2017-09-09: Operation: Burn it with Fire
- Log: Operation: Burn it With Fire
- Cast: Ida Everstead-Rey, Avril Vent Fleur, Elena, Arleph Ardan, Animal, Rosaline Calice, Dean Stark
- Where: Abandoned Frontier Town
- Date: Saturday, September 09, 2017
- Summary: Drifters who have braved the Reaper-infested frontier town before return with reinforcements in order to take the generator down.
DG: A party led by Ida Everstead-Rey is now entering Abandoned Frontier Town. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>========================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Howls in the Distance *>===================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The town itself is abandoned - there is no apparent life anywhere to be seen, not even pets, livestock, or small animals. And then a sound in the distance. The inhuman cries of some sort of monster, which echoes from over the horizon. There are distant shapes on the horizon, closing in at a rapid pace. Best find some place to hide - the number of creatures might well be overwhelming. =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida's team has returned to the isolated village, with reinforcements in tow. This time, Ida's had the benefit of being rested and prepared--insofar as anyone can prepare--for what lies in store. Her Gear stands a half-mile out of town, locked down, a silent sentinel. She takes point as the team approaches the village proper, a revolver in one hand, and a well-worn journal in the other. She wipes a sweaty hand off on the rough homespun trousers she picked up for this run, and peers at the silhouettes of buildings in various states of decay.
The howls start.
Ida glances at the book as though referencing a field guide to see what kind of bird is making that sound. "Sufal," she says. "Those are the largest of the lot we can feasibly fight--made when Wels merge together. It sounds as though there's at least one, and many other smaller ones." She puts the book back in its waterproof case, and draws her revolvers. "Downwind," she says, making for the eastern edge of town. "Hurry."
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flora's Notebook toward her party's challenge, Howls in the Distance.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
The plan had ultimately been hammered out between the trio in private, hours after Dean had spoken up about what he had seen and his desire to do something about it.
Though, to be honest, Avril can't fault him for it -- she might not know much about Reapers (amnesia strikes again), but to think that there's a machine transforming people into monsters...
Rebecca has once again agreed to hang back, reinforcements.
Just in case, despite taking the extra steps of an Etone and a priestess along with them, things don't go as planned.
This must be Ida, Avril thinks, blue eyed gazr shifting to skim the desolation of the town in silence.
"What is making that cry?"
Sufal. A name that means nothing, but she nods all the same. "I see."
"They are attracted to sounds, Dean said. We should keep quiet."
With that, she moves after Ida, keeping to the eastern edge.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Howls in the Distance.
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.
Elena was never going to deny Ida or Rosaline a request for help. When they had mentioned it was to help rid the area of the unclean abominations known as Wels, while part of her had hesitated out of fear, the other had accepted right away.
She hoped, dearly, not to regret her decision.
And so we find the Songstress, tagging along. Hands clasped together over her chest as they walk, nervously glancing left and right, it's obvious she's not used to this ambience in the slightest. The silent, destroyed town reminded her all too much of Lahan and their brief journey there.
"I am sorry, but... what happened here? Is this the work of the Wels?" Dumb question, in retrospect - a question answered by the culprits no less. She tenses up at the screams, almost yelps as she jumps back. "I cannot tell what direction they are coming from!" she complains. That's right. They're coming from everywhere, aren't they?
She scrambles to keep up as the group accelerates. He plucks a bomb off one of her shoulders - those red orbs aren't just fashion statements - expecting to need to use one. But after Avril says noise attracts the Wels, maybe it's not such a good idea.
DG: Elena has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Howls in the Distance.
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
A sane man would probably have not come here again. A sane man probably would have not done many of the things this group have been doing in the last few months or so. So when the calll to return to get to the bottom of the 'zombies' existence, he went along with it.
A little more prepared this time, with a lot less 'randomly wandering into the streets' of an infested city.
He taps the side of his glasses subtly, to get a good look at the recording he's had here. He remember the maps his system made from last time... and considering where the howls came from, he have a good idea where to go. "I agree. Move swiftly. That way, then we go around to the right, then second left, if I recall." Arleph lets out, tightening his gloves around his hands. Elena is here, which is a good thing. "Move, quietly, but speed is more important."
DG: Arleph Ardan has used his Tool Optics toward his party's challenge, Howls in the Distance.
<Pose Tracker> Animal has posed.
Jogging along with the others, Animal suggests, "We really should figure out where their den is, that they end up behind us like that," as he matches pace with the others. "I bet it's a cave." That initial thought out of the way, he goes in to survival mode and starts to dart ahead, trying to help the others by helping to shepherd them deeper into the ruins of the abandoned town. He listens to the others and when Elena asks her questions, he explains, "There's a machine here that makes reaper-men. It's evil. That's why were' here!"
