2017-08-24: Seeking Ex-Perp Opinion
- Log: Seeking Ex-Perp Opinion
- Cast: Ethius Hesiod, Jacqueline Barber, Cyre H. Lorentz, Shalune Amira, Asteroid the Kid
- Where: Gob's Hideout
- Date: 2017-08-24
- Summary: Rumor has it that a bunch of prisoners of war escaped Kislevi incarceration to go hole up in a manor somewhere. The Caravan Kinship's remnants follow up on it for prospective clues. They get a lot more than clues.
==================================================<* Gob's Hideout *>=================================================== To the south of the tiny town of Boot Hill lies a manor that hasn't been lived in by polite company for generations. A decrepit wooden structure that stubbornly refuses to buckle to the elements no matter how rough it gets out there, the name of its original occupant has been long lost to time. The nearby villagers have come to simply call it the Gob's Hideout, after a band of Gobs who nearly brought ruin to Boot Hill chose to use it as a base of operations. The locale has proven popular for just about any migratory band of thieves, murderers, and any other imaginable loosely organized group of individuals with loose morals. It's not hard to see why, as the manor is spacious and can hold a few dozen gang members - more if they're willing to forego comfortable space - and is reasonably fortified against outside intrusion. Drifters, especially those who prefer to seek bounties to make ends meet, are almost sure to find someone attemtping to escape the eye of the law within the chambers of the old manor... but they had best be prepared for a fight. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD2s1kx8ONQ
==================================================<* Gob's Hideout *>=================================================== ============================================<* CHALLENGE - "No, you go!" *>============================================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- A trio of bandits stand with simple weapons at the ready right at the entrance. It is too late for stealth, as they have noticed you and are moving to engage. The only saving grace is that they cannot seem to come to an agreement as to whose turn it is to alert the rest of the bad guys within... or whose turn it is to attack, for that matter. Take advantage of this moment of confusion to make your first incursion within. =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
SOME TIME AGO, AS RIESENLIED AND SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE CARAVAN EXPLORED THE SERPENT'S COILS
Ethius is loitering just outside the proper caravan itself, just outside of where everyone just happens to find where the Serpent's Coils happens to be. (Ethius is probably never going to remember its location exactly, too busy being inrospective.) He should be resting inside of it. The sandstorms can get very bad out in the Gunsmoke Desert. Wouldn't want to get sand in all the places bullets leave a vacancy at, would we?
Another carriage of some stripe speeds by. Evidently its driver is behind schedule, in something of a rush, and does not care that certain items are unsecured. A wanted poster flits free of the vehicle in question, the desert wind plastering it up against the caravan.
Ethius grabs it without delay, and gives it a look.
"Wanted," he murmurs aloud, "escaped prisoners of war." He skips over the gella reward posted. "Last seen location..."
His thoughts drift to Matilda's return to the group. A hand goes to his forehead. They do not have any strict leads about where Miss Catenna - or the rest, if they were captured eventually - happens to be.
Some escaped prisoners might be able to help put some pieces of the puzzle together, assuming they aren't among them. Regardless, if not an exact location could be found, per se, at least some lay of the land - and an idea of how they escaped.
If nothing else, it helps to keep some appearance of optimism for the others' chances.
SOME TIME LATER
The team rolls up just outside the old manor. Boy, this looks like a swell piece of abandoned real estate! It's the perfect hideout. Creaky wooden boards squeal against the passing winds of the nearby desert, as Ethius walks up with his quarterstaff already in hand.
"The targets are escaped prisoners of war." Ethius explains purely for the benefit of the reader, for at least a few people here probably know this detail already, as they all approach the abandoned manor.
"It goes without saying, I imagine," Ethius remarks, "but we require the targets to be alive."
That said, Ethius is still moving with bandages around bullet wounds that remain somewhat serious. Should he be attempting to go pick a fight with a crowd likely to be packing more gunsmoke ARMs? It seems something of a miracle after Kislevi soldiers put a goodly number of them in him.
Unfortunately, three of them barrel right out the front door on patrol, staring down the group.
"You go," says a man with long, flowing black hair who is holding a lot of pieces of parchment for reasons uncertain.
"No, you go!" Demands a short-haired brown-haired man in spectacles, kicking an empty can of something or another as he runs in circles.
"No, you go!" Yells a blonde-haired well-built guy, pointing at another even though he is holding a kind of impressive-looking combat knife.
"No, you go!" Says the first guy.
"No, you stay." Ethius says.
"No, you go!" The brown-haired one says.
...Sigh.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, "No, you go!".
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline was admittedly concerned about allowing Ethius to be up and about, considering his condition. Still...the possibility of finding Catenna, or at the very least information relating to Catenna, was too great for her to ignore. She would have preferred he stay back with the Carakin, but, well...
It wasn't exactly easy to get Ethius to do things you wanted him to do, when he wanted to do something else.
So that's how she found herself at the mansion with Ethius and Shalune. The guards at the front don't eactly seem...all that coordinated. So, she decides to handle this her own way.
She marches up, putting on an act of confidence.
"Fine, we'll go, the rest of you go around back and keep an eye out for any other intruders." She said.
...Would they buy it? She had a feeling the three of them could probably handle this group pretty easily even if they didn't, but it'd be easier if they could avoid fighting them entirely.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, "No, you go!".
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that Cyre has completely recovered from his ordeal in the desert. He's burnt maybe a little too much energy going full HAM on some unsuspecting soldiers- but with enough bed rest and a high calorie diet, he should be right as rain in absolutely no time at all.
Which is why he's out on the road with his face to the sun and his nose turned up into the hot desert wind, because clearly this is what constitutes R&R. Except not at all. His first priority is, after all, tracking down the rest of his merry band of travellers.
Now, ordinarily this would be a problem, but...
Well.
When you go around the local towns and trade caravans asking if they've seen a weird blank-faced man of Ethius' exact physical description hanging out with a bunch of lovely ladies in a weird moving house-thing, you tend to pick up a few hints of information.
Which leads him... Here.
To this bluff, overlooking what appears to be a bandit's nest.
...What's the Carakin doing in a place like this? Well! Maybe he should find out.
...By dropping, almost soundlessly, right behind the checkpoint to wait for the others to make it through.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, "No, you go!".
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
For Shalune, swinging in towards the mansion on the back of the freshly repaired Little Dipper--
(There is no time, ever, when the Little Dipper is not 'freshly repaired'.)
--this job is more opportunistic than anything else. Maybe Catenna will be amongst them - maybe even Lunata, if she got captured after disappearing - but to be honest, she doesn't have a great deal of hope on that front right at the moment, assuming that Kislev is a bit more stringent than that.
More than anything, she's coming along to ensure that Jacqueline and Ethius remain safe, even if she's not entirely sure how to go about protecting them per se. At least she's got her broom on hand, though she's starting to dimly realize that it might need a new name now that it can telescope outwards into a baton and then a staff that shoots blasts of energy. Having upgraded it in something of a fugue, and guided towards incorporating a few ideas from Devet, an excitable member of the Ebony Wings, it's possible she might not even fully know where the idea for the design came from.
She glances at Jacqueline as the alchemist steps forwards, chewing at her lip in consternation - while her hands are in the deep pockets of her coat in an almost casual manner, she is kind of fingering one of the little cherry bombs in case it needs tossing out.
She doesn't say a thing, because she's an absolutely terrible liar.
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, "No, you go!".
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid the Kid didn't bother to wash up after being released from prison. She has tucked the handle of the cart away and is completely missing her portal pistols, but she has her mediums and that's all she needed from the start. She's back to square one but before she does anything, she has to find Virginia Maxwell and either confirm Kaguya and Catenna's whereabouts or help form a rescue party.
But she's also broke nad needs money to eat food, of which she didn't have much, and to bribe other people into breaking into a Kislevi prison. Perhaps most importantly, Asteroid the Kid would like to inflict violence on people.
As Asteroid meets up with the team, she still smells like of blood and other assorted smells that you don't likely want to pinpoint. She hasn't washed in the slightest since being 'left' out of prison. It was all very unceremonial.
