

Mixed in her voice is fear - a fear that, perhaps, even the Guardians don't have an answer. That even from Equites' point of view, the simple truth is that it is as the Trial Knight says - demons are demons, and that is enough for this emnity between them, and always was. That perhaps there was no catalyst, just a single and unstoppable difference that cannot be overcome. It might not count as Noeline's world rotting and dying under her feet - but the thought of it is close enough for her.

And yet...

... suddenly, the storm abates, and Noeline collapses the rest of the way to the floor, catching herself on tired arms. For a moment, it's all she can do to stay there, bowed on all fours, her hand tightening into a fist as she listens to Riesenlied's vow.

"... I am a Hyadean," she says afterwards, quietly but with a rising confidence in her voice. "But I am a Hyadean touched by a Guardian. Humans may villify me, Filgaia may reject me, and our Mother will certainly not accept me into the world she wishes to create. ... I will show you what we can create together," she adds, softer this time, but no less solemn as she makes her own vow. "Because that is the only way to be true to myself - and the only way to have a place of my own to exist in."

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

The Guardian lays down his ultimatum -- his ordeal, for the pair of Metal Demons brought before him. Brought before -them-. And, like a medium between those two antithetical existences, the Trial Knight merely observes, once more going silent after their thoughts have been weighed. They merely weather the storm of the Guardian's rage, forceful as it is, inhuman, otherworldly -- enough to shake the very firmament in its fervor; their attention barely so much as shifts even as Noeline lashes back against the creature's words. Such, after all, is her stake to claim in this.

And when it passes with the measured cut of the Trial Knight's words, the armored figure remains standing, their gaze finally falling away from Equites --

To focus the weight of their attention on Riesenlied and Noeline.

... Trial Knight, I request of thee... 

That golden eyes falls upon Riesenlied, kneeling before them -- before Equites. And for as imperious as that stare is, the faint softening of that lone, visible brow is faintly visible.

"Then so it shall be," intones the knight, to both the Demons' vows. "My will is steel. My oath is unbending. This bond, unbreakable. I shall watch over your efforts, as steadfast as the gaze of this world's wards shall doubtless be." Their words, unwavering.

"And should you falter, all you have endeavored for shall be forfeit."

Their promise, absolute.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"If it is lost... then it is lost. We do not know the minds of creatures such as you." Equites turns, giving Noeline a final baleful look. But, the Guardian quiets -- and Riesenlied agrees to the geas, beseeching the Trial Knight in that. The Guardian of the Sword turns, eyeless gaze falling upon K.K. as they make their promsie.

Then, the Guardian bows its head down. "In this -- and only this -- you shall be our steel and our eyes, child of the traitor Althena. May you have more honor than your progenitor, forever accursed be her name."

The Guardian takes a step backward, then, and lifts his head. He does not roar again, but he regards them for a moment -- and behind him, stairs appear. They are composed of blades: thousands of them, sword stacked upon sword, providing a long stairwell that reaches up into the darkness.

There is a final command, and the Guardian stands still and firm: "Go. Become what you hope to be."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied is fraught, injured and wounded. Yet in the wake of the Guardian's roar, she still finds it possible to stand -- perhaps renewed on the strength of what her oath would mean.

She hears Noeline's frustration, quietly reflecting inside on how such difficulties still elude them. How elusive the truth can be. But even then-- there is every chance that the truth is genuinely simple... yet...

She gazes into that golden gaze of K.K.'s, and then nods in turn. It is an unusual gaze, an unearthly one -- it's powered with an unabating, absolute resolve that she can only hope to fain match throughout this trial.

That comment to the Trial Knight alarms her, however.

"... traitor?" she looks shocked, but -- now is not the time to test the Guardian's patience. She quietly holds onto Noeline's hand, both to assist her and seek assistance in turn, as she slowly moves, to limp up the staircase of swords.

"Let's go..."

There's no easy out here -- no teleportation, no flight, nothing. Just the slow, wounded steps of a wounded creature who seeks to make a difference.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline keeps her gaze rooted on the Guardian ahead of them, only flicking a little to the side as an egress slowly forms itself - one that is an implicit reminder of their position here, and a symbol of the judgement that awaits them as they fail.

She clearly still has questions - tens of them, on a dozen different topics, available only now in the midst of an opportunity that might truly be once in a lifetime. But she hasn't lived for a few hundred years outside of the Photosphere without being able to judge when to push her luck, and when not to.

Questions about Duras Drum can wait, thoughts about the nature of the Trial Knight left to one side. They have an answer to one of their questions, at least - and even if the day isn't exactly anything you could call a victory, Noeline can at least be satisfied with the fact that they have managed to exchange words. That, in at least a tiny way, there is something of an accord.

It's only later that she'll have the mental capacity to realize the enormity of that.

"... I understand," she bows her head before she helps Riesenlied limp forward, a shoulder under her arm to prop her up.

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

Child of the traitor Althena.

"..."

Stoic as they are, it perhaps says something that the Guardian's words draws the intensity of that gold stare back towards it. Quiet and calm, in a relative sense -- but watching, for a simple, thoughtful moment, before it looks away.

The Trial Knight says nothing. After all. Words are air.

Their actions will be what truly matters.

It is silence that meets Riesenlied's shocked question, and silence still when both those Demons lift to limp towards that unusual staircase. Yet the Trial Knight does not follow; not yet. They simply watch as the two retreat, as if in thought that never quite reaches their gilded stare. They linger for a moment, attention drawn briefly towards Equites. The Sword Guardian.

If there are words the Trial Knight means to exchange with it or its ilk, they are not uttered here. No; they simply look away and begin to march, white light beginning to suffuse them to ferry them away from this abyssal pit and its forceful lord. Another time. After all...

... this is not the one they seek.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

It is a very, very long trek up those stairs of swords. The stairs lead and twist through the cavern. If they look behind them, they will see the swords fall away silently a little after they step past them, cutting off any escape. Equites does not seem to let them return.

The stairwell does not lead back into the Temple. Instead, it twists and arcs its way up into a cavern on its outskirts. Eventually, it comes to that cavern floor. Beyond it, they can see the harsh glare of the Aveh sun -- and they can hear the sounds of battle.

But, they might realize something is wrong as they near the entrance. They see soldiers run by -- and not in the blue and gold of an Aveh uniform, but olive drab lined with red. As they come near the end, they see something towering in the distance: a massive mechanical shape, with a snake-like lower body, standing upright, colored in blue and with silver plating.

Its eyes flash a baleful red as it turns, and then a brilliant beam of white light explodes from its head, and slashes clean through one of the Aveh land battleships. It explodes in a titanic fireball, as a cheer erupts. Nearby, a trio of squat land battleships ride next to it.

The flag of Kislev flies from them -- and the Golem Sado protects them, at full operational status.

TO BE CONTINUED.