That's when Dean tells them that they're attracted to noise and he suddenly nods his head and goes back to being quiet. He is accustomed to living in silence for years, with only his own voice for company, so being quiet is a natural state of being for Animal.
Pushing up his headband, he signals towards the same alley they'd gone in previously and says, "We got away through there, last time. But I think we should go a bit further, I think we might have blocked it off last time when we were fighting them," he jogs his memory.
The last bit is said very quietly with a stage whisper over the sounds of their movement.
DG: Animal has used his Tool Lucky Headband toward his party's challenge, Howls in the Distance.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline has trained her whole life for this.
This is close to literal truth, at least insofar as she's been trained for a relatively young age for situations like these. She's never been what she would consider any good, and in fact she's not even a real Etone yet, having not completed her training yet, but she was the best they could find on such short notice. Having her Gear finally ready might have been useful, but its maintenance takes more time than they can afford.
Which might all explain her staying in her room for longer than expected, this morning, with faint sobbing sounds coming from behind the door. Or her ending up misplacing her breakfast before she met up with everyone.
But she's with the group now, and she's doing an absolutely heroic effort to keep herself together. She doesn't know half of this group, and so let Ida make the introductions. Those who don't know her well might get the impression that she's merely nervous about all this.
As she approaches the town, she can be heard intoning verses from her Extreme Teen Bible, looking to them for strength.
"This will be the day we've waited for,
This will be the day we open up the door"
She closes her book and takes a deep breath. She finally seems to have found her center, and just in time, too. Adventure seems to be more her element than... most everything else.
"Remember, high ground when feasible, aim for the head when you can see it, avoid unnecessary loud noises, fire is good but check your environment first."
She pauses then. An odd look crosses her features, but it passes.
"Lots of dry wood. Parts of this town are a tinderbox."
Another pause, this one more natural, drawing her ARMs.
"Let's go."
And she takes off, her run unsurprisingly catlike.
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Extreme Teen Bible toward her party's challenge, Howls in the Distance.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"That's Ida," Dean murmurs to Avril, helpfully, just as she's thinking that Ida must be Ida. It must be tough, being an amnesiac. When the howls start, he tenses up, then nods to Ida when she IDs the sound. One of the big, mashed-together Reapers... He remembers fighting it. It wasn't so bad with all of them together, but the sounds of the fight brought a whole group of Welses out, and that was significantly less great.
"Right," he murmurs to Avril and Animal. "The most important thing is to get to that machine as soon as possible so we can destroy it, so we've gotta try to be as quiet as possible."
That means no shooting his ARM! He does imagine, momentarily, shooting something in the opposite direction so as to draw the Welses away from where they actually are, cleverly distracting them.... but no, he'd better not. Perhaps at least the wisdom of this decision to beg off will count...? Either way, he smiles at Elena, whom he remembers from the dig into the Hillside Ruins, and Rosa, whom he's never met before but that doesn't stop him from being friendly, and Arleph, who was around last time.
Wow, she's really good at this! he thinks of Rosa--he'd say it aloud, but shhh. Instead, he hurries up to keep up with the group.
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Twin Fenrir - Standard Cartridge toward his party's challenge, Howls in the Distance.
=========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>========================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Howls in the Distance *>===================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The town itself is abandoned - there is no apparent life anywhere to be seen, not even pets, livestock, or small animals. And then a sound in the distance. The inhuman cries of some sort of monster, which echoes from over the horizon. There are distant shapes on the horizon, closing in at a rapid pace. Best find some place to hide - the number of creatures might well be overwhelming. =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
====================<* Abandoned Frontier Town - Round 1 *>===================== ======================< Results - Howls in the Distance >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(4)--> 4 Pass Flora's Notebook 1 Wits Effects: Enlighten and Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Animal 0 --(7)--> 7 Fail Lucky Headband 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 0 --(6)--> 6 Pass Twin Fenrir - Standard Cartridge 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Extreme Teen Bible 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elena 0 --(4)--> 4 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(6)--> 6 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arleph Ardan 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Optics 2 Wits Effects: Resilient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida can generally pick up on when someone's putting on a brave face, mostly because she does it a whole hell of a lot herself. Rosaline got a pep talk before the group reconstituted, and some loose bullets she could put into extra clips. Overall, she is pleased with this group's firepower, but she knows not to get too overconfident. "Well said," Ida says, giving Rosaline a smile. She seems to have her own fear in a death-grip, and it will only be let loose once it is ready to be productive. "I believe the machine is their den, Animal. Claude and Bart and I encountered something similar the other day--they were coming from a specific source, and it was not natural." Animal gives directions as the group moves ahead, retracing its steps. Most of them check out, but the gate he thought was locked after Dean shut it?