But she focuses on Ethius. "Hey! Silent Guy!" She shouts. She hasn't seen Cyre yet. "SILENT GUY WHY ARE YOU TALKING SO MUCH NOW?" She bares her teeth and keeps walking up sharply. Her hood is fully down so her frankly unpleasant looking face (or cute, depending on Rigdobrite preferences) is baring her fangs quite visibly at the soldiers. She lowers her head and aims to walk up and starts violencing them. It is not a particular style or anything, just general barroom brawl style violence. She isn't happy with EITHER side in that last battle quite frankly.
DG: Asteroid the Kid has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, "No, you go!".
==================================================<* Gob's Hideout *>=================================================== ============================================<* CHALLENGE - "No, you go!" *>============================================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- A trio of bandits stand with simple weapons at the ready right at the entrance. It is too late for stealth, as they have noticed you and are moving to engage. The only saving grace is that they cannot seem to come to an agreement as to whose turn it is to alert the rest of the bad guys within... or whose turn it is to attack, for that matter. Take advantage of this moment of confusion to make your first incursion within. =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
=============================================<* Gob's Hideout - Round 1 *>============================================== ==============================================< Results - "No, you go!" >============================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(4)--> 4 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asteroid the Kid 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 0 --(8)--> 8 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2) Effects: ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod 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> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The three of them do seem fairly easy enough to impress and bully and bluff about, in so far as people of this kind go. Each one passionately argues the other should go, eloquently repeating 'no, you go' without fail as each and every one seems ready to lay down their lives for the sake of... no, no, maybe they are just that scared of the lot of them being here. The little poofy girl, the bespectacled merchant, and... some guy... I guess...
It doesn't seem to matter much what Jacqueline says. They're so deeply emboriled in their argument that someone could just push them over and it'd be good.
Asteroid leaps in out of nowhere, screeching demands, and doing violencing of a nature that seems a bit silly and over the top.
Ethius' head suddenly turns as he catches - from the very corner of his eye - the sight of someone moving further inside. He takes off on a jogging pace, as though suddenly the well-being of the three would-be guards were secondary compared to whatever it is he's seeing.
Looks like Asteroid's going to have to give chase if she wants answers from Ethius, even, as the group will find their way inside the manor proper.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Gob's Hideout *>============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Still In Beta *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The party has now come across a room with a locked door that bears a note stating that they are setting up a security checkpoint here - a.k.a. a puzzle - tomorrow. It would appear that this "puzzle" does not seem completely finished as of yet. Moveable objects, pressure points, unlit torches, and a few books lie around, but it is unclear as to whether or not the puzzle that governs this door is even yet able to be solved. Even so, failure to figure this out would be quite the setback. =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Ethius sees a mysterious shape moving in the distance and charges off to follow it. His pursuit leads him into the manse, up and down a couple of flights of stairs, down a corridor and into a room. The figure somehow seems to be keeping perpetually one step ahead-- a benefit of having started running much earlier than all the others. The chase ends in a room that looks... haphazard.
It's... Well, there's part of a block puzzle here. Someone looks like they've stacked a bunch of torches on top of one of the bricks, and there's a pot dangling from a length of ratty old rope from the ceiling and someone has obviously been doing SOMETHING in here but it's also obvious that they've been slacking off because it's obviously not at all close to being done.
There might be a mechanism in here that opens the far door, but it might also just be easier to walk through that out of place gap in the dungeon-patterned faux-stone plywood walls and find a way around that way.
There's also someone else here.
Waiting in a blind spot by the door, a man with white hair and fluffy ears and prolific bodily injuries that look to be only recently bandaged.
"Weeeeeeelllll howdy there," Cyre drawls in his best fake cowboy accent, "Fancy runnin' into y'all in these parts."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline was surprised to see Asteroid barge in suddenly. She seems...angry. Well, considering her current condition, Jacqueline didn't blame her.
"Miss Asteroid, are you alright? You look awful!" Jacqueline asks, concerned. It's at this point that Ethius moves in to the mansion itself, causing Jacqueline to frown.
"Oh...hm...well, I'd feel bad if I left you in this condition, so you should probably come with us. We'll get you appropriately looked at when we return to Wayside. But until then..." She comments, hands some healing potions over to her, and moves to follow Ethius.
Whether Asteroid would follow them that far was another thing entirely, of course.
And when she gets inside...
"Cyre!!" Jacqueline rushes up to him. "Oh my goodness, I've been so worried about you!"
She's a little teary-eyed out of relief at this point, and if it weren't for his injuries she'd probably be hugging him right about now.
Someone may need to point her in the direction of the puzzle, but once they do she'll look over it in interest.
"Oh, hm...this is...I've seen this type of security implement before, but I can't say I've seen it in the process of being built. This is fascinating..." She comments, looking over all of the parts.
"If we're lucky, the locking mechanism hasn't even been installed yet...if not..." She murmurs. Well, at least they had Shalune with them.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Still In Beta.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"W-wah--" blurts Shalune - she doesn't know Asteroid all that well, but she can at least pick out the odd figure that - all of a week ago - looked much more excitable when she challenged them all to the oddest game of soccer that Shalune has ever experienced. She bobs forward a little towards the small figure on the Little Dipper, obviously dithering on how to approach - and then swinging around to present a chance to hop onto the back, as Jacqueline offers for her to come along. Force a smile, Shalune. "Wanna ride?"
Buzzing down a corridor is rather exciting, after all, especially with furniture around. Shalune gasps again at the sight of Cyre, her face lit up in relief before she quiets. "... okay," she mumbles, almost to herself, as she places a hand on her chest. "Two more, huh?"
The mechanism in the room grabs her attention quickly - and she snickers under her breath at the sight of it, her eyebrows going up as she guides her craft safely down to be closer to the ground and hops off. "Aah... well, um, I can see the skeleton of what they were doin', at least. That board of puzzles was gonna be attached to this mirror," she indicates a wire, hidden under the edge of a large rug, and then continues following it around the room. "Then you'd get to this candlebra-- oh, if you look through it from this angle you get the other puzzle's answer, I think--"
She continues around the room, slowly. Someone had big plans to witness this puzzle's completion.
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Still In Beta.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"H..hey! Where are you going?! I have exposition! I HAVE INFORMATION AND EXPOSITION!" Asteroid shouts desperately. She does not look like she's in the best shape. Her holsters are empty, too, amongst everything else. She walks out of the dust cloud she's been fighting in and jogs after the team. The dust cloud remains after she leaves, due to comedy and poor bug testing. She has a kind of hobble to her gait. She's not fully healed from whatever happened to her and is trying desperately to keep up.
"Is Catenna with you?" She asks. "We were sharing a cell but they did not tell me if they released her or not!" She isn't sure they know about Kaguya and remains mum on her for the moment.
She looks at Cyre briefly and says, "Is Catenna with you??"
She will hop on the back as Shalune offers her a ride. "Yess...ssss...yess I do. Thank you, Shalune." She manages to calm down somewhat. "...I don't know where Catenna or Kaguya are." She sniffs faintly. "They let me go and I don't know why. Ugghhhh...what's a Wayside??"
She doesn't comment on how she looks. She knows what she looks like and doesn't seem soured by the comment. Instead she looks at the puzzle.
She takes in a deep breath and begins hitting pressure point panels through use of the scientific method and push objects, sometimes ONTO hte presure plates, sometimes not.
DG: Asteroid the Kid has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Still In Beta.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is among the first to come across a still-alive, not-in-prison Cyre. He stops in his tracks, lightly tapping the end of the quarterstaff against the hardwood floor.
"Mister Cyre." That's... as close as it's going to get to 'oh my god you're alive you're okay we were so worried,' which is just as far away from that as almost anything else he says, really.
If Ethius has anything else to say, Jacqueline interrupts it by running in to rush up and allow her emotions to overcome her. He closes his eyes, and brings a hand to his forehead as she (and anyone else) have it out with the tearful reunion. He decides he won't get in the way of it.
"We are presently here investigating a number of escaped prisoners, said to have taken shelter here." Those last three outside might have been good catches, but he had to catch up to the sight of Cyre to confirm as Asteroid's question comes in heard without him facing her. "At present, she is not. That is why we are here."
The Spectral Lens sure would be handy to pull out right about now, Ethius, but nope. Ethius decides it is better to play plot catch-up for the priest of Fengalon as he allows the rest to handle actual puzzle-solving duty.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Still In Beta.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Still In Beta.
=============================<* Gob's Hideout *>============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Still In Beta *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The party has now come across a room with a locked door that bears a note stating that they are setting up a security checkpoint here - a.k.a. a puzzle - tomorrow. It would appear that this "puzzle" does not seem completely finished as of yet. Moveable objects, pressure points, unlit torches, and a few books lie around, but it is unclear as to whether or not the puzzle that governs this door is even yet able to be solved. Even so, failure to figure this out would be quite the setback. =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
========================<* Gob's Hideout - Round 2 *>========================= =========================< Results - Still In Beta >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 4 --(14)--> 18 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 3 --(6)--> 9 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 5 --(3)--> 8 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asteroid the Kid 3 --(4)--> 7 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 8 --(4)--> 12 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Reckless(1) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod 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> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Ahahahaha, it's good to see you guys too!" Cyre says with a grin and a laugh that quickly terminates into a wince and a groan. "S-sorry, my laughing muscles aren't healed up properly ye-- what do you mean 'is Catenna with you?'" Beat. "Asteroid? What're you doing here? I--"
He turns his head and stares right at Ethius.
"...Catenna's not with you guys? What the hell happened back there!?"
While exposition goes on and Cyre's face turns progressively more and more pale and more and more distressed, the rest of the team gets on with the task of completing and solving this woefully unfinished puzzle. Somewhere, a certified puzzle engineer rubs his hands giddily over the blueprint to what will surely be one of the GREATEST PUZZLES IN THE WORLD, totally ignorant of the fact that some random group of adventurers just kind of sidled up into his life's work and... kind of wrecked it. Good job guys!
But someone might want to explain to Cyre pretty quick what the hell is up with Catenna. Also probably Matilda.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Gob's Hideout *>============================== ========<* CHALLENGE - These Aren't The Drifters You're Looking For *>======== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Your team is accosted by a few members of the gang they're hunting! They don't yet draw weapons. Instead, they ask if you've seen where the people who snuck in went. Put on the spot, your team must now think of a way to convincingly divert their attention as to be able to keep moving through the hideout, as they seem more than a little on edge at the news of your - oops, sorry, I mean the invaders' - arrival. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline, at least, listens to what Asteroid has to say. She had been in a cell with Catenna and Kaguya? In that case, it was a good thing they met up with her, she might have valuable information.
"I'm sorry to hear you went through that...I didn't realize you were captured, too." She replies sadly. "How are Catenna and Kaguya handling it? Are they alright?"
"Ah, as for Wayside...it's the village my friends and I are staying at. A good friend of mine runs it, and we've been working on a plan to rescue Catenna and Kaguya. Any information you might be able to provide us would be valuable." She explains. She walks as she talks, and before she can go any further, she holds out an arm to halt the group.
Up ahead, they can hear the sound of feet moving towards them.
Before long three bulky, muscular individuals, each one bearing a dangerous looking ARM that appeared to be cobbled together with scrap and tape, appear! They look over the group cautiously, and...
"Pardon me, you haven't seen any intruders around here, have you? We received an alert from the fellows at the front gate, but apparently they were too busy arguing to get a good look before they were clobbered with frankly unnecessary amounts of violence by...'oh Granas help, it's a fanged, hooded monster'?" The one at the head says, rather politely. His eyes land on Asteroid for a moment before looking away.
"Apparently they were accompanied by a woman with eyes of glass and a frankly exorbitant amount of bags, a pink, sentient hair monster, and...a mannequin wearing a poncho?"
As he speaks, his eyes go over the group, until they eventually land on Cyre.
Obviously since the group they were looking for was a group of four, this group couldn't possibly the intruders, and must therefore be allies.
"O-Oh, umm..." Jacqueline starts, stammering. "I think I saw them heading that way?" She points in a random direction.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius stands motionless, aside from a quarterstaff in one hand like one might a walking stick. He matches the description perfectly. He kind of does look like a mannequin wearing a poncho.
He blinks. Mannequins don't blink.
This man is clearly not who they are looking for.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, These Aren't The Drifters You're Looking For.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid the Kid says, "...There was a warzone, Cyre." She sounds kind of disgruntled by it. She doesn't explain further about what happened with Catenna yet. "She was in a Kislevi prison. Maybe still is. I can't break her out on my own, obviously, but it was some sort of camp. We weren't--it wasn't the capital, and I am not really sure exactly where it was?"
She takes in a deep breath and adds, "Oh they were doing pretty shitty, not quite as shitty as me, but Kaguya isn't as healthy as me either! So I'm worried about them!!! They moved Kaguya out of my cell and they wouldn't tell me what happened to her. For all I know she's already...Ghyaaahhhh!!" She summons an asteroid into her hand and kicks it into a nearby wall for no reason. That's going to confuse people later.
But then there's a trio heading their way. She looks at the man calling her a monster. She thinks quickly, on her feet.
"Yes. I am a random encounter. Don't mind me!" She tells them.
DG: Asteroid the Kid has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, These Aren't The Drifters You're Looking For.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"--y-you-- you've actually seen them? Where were they? When?" Shalune blurts towards Asteroid a staggering set of questions, as she reaches for her scooter - and simply folds it away in an improbable maneuver that appears to be mostly mechanical in nature. When all is said and done, it's not cube-levels of small, but it does at least allow her to hook the folded scooter onto the back of her pack in one of the many belt loops. "What about Lunie?!"
Asteroid possibly has not even met Lunata before, but she can't help but ask.
"She got captured," the pink haired girl mutters towards Cyre instead, and then a distinctly bitter note enters her usually upbeat voice for a moment. "An' Lunie-- did something, to let us get free."
"An' Wayside is-- Wayside is someplace safe," she decides, not really sure how much to give away about the Metal Demon village. Even if she's okay with the people there, she's not really sure how a shaman or a planetary body are going to take the news.
When the group of soldiers roll up and enumerate their number, Shalune just puffs her cheeks out in a pout. "That's rude," she proclaims, wagging a finger as she immediately aims to deliver a lecture. "Even if they're your opponents you should be nice and respectful, okay? Try calling them a 'ruffled individual', maybe. You've gotta soften it a bit."
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, These Aren't The Drifters You're Looking For.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Kaguya? Who the heck is Kaguya?" Cyre looks... Visibly distressed? "Hey, Ethius," he shakes this Not Mannequin, causing it to make absolutely no mannequin-like noise what-so-ever. Probably. "Come on, don't just space out on me! What happened to Catenna!?"
Yeah, probably not an intruder. This guy's not even paying attention to the guards!!
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Beat.
"C-captured? I... I thought I told her to keep you all safe! And she gets herself captured!?" Cyre groans, rubbing his face with both hands. "I knew I shouldn't have just up and run off and... Ugh. Well. That's... We're going to have to fix that."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"That is why we're here." OMG THE PONCHO MANNEQUIN TALKS ON TOP OF BLINKING? So that's twice not the mannequin.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, These Aren't The Drifters You're Looking For.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, These Aren't The Drifters You're Looking For.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"What, she's here!?" Cyre blinks. "It... Can it really be that easy? I can't believe she'd get herself captured by these goons."
=============================<* Gob's Hideout *>============================== ========<* CHALLENGE - These Aren't The Drifters You're Looking For *>======== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Your team is accosted by a few members of the gang they're hunting! They don't yet draw weapons. Instead, they ask if you've seen where the people who snuck in went. Put on the spot, your team must now think of a way to convincingly divert their attention as to be able to keep moving through the hideout, as they seem more than a little on edge at the news of your - oops, sorry, I mean the invaders' - arrival. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
========================<* Gob's Hideout - Round 3 *>========================= ==========< Results - These Aren't The Drifters You're Looking For >========== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 18 --(15)--> 33 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 9 --(15)--> 24 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 8 --(19)--> 27 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asteroid the Kid 7 --(15)--> 22 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 12 --(17)--> 29 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 40 --(10)--> 50 Fail Conditions: Stupify(2) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod 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> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"A random encounter?" The man removes a notebook from the pocket of his pants and flips through it. "Ah, right, it does say we were expecting a shipment of random encounters to arrive..."