That gate is now in pieces, and strewn across most of the street. Some of them look like they've been gnawed on.
So far, so good, Ida thinks. She is waiting for the shoe to drop. The howls are getting closer.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>========================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Are They Asleep? *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There are a number of Reapers here, but they do not appear to be moving, or even responding to the presence of the party. They could be in some sort of hibernation, but the path forward lies on the other side of the group. Sneakiness will be required - but waking any of these slumbering creatures will be very, very bad... =Dungeon Conditions: Vault, Exhaust===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Save for the howls in the distance, it's otherwise quite still and quiet here, on this part of town. Signs here and there point to disturbances -- the ruined gate, a shattered barrel in an alleyway. Scraps alongside a building of dubious origin. ...A small splatter of what might be blood.
But other than that, it's nothing. Again, there's a distant scream.
Creeping forward with the group, Avril proceeds steadily, watching carefully where she puts her feet. This path takes them on a wide loop around the edge of town, but if she's not mistaken, there should be a way forward, if there's a sideroad between the buildings -- what were a couple of homes once -- about... there.
But she stops, apparently seeing something before she even draws close to the turn towards the road, holding up a hand as if to indicate everyone should hold for a moment. She, carefully, inches forward.
And after a few moments , turns to face the others, holding her finger to her lips and indicating they come closer... carefully.
The reason why will become apparent in mere seconds. They're absolutely littering the road. Wels, lying about in some sort of torpor. Every so often one of them twitches. Or shifts, as if remembering to breathe.
With a series of hand gestures, Avril suggests they go through. For now, they're asleep, and they're a known hazard, while going around could put them into the path of whatever's making that screaming sound. And once they're past, they're past.
Assuming the Wels don't awaken.
With that, and a confident-seeming nod, Avril begins to take the first careful steps past the slumbering (?) Wels.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Are They Asleep?.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline appreciated that pre-mission pep talk, for what it's worth, and very briefly returns Ida's smile before they sneak away.
Her ears twitch every so often, keeping her updated on the movements of the abominations most close by. She does her best to keep a low profile regardless, though she keeps an eye open for everyone. Is she the party leader? She dearly hopes no one here is thinking of her as party leader.
Avril puts a finger to her mouth. Rosaline's eyes widen at the sight before them. She nods, slowly, caaaarefully extending a foot forward. Her steps are nimble and yet silent, once again, unsurprisingly. She does what she can to find herself a safe route, waving those behind to follow her.
...the way her tail sways nervously as she sneaks, however, may be a bit of a liability.
DG: Rosaline Calice has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Are They Asleep?.
<Pose Tracker> Animal has posed.
Walking through the area, Animal looks around, and despite the fact that he knows he should be quiet, he seems to want to explain something. But doesn't, his hands however, do creep towards a few of the Wels as if he intends to snap their necks or gouge their eyes out. The overwhelming amount of danger here is clearly making him want to react in some way other than walking idly by, like nothing is wrong.
With some rubbing at his headband, he tries to focus on just staying in line with the others, and tries to scout ahead a little, since they've ended up slightly off the path he remembered. He had to try to put together a new route back to where they'd last seen the machine.
A glance over his shoulder and he points at a duct to the outside of a large warehouse that he thinks is in the right direction, and he goes over to start lifting it off, trying to work the bolts on the corners loose with his finger-tips, he works quietly and dilligently.
Sparing a few glances occasionally to see if the others will follow along with the proposed change of course to get them away from the gathering of dormant wels.
DG: Animal has used his Tool Lucky Headband toward his party's challenge, Are They Asleep?.
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
So far, so good, Arleph muses. They already aren't running through the streets blind, chased by reapers. Instead, they stumble on a field full of... inert ones. Can they sleep, at all? Or there something else happening currently.
The Symbologist sucks in a slow, dragged out breath, then exhale just as slowly, in order to make as little sound as possible with his breathing, turning a look at Rosaline, then Avril. Arleph taps to the side of his head, pointing off in the direction onward ahead of them, then twisting his hand to the left and right. Then, he makes a walking motion with his fingers.
With deliberate care, he lifts a foot up then start sneaking along with the proposed course as well as his own additions to it.
DG: Arleph Ardan has used his Tool Optics toward his party's challenge, Are They Asleep?.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The howls of the hunting Wels seem to circle aimlessly, as if their makers are searching for prey. Ida pays close attention to the deeper, basso groans coming from the one that must be the Sufal. She creeps along for some distance, but then Avril decides to take point--and Ida allows her. It looks like she's seen something.