The group then gets to talking about their reasons for being here.
"Don't blame her for it, Cyre...it happened entirely by surprise, there was no time for us to even try to take care of the ones who abducted her." Jacqueline replies with a frown. "As for Kaguya, she's a friend of mine and Matilda's...and Asteroid's as well, it seems."
While this conversation goes on, the three ARMed men(not to be confused with men with three arms) wait patiently, listening to the group chatter. Even though it has become abundantly clear that Ethius is not a mannequin - he blinks and talks, and no one had yet to build a mannequin who did that - it had also become abundantly clear that this group...didn't belong here.
"Oh, was that a little rude? I'm sorry, I'm new to this whole...'dungeon guard' business. It says I'm contractually obligated to be rude and dismissive toward intruders, but I didn't realize that was taking it a little too far...I'll have to give the fellows up front a stern talking-to next time I see them." The man at the front says toward Shalune.
"Anyway...I'm really sorry about this, but we're also contractually obligated to start chasing you now and yelling 'GET THEM' intermittently, until you find a place to hide and we conveniently forget about your existence."
The three muscle-bound ARM-bearers start chasing the group away!
"Get them!" One of them yells, earning himself a promotion.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre gives them a look.
"Ugh. So we're contractually obligated to run instead of just fighting you guys, I guess?" He shakes his head. "Fine, alright. We'll just continue this conversation later."
It may be a dire moment, but Cyre can at least appreciate professionalism.
DG: Asteroid the Kid has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Gob's Hideout *>============================== ==============<* CHALLENGE - Pitfall, The Great Misadventure *>=============== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The floor has given out under where your team has moved to, and have now plummeted deep into the basement! Fortunately, you do not appear to have disturbed any of the bandits that are here. This may simply be an everyday happening, for them. However, you are now tasked with having to find your way back to the upper floors with only debris and old containers to help you make a way back up. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid takes 20 PSI damage from Shalune's barrage of questions. She manages a, "Uh a while ago! I got out yesterday? Or early today? I'm not good with time right now." Did she come straight here?? "Lunie...? Oh Lunata, the Death Shaman." Asteroid says, thinking it over. "Aghh! That's right! I wanted to meet her and ask her about her Guardian!! I've never met the Death Guardian before, and it's like super high level the Death Guardian! It must be so cool...ggnaaaahhhh!! If she got murdered by Kislev I'll never get to see it! If they killed her I'll kill them!!!!"
She wags her head back and forth as she flees the group of bandits. She keeps running along with the team.
"somewhere safe??" Asteroid adds. "It's probably going to be blown up, huh, the moment someone realizes it doesn't have problems."
She is kind of cynical right now too.
And then suddenly Asteroid finds she's running on empty air. She says, "?!" and then looks towards Jacqueline. "Wait! I've got it. My portal pistols!"
There's a dotted line of guns around her holster.
".........Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo~"
CRASH.
There is a group of npc bandits chilling around in the basement. They briefly glance over at anybody falling in before going back to stating there 1-2 lines of dialogue.
"Not every day that happens," One bandit says. He's crying a little because this is his only line and he said it 30 times TODAY already.
"Y'arrr...!" Another bandit says, trying to look brave rather than frightened.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre does not fall.
This is entirely because he's presently floating several feet in the air with the assistance of his handy dandy parachute. How it surivived the battlefield is kind of hard to say for certain, but it did, and Cyre has it. "Wow, first an unfinished trap room, now... Now this? Who built this place? Why is it so..."
"...Shitty?"
...
"I-is this some kind of bandit simlator or-- Wait, no. Stay on task! Hey, you guys!!" Cyre points RIGHT AT THE TWO IDIOTS. "Have you seen any refugees down here?"
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"Not every day that happens," One bandit says. Why are you being so cruel???
"Y'arrr....!" The other bandit says, sniffing faintly, you monster.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre just kind of squints.
"Uh."
"O...kay," he squints even harder. "Say that once for yes. Twice for no. If you want us to rescue you too, say it three times I guess?"
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius takes a few moments to get up from the wreckage of the basement. Almost all of them are, in some form or another, on the mend. Any trauma is... unwelcome. Nonetheless, Ethius gets his hand on something stable enough to come back up. He'll help anyone else back up, and then...
"It appears we must climb our own way out," so Ethius remarks, hand on his forehead as he spies something over his left shoulder. A treasure box, just in reach, as pretty much the only thing here that can currently be moved towards without tripping over wreckage.
He spills the box over so the top is facing away, and taps at the lock with his staff. It opens up...
Something spills out. Ethius walks over and kneels down, back turned to the group. As he grips it, he whirls back around and holds up a hand, which now bears something vaguely sparkly. Thankfully, it has an inventory icon that better details the true nature of the sparkly thing in his hand as a text box pops up.
!_Tool ^Hot Air Sack^ Acquired._!
An old, beat-up sack with lovingly sewed-on patches (polka dotted!), with a harness to be fit around someone's hand. The perfect kind of thing to have when making off with stolen goods, but wanting to keep a hand reasonably free to do whatever.
"I have an idea." Says Ethius. "It would appear if I apply my heat-based Symbology spells inside of the sack as I hold it in hand, I might be able to hover over small gaps and dangerous terrain." Okay, that's that tutorial bit out of the way.
Ethius holds his hand up and goes through one of the ordinary Symbology-based casting rituals. The syllables, the gesturing, the lights. The patchy sack fills with air and lifts him up off the ground. It's not enough to carry him out of the pit, but it does let him float over some of the sharper, pointier, shrapnel-y paths as to better locate and move materials to allow people to climb out.
He moves kind of slow while floating. Man. The sections that require this are going to be annoying.
In fact this part is so SLOW and STUPID that he takes up exposition duties.
"Mister Cyre." Ethius says as he drifts soooooo slowly. "We are here because the rumors are that the fugitives that have taken residence are escaped prisoners of war. It is through them, I hope to be able to narrow down Miss Catenna's probable location," which Asteroid has helped fill in, "and how they managed their escape."
Beat.
"I will admit some matters are not proceeding in a way any of us would have expected." But Ethius did say to have faith, didn't he?! Maybe he's just stunned about how much the stars are aligning.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Pitfall, The Great Misadventure.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"She's...she's still alive. We just...don't know where she is yet." Jacqueline explains. She has to keep believing that Lunata is alright...somewhere. Wherever that was.
They'd find her.
For what it's worth, Jacqueline does try to reach out for Asteroid once she realizes she's gone over a pit. Unfortunately, this also has the side-effect of pulling Jacqueline down into the pit with her.
"Owww..." Jacqueline mutters with a wince, pulling herself to her feet.
Well, now they're trapped here in a pit along with a couple of individuals who seem traumatized by the job they've been entrusted with.
Jacqueline stares at them for a moment. Perhaps she understands their pain. In another time in the past, she had been in a similar position, as she ran her store...
She gives them a nod of solidarity, and turns her attention to the way upward.
She could try to help form a pathway up with the objects around...
Or she could cheat and just make earth pillars while always. She downs an Invigoration Elixir as she does so, mainly to keep her energy up.
As she rises, she kind of...stares at Ethius's Hot Air Sack.
That was certainly a pretty clever usage of his Symbology...though she had to wonder if he intended to hold onto that particular sack.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Invigoration Elixir toward her party's challenge, Pitfall, The Great Misadventure.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Wh-- Ethius is using a sack now too!? Cyre just kind of glares at it. "What the-- Oh, I see how it is. You saw how useful mine was and decided to get your own? Well, I'm flattered and all but that's kind of cheating, isn't it?" It's like how everyone and their mother has a grappling hook of some kind! "Ah, well, I can't fault you for it. So uh, all these goons are just... refugees acting like bandits, I guess? That'd make sense."
"Explains the..." Cyre frowns in the vague direction of the ceiling. "Everything."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"U-um, I think Wayside can probably look after itself," the pink haired mechanic blurts back in a rather uncertain voice, and then puffs up in a bit of a pout as she continues. "And, um, Ge Ramda isn't exactly the Death Guardian--" Shalune also starts to try to explain what little she does know about Guardian cosmology - but she's interrupted when the floor goes out from under her, yelping in surprise as she starts to fall.
Her hand does bolt to her back, but a little too slowly - fortunately, she's normally got enough in the way of thick clothes that they help break her fall, and for everything else she just seems to be relatively hardy. When she manages to stumble up to her feet, she completes the motion, slowly unfolding the Little Dipper. It's a bit of a laborious process, but eventually she's clicked everything into place, and she hops on and begins to ascend as the pads on its base rev up to a whine.
"... are these guys really a threat to anyone?" she mumbles to herself.
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Little Dipper toward her party's challenge, Pitfall, The Great Misadventure.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Hold on, let me just--" He gestures over at Ethius' sack... And bids a wind-geyser to erupt right under him!? That should propel him a little more quickly! Or, you know, shoot him through the roof or something.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Reverse Parachute toward his party's challenge, Pitfall, The Great Misadventure. DG: Asteroid the Kid has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pitfall, The Great Misadventure.
=============================<* Gob's Hideout *>============================== ==============<* CHALLENGE - Pitfall, The Great Misadventure *>=============== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The floor has given out under where your team has moved to, and have now plummeted deep into the basement! Fortunately, you do not appear to have disturbed any of the bandits that are here. This may simply be an everyday happening, for them. However, you are now tasked with having to find your way back to the upper floors with only debris and old containers to help you make a way back up. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
========================<* Gob's Hideout - Round 4 *>========================= ================< Results - Pitfall, The Great Misadventure >================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 33 --(2)--> 35 Pass Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 24 --(3)--> 27 Pass Invigoration Elixir 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 27 --(4)--> 31 Pass Reverse Parachute 1 Agility Effects: Rally and Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asteroid the Kid 22 --(3)--> 25 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 29 --(3)--> 32 Pass Little Dipper 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 50 --(15)--> 65 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Stupify(1) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1)|Stalwart(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 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> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
They say it once again to Cyre, once each phrase, though whether that's a yes or they just are saying it once because Cyre talked to them once is a mystery.
Asteroid doesn't bother. She doesn't care about these guys! She rubs at the sides of her head with some clear frustration beside it.
Asteroid has no perosnal way to get up there on her own so she eventually kind of grumpily hops back onto Little ...Shal? No it's Dipper. Shalune is Little Shal. Right.
"Wait, did you say Ramda? Not Ramtos? I thought it was Ge Ramtos! They called her a Death Waitress!!! Why would they call her a Death Waitress if it was Ge Ramda not Ge Ramtos!!!!"
Asteroid shakes her head a few times excitedly, making controlling Dipper harder rather than better, but eventually everybody can get up even if they have to latch onto Ethius to make it happen. "Gnaaaaaaah!!!!"
And then she pauses.
She looks at Shalune.
".........They blew up my cart." Her upper eye in her forehead starts to water. "I made it myself and they blew it up! All that's left is the handle! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
She starts sobbing wildly.
DG: Shalune Amira has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Gob's Hideout *>============================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Capricious Carpentry *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- A rickety staircase stands between you and the next leg of your journey. There's a group of bandits playing some card game or another using some of their ill-gained loot, but it seems more prudent to sneak on by rather than try to take them out. It takes special care to move without giving away your presence on to the way to the next floor, either from squeaky floorboards or the possibility that the aging wood under your feet could stand to give out. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
By now, Shalune's ridden the Little Dipper through storms, battlefields, and deserts. A bawling, angry tantrum is a peace of cake, and the mysteriously flying craft pops out of the hole and back up to the ground floor along with the rest of the party and a whole lack of fuss.
Unless you're Asteroid, of course, in which case there's a whole lot of fuss. "Aww..." chimes Shalune, smiling gently as she does her best to make like a patient big sister. "Well, they're kind of close. Maybe connected? I mean, Ge-Ge's a great big skeleton in a bridal dress, so it's kind of hard to think otherwise, right? I don't really know the details, but when we find her we can ask her together, okay?" she encourages--
--only to get a cart handle shoved in her face. She draws back a little, her eyebrows raising - and then puffs up in sympathy, pumping her fists. "What? That's terrible!" See, at least someone gets it. "Well-- I've got a ton of scrap and time on my hands, okay? Once we get out of here, we'll make you a bigger and better one!"
Jacqueline gets a glance; did she accidentally pick up someone else for the ride? It's hard to tell - but right now, Shalune seems to be cheered by the chance to cheer someone else up, so perhaps it's for the best.
Still puttering along on the Little Dipper, the craft suddenly stops dead at the next corner, just where the wall turns; Shalune blinks, and then leans over the handlebars to peek around the corner in a not terribly stealthy manner, and then look back at the group with a finger over her lips, waving them forward.
Of course, when she moves forward, the bizarre flying device doesn't make any sound lighter than the usual quiet thrum. What a cheater.
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Little Dipper toward her party's challenge, Capricious Carpentry.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius continues a slow movement across the staircase, with a ridiculously bloated sack bearing childish patches of cloth as he dangles from it with the same blank look on his face as always. He is fighting really hard to make this look work, by the looks of things, but there is no way to make an impromptu hot air balloon of this nature look anything but incredibly silly!
Alas, they are not out of the mandatory tutorial segments with this thing yet.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Capricious Carpentry.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Ugh, wow. He should have had them repeat themselves twice at minimum or something. He'll never be able to figure out what these two Obvious NPCs mean now!
So he turns his attention to other matters.
"What, they blew up your cart? After we went through all that effort to drag it with us through those ruins!?" Cyre sags slightly in his parachute-harness. "Wow. That's... That's just awful. I'm sorry, nobody deserves to have something they worked so hard on destroyed just like that."
Sure, Asteroid is kind of... Weird. And obsessed with futbol. But she's not a bad girl.
Or at least, Cyre doesn't think she's a bad girl???
But he can help comfort her later. For now, they need to sneak up a staircase without yet another set of obligate NPC guards. Now, he could possibly drop to the floor and tap into that latent, feline urge. Cyre could very well dip his psyche into the wellspring of catlike instinct at the core of his very being, suffusing himself with a sleek, playful, predatory attitude and sneak right on up behind these guards while simultaneously trying to steal all the aces out of their deck, but...
Well, first of all, it's kind of embarassing to do that kind of thing in public without someone to mess with by doing so.
Second, he's already floating off the ground, so he might as well ride his parachute further up.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Reverse Parachute toward his party's challenge, Capricious Carpentry.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid listens to Shalune. She sniffs faintly and hugs Shalune from behind tightly and wordlessly. She sniffles into Shalune and probably leaves a mess but that's what friendship is?????
She isn't in a great mood to talk about the topic of conversation she introduced but she does nod at Cyre while feeling miserable. That's right, you dragged that huge cart through those ruins only for it to get fixed up nicer later and then, almost with the new coat of paint still drying, it was exploded into ash by the combined artillery fire of Aveh and Kislev.
It's honestly kind of amazing how much firepower the cart attracted.
DG: Asteroid the Kid has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Capricious Carpentry.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline joins the others back up top, and unfortunately, it looks like there's more bandits to avoid. Fortunately, that dose of Invigoration Elixir Jacqueline took before is still going strong.
She listens as Asteroid cries out, and looks at her sympathetically.
"...I can understand how you must be feeling right now. When the Metal Demons invaded Adlehyde...the store I worked so hard on was razed to the ground. I could only manage to salvage some of my wares." She explains, then offers her a smile.
"I'll help too, if you'd like." She says.
It wasn't exactly great stealth, but right now reassuring Asteroid was more important.
...Also, she wasn't exactly very intimidated by these bandits...
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Invigoration Elixir toward her party's challenge, Capricious Carpentry.
=============================<* Gob's Hideout *>============================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Capricious Carpentry *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- A rickety staircase stands between you and the next leg of your journey. There's a group of bandits playing some card game or another using some of their ill-gained loot, but it seems more prudent to sneak on by rather than try to take them out. It takes special care to move without giving away your presence on to the way to the next floor, either from squeaky floorboards or the possibility that the aging wood under your feet could stand to give out. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
========================<* Gob's Hideout - Round 5 *>========================= ======================< Results - Capricious Carpentry >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 35 --(4)--> 39 Pass Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 27 --(4)--> 31 Pass Invigoration Elixir 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 31 --(2)--> 33 Pass Reverse Parachute 1 Agility Effects: Rally and Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asteroid the Kid 25 --(7)--> 32 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 32 --(3)--> 35 Pass Little Dipper 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 65 --(15)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Injure(2) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1)|Stalwart(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 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> Shalune Amira has posed.
In the end, there wasn't even any need to worry. Cyre goes high, while Shalune turns around and lets the Little Dipper go on autopilot, sneaking silently past the group of bandits huddled around a smouldering and burnt-out oil drum. She's got bigger things to worry about, kneeling awkwardly on the flat bed of the scooter to pat Asteroid on the hood and accept the snot and tears with a gracious sort of aplomb.
Jacqueline slips by with a remarkable fleet of foot, while Ethius invents a revolutionary new method of vertical planking, not to mention gets stopped the moment he gets too close to the group, automatically given a new chance to try to section over without repercussions.
Only a sob from Asteroid garners any attention, and Shalune freezes for a moment as the nearest robber looks directly at her.
"... guess I'm feelin' tired," mumbles the bandit, and turns woodenly back to his game, leaving the group free to continue and Shalune's heart ready to leap out of her chest.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================================<* Gob's Hideout *>=================================================== ==========================================<* CHALLENGE - Just You And Me... *>========================================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- At last, you've come face to face with the head honcho of this illegal operation. Full of bravado and contempt, they're at least two cuts above anything else you've fought here before. They appear to be on their own, but they appear a match for any Drifter that dare defy them - and still stand as a threat to a party like yourselves. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The group arrives in the central foyer at last, where--
"Okay. Enough messing around, already." Speaks someone whose dialogue box gets a unique artwork in it, unique model, everything, who decides he's had it with descriptive prose about where they're at. He's at the top of a staircase, done deal, looking down. A rough-cut guy in the remains of a Kislevi prisoner uniform, with Aveh patches sewn on it. He's a short, stout, old fellow. Red on his back. Let's call him Redback. "You guys ain't going to leave if I ask nicely. We don't have any intention of goin' back quietly."
"I am, indeed, interested in whence you came." Ethius says.
"Lemme send you a li'l somethin' to give back to the Kislev dogs," and with that, Redback draws a revolver from his back to aim at the lot of them.
Ethius slurs together no more than four syllables - it might even be just three - as he brings his right hand inward, just in time for Redback to fan the hammer on his fancy-lookin' revolver. Six shots! Six bullets, aimed dead center.
Bright sparks of electricity shoot out at the points of impact on Ethius' body, and the slugs cook off and roll about the ground. That's... new.
"I would assume you are more open to discussion, then," says Ethius, who only has a bruising feeling to go with every point of impact.
"You assume I don't have more guns." Redback gets out another fully-loaded revolver from behind his back and starts to pepper the whole lot of them! This guy has infinite revolver clips! That's cheating!
Somewhere in this mix Ethius throws down a Powder Grenade so that Redback can't track the group's movements. What they do from there is up to them.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Just You And Me....
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"--um, we really might leave if you ask nicely, I'm just saying--" Shalune pipes up from out of the corner of the shot, peeking in. "--we're not exactly big on Kislev ourselves right about now--"
But, alas, the grenade's cloud has already begun to spread, obscuring both her and her words; she grumbles for a moment, then suddenly lunges backwards on the Little Dipper, bringing the craft up vertically and letting it hang unnaturally in midair to let it act as an extremely impromptu shield.
From around the back of it, she glances out as she pulls a thick white rod the size of a dumbbell's shaft from her pocket, flicking it out into a full staff. One hand steals for a pocket, and latches a thick cylinder onto the top, before she pokes it out from behind her cover - and suddenly bolts several bright lances of light forward into the midst of the crowd.
Even if she's got a fancy new weapon, she's definitely nowhere near trained just yet...
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Just You And Me....
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Since when did Ethius possess ELECTRIC ARMOR? Cyre frowns at the sudden show of superhumanism but for the time being chalks it up to some weird symbology power or something to that effect.
More to the point. He's being shot at for the second time this week.
And to be honest, a revolver is a lot fewer in the way of bullets than what were slung his way during the team's adventure in the desert.
"Look," Cyre says, darting into the smokescreen to briefly throw off Redback's aim. "I'm not particularly interested in the fight right now. We think you know where to find the prison camp, and we want you to tell us."
His hand folds into an eldritch arrangement. Whorls of howling wind gather in the hazy, powdery cloud and race outward to slice Redback's guns free of his hands. "A really good friend of mine might be in those camps, and I am to take her back. Now either you can help us out or we might have to force it out of you!"
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Just You And Me....
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
ASteroid says, "Okay." to offers of help. She doesn't want to build everything by herself again. That kind of sucked, quite frankly, and honestly...the Carakin are Carakinda cool! So she can't really think of a reason to say no beyond pride she doesn't really have. The cart was special to her, but--
Asteroid looks at the handle in her hand for a moment. She has a mission beyond carts. She can't forget it. "Heenh....heeehhn...." She manages. "They can tear off my wings, but they'll never grasp my dreams..."
Things happen for a reason sometimes, she thinks, as she looks back to Jacqueline. "My dream is to build a rocket ship. We can go to the moon, and beyond, heeh... Would you help with that too? I can't build it by myself."
She doesn't look at Ethius as she says this, she just kind of says it while there's a guy woh is a---prisoner? Redback, it is.
Asteroid feels a strange affinity with a prisoner so instead of firing, she raises a hadn.
"Excuse me." She says. "Excuse meeeee..." She reaches into her pocket and withdraws something.
She shows it to Redback. It's a human finger.
"I got this off one of the guards. Would you like it?" She offers with a teethy smile. That's right, she's offering to give Redback the finger.
DG: Asteroid the Kid has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Just You And Me....
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Admittedly, I wouldn't know where to begin with building a rocket ship..." Jacqueline admits.
"But the moon...I wouldn't mind going there. I have some friends who I know would like a way to go back." She explains. If Asteroid isn't aware of the presence of Lunarians on Filgaia, she might find this a little strange...or maybe it'd just make her more excited.
Jacqueline follows everyone into the foyer, where they're confronted by an individual who seems far more serious and control than everyone else they'd encountered up to this point.
"We're just trying to look for information on some friends of ours, we aren't here to cause trouble!" She says. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like he was willing to listen.
With a haggard sigh she draws a familiar bottle of black liquid from her bags and hurls it at the escapee, hoping to use it as a distraction.
She's...hesitant to actually hurt the man. She was still a bit rattled from all of the fighting on the battlefront, and didn't really want to hurt other people if she didn't have to.
...She knew she was probably going to have to come to terms with that if they did find out where Catenna was, but...
...That's something she could concern herself with later.
Those sparks from Ethius do get a strange look from Jacqueline. She doesn't quite understand where they came from, herself.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Reliable Repellant toward her party's challenge, Just You And Me....
==================================================<* Gob's Hideout *>=================================================== ==========================================<* CHALLENGE - Just You And Me... *>========================================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- At last, you've come face to face with the head honcho of this illegal operation. Full of bravado and contempt, they're at least two cuts above anything else you've fought here before. They appear to be on their own, but they appear a match for any Drifter that dare defy them - and still stand as a threat to a party like yourselves. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
=============================================<* Gob's Hideout - Round 6 *>============================================== ============================================< Results - Just You And Me... >============================================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 39 --(1)--> 40 Pass Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 31 --(1)--> 32 Pass Reliable Repellant 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 33 --(1)--> 34 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asteroid the Kid 32 --(1)--> 33 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 35 --(4)--> 39 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 80 --(5)--> 85 Pass Conditions: Injure(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has passed 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. DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================================<* Gob's Hideout *>=================================================== ==========================================<* CHALLENGE - ...And All My Men! *>========================================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- The boss has had enough of your guff from the first few exchanges of blows, and has decided to invite the rest of their gang to tip the odds. Hey, you ganged up on them first, and turnabout is fair play! Following a tense stand-off in which your team is made aware of the peril before them, weapons are drawn and commands are shouted. Time to put an end to their reign of terror... or find yourself thrown right on out of the manor of the ill-mannered. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Wound==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The haze of smoke spreads, not at all helped by the spread of gunsmoke ARM fire adding to it. It's hard to track everyone's movements, but ol' Redback has a good eye for this sort of thing.
"Fat chance we'd be fallin' for that one again!" Redback sneers at Shalune's commentary as he has to take cover from the lances of light. "Kislev got us with people posin' as travelers with a broke-down wagon!"
"You wanna know where? Just so you can get a li'l hostage exchange thing goin', huh, cat man?" Redback has a gun taken out of his hand - but then he just pulls a new one right on out from his back. Does he have a spine just made out of revolvers, then? That would be bad-ass! (Then Cyre could keep blowing them off, so it's kind of a stalemate.)
Asteroid gives Redback the finger. Offers the finger? Some metaphor involving fingers. There's a finger offered back in turn, but it's an index finger, which is not a fair trade. "You... you... y-yeah, you, I heard 'bout you," Redback snarls, "word is, you came out there too..." He does seem kind of disturbed by the whole 'ripped off finger' bit.
Redback finds an unpleasant scent wafting into his nostrils as Jacqueline throws the repellant up to where he is, and he falls down the staircase with a clatter. There is a silence. The smoke clears up.
Redback huffs, and puffs, and coughs, and clears away some of the smoke. "All right. You want to ask some questions, then? Guess it's fair, eh, boys?"
The boys all gather across the balconies, the doors, everything.
Redback stands up, and pulls out another gun... nope, he's going akimbo this time, with a pronounced underbite grin.
"So long as we ask 'em first."
...One tense stand-off later, in which no questions are actually asked...
Ethius gives a sideglance over to Asteroid, but voices no concern as he keeps a hand behind his back for the other satchel. His eyes dart between every ARM pointed at the party.
"Left," he calls as he slurs the syllables for the spell that charges the Powder Grenade, and hurls it into the ground again.
Round 2! FIGHT!
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, ...And All My Men!.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"So we don't really need to fight and--" Asteroid begins. Unfortunately using the FINGER item can only be used once in a scene.
So instead of using her finger, Asteroid takes out her stone medium--the medium for Rigdobrite, and holds it tightly in her hand. There is a faint yellowish glow around it--then a bright yellowish glow waround it. "Rigdobrite..." ASteroid murmurs. "Grant me the power... TO EXTEND!"
A portal opens up in the air and sends a small slew of meteor rocks crashing down on the enemy party. Asteroid the Kid is supposed to take on a full party of team members so she can cheat with area damage pretty easily. Of course, she's still drained from her earlier experiences. Will this be helpful!?
"Well I know where to begin," Asteroid tells Jacqueline. "It's where to continue and end that I don't know! That's why I need help because I don't have much time--" Or more specifically Kaguya doesn't have much time. She doesn't say this out loud.
She also is way more ok with hurting the prisoner since, well, he's still causing problems in spite of her attempt to be ... uh .... nice?
DG: Asteroid the Kid has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, ...And All My Men!.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Hostage exchange?" Cyre laughs, then wheezes when his ribs seize. Torn muscles hurt. "Heh, no way pops. Once I know where they've taken her, I'm busting her out! One way or another...! But hey, you've got my respect for actually calling me a catman. Good on you. Equal opportunity refugee bandit boss. I like your style."
But... Maybe not the style that comes with summoning a small army of questionably competent minions to back yourself up with.
That said, fair IS fair, isn't it?
Guns get pointed every which way. Ultimatums are delivered. A smoke bomb is lobbed.
Cyre...
Gestures vaguely towards the center of the bandit band. Suddenly the air grows incredibly more dense. Guns discharge and burst into flame as concentrated oxygen ignites. Eardrums ache and pop and every movement grows sluggish as the atmosphere itself begins to thicken. "I'll stop whenever you guys are ready to play nice," Cyre growls, his hand slowly closing into a fist as green and sky blue motes dance in his eyes.
Looks like someone's been learning been learning a few new tricks.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, ...And All My Men!.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"--that's-- that's actually kind of understandable, ugh," Shalune can only comment, looking rather downhearted in the moment as she scratches her forehead with the end of her staff, underneath her hair.
shalune that is absolutely terrible trigger discipline, oh my god
"But--" she adds as she pumps her fists. "Do you really think we look like Kislev soldiers? C'mon!" she adds, but to no avail - because the air suddenly lights up with more in the way of gunfire, causing the mechanic to yelp and hide back behind the bulk of the upright Little Dipper.
Fortunately, the material that her thrusters are made of is somehow hard enough to withstand the bullets, at least for the moment - and she retorts with a couple of blasts from her staff, already figuring out that the best way to use it is totally blind, laying down nothing more dangerous than cover fire.
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, ...And All My Men!.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
...And there were more of them. Jacqueline lets out another sigh.
"...Fine. If this is what you want." She says. She hurls another bottle of repellent into the crowd of escapees to hopefully disrupt them as she darts into Ethius's powder cloud, before drawing out a Crest.
To what may be the surprise of some, it is not an earth pillar or a lightning strike. It is one she hasn't used in quite some time - tendrils of earth burst forth from the floorboards, seeking to grab and disable individual bandits.
"I don't want to hurt you, or send you back! Just listen to reason, why don't you!?" She shouts, perhaps defeating the purpose of the cloud.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Reliable Repellant toward her party's challenge, ...And All My Men!.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Yeah!" Cyre adds, gesturing wildly at Shalune with the hand he ISN'T using to turn the very air into pure suffering. "Would Kislev field soldiers anywhere near as adorable and energetic as she is!? She's obviously never been to boot camp even once!"
==================================================<* Gob's Hideout *>=================================================== ==========================================<* CHALLENGE - ...And All My Men! *>========================================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- The boss has had enough of your guff from the first few exchanges of blows, and has decided to invite the rest of their gang to tip the odds. Hey, you ganged up on them first, and turnabout is fair play! Following a tense stand-off in which your team is made aware of the peril before them, weapons are drawn and commands are shouted. Time to put an end to their reign of terror... or find yourself thrown right on out of the manor of the ill-mannered. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Wound==========================================
=============================================<* Gob's Hideout - Round 7 *>============================================== ============================================< Results - ...And All My Men! >============================================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 40 --(6)--> 46 Pass Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 32 --(4)--> 36 Pass Reliable Repellant 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 34 --(10)--> 44 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asteroid the Kid 33 --(10)--> 43 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 39 --(3)--> 42 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 85 --(30)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Injure(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has successfully explored Gob's Hideout!
==================================================<* Gob's Hideout *>=================================================== ===========================================<* CHALLENGE - A Complex Desire *>=========================================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- It would appear that the bandits you have dispatched were not the simpletons they may have come across as. Foregoing the accumulation of mere wealth or weapons, your team happens upon a cache of religious artifacts that show reverence to the Guardians of Filgaia. Their historical value cannot be understated, and will be worth a shiny gella to the right collector. The most intricate - and one may dare say, desirable - among them is a small stone carving of a wolf, whose gaze makes the beholder feel overwhelmed. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
It's a pitched battle. Rigdobrite comes forth TO EXTEND a whole bunch of meteors that remove balcony cover. The dense air proves uncomfortable, on top of the whole 'exploding guns' thing. Shalune's shotstaff sends a number of them plummeting. A final set of earthy tendrils take out everyone's footing, and all of them - all of them - roll down the balconies, the staircases, and collapse on top of Redback, who now can't reach for any of his guns.
Ethius turns to the lot gathered. "Please allow me to handle all further discussions. It would be for the best if I handled the matter myself." He puts his hands behind his back, all formal-like. "In the meantime, please spread out and search for anything of use."
"Y-Ya won't--" Redback wheezes.
...
...
...
In any case, they don't have to look too far in to see that these fellows have hit pay dirt, somewhere, somehow. A whole bunch of religious artifacts are in display in a side room repurposed to handle stolen wealth. An intricate carving of a wolf, a strange idol indeed, seems to catch the eyes of... certain people the most.
There's also some strewn sheets of paper that seem to detail... maps? Plans? Schedules? Lots to glean, here, if it might be relevant to the prison they broke out of.
It's very quiet in the foyer with Ethius. Whatever he's doing. It's probably not important, with all the good stuff right there.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
These... These are...
...
"Did they--" Cyre stares at the assorted religious memorabilia. His knuckles and face go white all at once. "Is this ALL from the temple!?" He snarls, unfurls his parachute and begins stacking artifact upon artifact with great care, one on top of the other. "I can't believe this. These assholes actually put this stuff up on display like some kind of tacky artwork... Ugh...!"
He reaches for a statue...
And feels a chill run down his spine as he locks eyes with it.
"And this is..." His brow furrows, then attempts to retreat into his hairline, "...Guardian of Desire. Luceid? What's a statue of him doing here...?"
...
Well. Best to take that too.
"...I'm going to need to return all of this," he mutters, stacking yet more artifacts. "...The Colony's not far from here. Might have to make a trip."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
In the end, they finally manage to disable all of the enemies. Ethius offers to handle further discussions and Jacqueline...is a little hesitant.
She remembers the bandit he had murdered before.
"Ethius." Jacqueline says, arms folded in front of her. She approaches him.
"Don't kill them. Any of them." She says, voice lowered. She's still a little rattled, so it comes out...pretty harshly. But she is serious about it, even though she proceeds to turn and walk away in the directions the others had gone.
Perhaps she felt she needed to show some amount of trust in him. Or perhaps she didn't really care what happened to them.
And they find...
"Oh, hm..." Jacqueline looks it all over, then glances toward Cyre.
"This stuff does look pretty important. I'm sure they'd be glad to have it back. It's not too far, so we can swing by the Colony in the Carakin on our way back to Wayside, if everyone else is fine with that." She says.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid isn't particularly concerned with treasure in of itself. She has her dream. Money is useful because it can help make that dream happen. Stolen treasure from her ACTUAL HOME COLONY is not something she particularly wants to steal. She does look briefly at the stone carving of the wolf. "Geeze, I recognize some of this stuff from home. You'll return them, then? Good. Luceid's probably here because of bandits. Maybe it heightened their greed."
She doesn't linger long though, as she shortly returns to the foyer with uncharacteristic quietness--indeed, perhaps the reason she 'left' in the first place was so she could return quietly after in order to peer down into the foyer and see what Ethius is up to.
Does she NOT trust Ethius? Well, she's actually pretty undecided on that.
Maybe he's going to torture one! Asteroid gets a little excited thinking about that. She's in a dark place.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius doesn't turn his eyes over to Jacqueline as she makes that unambiguous request. From the first meeting between the enigma and the alchemist the latter has had full knowledge about just how far Ethius is willing to go for his ends - to whatever ends they are. Even with the fear in her voice, the words are, to the letter and spirit, firm.
He doesn't respond. That's as good an affirmation as any, then...? The stare is unwavering, as he bears down upon the disabled Redback. The rest of the goons are, conveniently, unconscious.
A MODICUM OF TIME LOST DUE TO INITIAL CHECKING OUT OF PHAT LOOTS, A NAUGHTY LITTLE ROCK-HEADED YOUNG WOMAN PEEKS...
Ethius has a hand outstretched. Visible tattoos light up.
"--re at stake than you'll ever know."
"I-It's for yer own good! I'd... I'd never wish no one to go that way!" Redback pleads, hands over his head. "Don't... don't do it!"
The sound of rustling and moving of loot and information takes out some of the words being said.
"--enna is worth Filgaia."
"L-L-Look... I, we don't want any more of this! We're... were just a buncha guys from Aveh, we're tellin' you, the... the sooner y'all just... walk away from all this-- she ain't worth it, don't care if you got a thi--"
Ethius sweeps his hand outwards. Redback's back glows a brighter hue of red, and there is a yelp of pain--
--that gets silenced by Ethius sticking his boot on his face, stop his screaming. The quarterstaff pokes into a wrist, to stop Redback from pounding on the floor to make noise. The rest of him is oriented on tantrum-dampening carpet, he can kick and punch that as much as he likes.
More rustling drowns out some of it.
"--ail of your escape. How many. Who used what tool or device as part of your plan." Ethius' eyes never really change throughout this. He's... the kind of man capable of doing this sort of thing without flinching, isn't he.
Asteroid and Jay actually already have that information, stashed where the stolen religious goods are. Asteroid can stop this line of questioning at any time.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid the Kid watches Ethius for a while. Frankly, as she watches, she thinks about how she had just left. She just left the prison. She didn't stick around on her own and look for Kaguya OR Catenna. Isn't that what she should have done? If she couldn't have done that, shouldn't she have at least looked for evidence as to what happened? No, she didn't do that, and she didn't do that because she was scared. And she was scared because there was an eight foot hole in the wall and the clerk sounded IMPATIENT about it rather than nervous or flustered. But this man here, he is willing to do all this for Catenna. What's it like, she wonders, to have people willing to do that for you. Or maybe,maybe this is just what the CaraKin are like.
There was another reason she was frightened to stay. She thought they would work on her again, they would torture her again, make her die and die and die again. But these people are willing to go up against all of Kislev for their friend. They're willing to do WHAT IT TAKES for their friend.
SOCIAL LINK GROWTH: o~ o~ o~ o~
Asteroid steps back a few feet and then makes some stompy noises as she heads back down into the foyer.
"Hey Ethius! We found some maps!" She calls down. "We can probably figure out the camp's location!"
She has some affinity for the escaped prisoners, but really she just figures Ethius is the kind of man capable of doing that without flinching--but not neccessarily the kind of man who takes pleasure out of it.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline takes a moment to look through all of the paperwork, and stashes it all safely away in her bags. She should show all of this to Riesenlied later. Even if they weren't from the same prison that Catenna was being held in(and Asteroid had been released from), this information could prove useful to breaking into a different Kislevi prison. With this in hand, they would likely be able to come up with a solid plan.
With that said she returns to the foyer, promising to meet Cyre and Shalune out at the Carakin once she'd reunited with Ethius...and Asteroid, whom she hadn't noticed sneaking off.
When she returns to the foyer, she's sure to take a good look at the condition of the bandits. None of them look dead, at the very least, so she can take solace in that.
"This would have been easier if you all had cooperated in the first place. Don't worry, we won't tell anyone you were here. However, I would advise you find a different hideout." Jacqueline calls down, directed to the bandits.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"Did you want the finger?" Asteroid adds since she was unclear earlier.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
It's not clear if he's the sort really capable of taking much pleasure out of anything. He's been heard to be angry before. Frightened, yes. In pain, certainly. It's difficult to break him out of the stoic stride.
With Asteroid's and Jacqueline's arrival, he flips Redback over onto his back - kinda like a turtle! - with a soft nudge of his foot. Redback shouts in agony, which might chill Jay over there to the bone - a scream of pain like that...
When Jay speaks, Ethius takes a step back, head lifting upwards to regard Asteroid and Jay alike. He brings a hand to his forehead.
"Excellent work," he says, "am I to assume that the information is tr--"
"YES YES OH MY GRANAAAAASSS IT'S C-CORREEEECT, MY BACK, IT, IT--"
"It will cool shortly." Ethius says. "I believe we will have all we require in which to perform the extraction."
One of the guards holds up a hand, not quite as unconscious as he seems. Yes, he would like that finger. He gestures Asteroid over, being awful calm about having a chewed-off finger and all that.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid hands the guard the finger. She doesn't really want to keep carrying it anymore. Whwy this guy wants the finger is a mystery, but why Asteroid keeps asking if someone wants a finger is mysteriouser.
"CaraKin's kind of hardcore." Asteroid says.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline does pale slightly, but she doesn't say anything. After everything she's been through the past few day's she's admittedly numb to that sort of thing, so she takes it quietly.
Instead, she rummages through her bags, pulling out an assortment of healing potions and setting them aside for them. She does, admittedly, feel pretty bad about beating up a bunch of escaped prisoners. She had no idea what they had done, but they some of them could have been in the same potion as Catenna, Asteroid, or Kaguya - people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"E-Ethius is a special case, admittedly...we're not all like that..." She says with a glance toward Asteroid then begins to head out the doors, back to the Carakin.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"That's too bad," Asteroid says, following Jacqueline Barber. "I think I'm starting to like him."