Granas. It's almost creepier when there's no Wels actively trying to kill people.
The side road. Avril noticed something, and Ida watches the younger woman as she stops, turns, and indicates something.
Ida's eyes widen. She does not make a sound as she reaches for her mother's notebook, finding a passage in it effortlessly. Torpor. Sometimes, if there's no food around, they'll go into torpor instead of devouring one another. However, the slightest outside stimulus can awaken them, with deadly results. Flora saw it with her own eyes, and now Ida is seeing it with hers. Ida puts the notebook back, and creeps after Avril--she nods, appreciatively, and steps over a Wel.
She steps over another, gingerly, like she's a little kid and sneaking out of bed and trying not to make noise on the old wooden floorboards of her family's home. Animal starts tinkering with something, and Ida's eyes shoot open. She sees the way the duct wraps around the outside of the warehouse--was this the one substantial building in this tiny town?--and how it could be an alternative path. She's not sure, though, if he can get the grate loose without awakening them, and she absolutely doesn't want to be trapped in there when that hunting pack arrives.
She gestures to Animal, then makes a 'come this way' motion with her hand.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flora's Notebook toward her party's challenge, Are They Asleep?.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Whew! That worked out okay, Dean thinks. He does notice the gate that they passed through before, the one he'd shot shut, as being splintered and gnawed on... Yeah, definitely not a great idea to use Twin Fenrir here. No shooting puzzles to be had in this village, he's afraid... If they get jumped by Welses later, that'll be one thing, but for now--!
For now, there's a bunch of motionless, sleeping Welses dead again. Emphasis on dead.
Dean freezes, eyes darting this way and that over Avril's shoulder. He's not scared of having to fight, but he *is* nervous about bumping into one and setting off a chain reaction that gets his friends and companions surrounded. Still, Avril seems to be on top of this, so he follows after her, tip-toeing and easing his way through. It's difficult for him; Dean is a creature of noise and motion. Sneaking about quietly is just... not natural for him. He pauses when Animal gestures towards a duct and starts working on screwing it open, but when Ida silently nixes it, he nods and keeps going forward, making sure to follow Arleph and Rosaline's course.
...
This is so slow and boring...!!
DG: Dean Stark has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Are They Asleep?.
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.
"I... I see." Elena answers to Animal, wondering how they'll be able to stop such a machine. Bombs, she supposed, have never failed her before!
Luckily there's no need to make such noise on their way forward. With proper guidance, the group moves along, quietly. Elena is happy enough things aren't degenerating. Then it turns out they need to cross a literal field of sleeping Wels. This ALMOST reminds Elena of the one time she snuck into another Sister's room with a few others to play a prank on her, except instead of a room full of puppies it's zombies. Deadly, flesh-eating monsters.
Come to think of it it's nothing like that first thing.
Elena begins to tiptoe along with the group, nervously holding onto her bomb. With how jumping Elena is, there's a non-zero chance she could be startled and accidently hurl that red orb upward. The slightest out-of-place twitch from the floor made of Wels could trigger this. It could be awful.
Or hilarious? It depends on where you're observing from.
She tries to whisper to the group but doesn't find the breath to do so. She should probably remember to breathe, while at it.
DG: Elena has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Are They Asleep?.
=========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>========================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Are They Asleep? *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There are a number of Reapers here, but they do not appear to be moving, or even responding to the presence of the party. They could be in some sort of hibernation, but the path forward lies on the other side of the group. Sneakiness will be required - but waking any of these slumbering creatures will be very, very bad... =Dungeon Conditions: Vault, Exhaust===========================================
====================<* Abandoned Frontier Town - Round 2 *>===================== =========================< Results - Are They Asleep? >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 4 --(3)--> 7 Pass Flora's Notebook 1 Wits Effects: Enlighten and Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Animal 7 --(4)--> 11 Pass Lucky Headband 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 6 --(17)--> 23 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 3 --(6)--> 9 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elena 4 --(4)--> 8 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 6 --(3)--> 9 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arleph Ardan 5 --(4)--> 9 Pass Optics 2 Wits Effects: Resilient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 20 --(30)--> 50 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Reckless(1)|Vault(1) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 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: Dean Stark has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>========================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Attack From Above *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There is a scream from nearby, and several Reapers leap off the top of a nearby building or awning, using their greater height to propel their attack against the group. Their cries also have the unfortunate side effect of drawing the attention of other creatures from nearby. Avoiding the creatures diving down and making a break for safety is the only way to avoid the groups which are surely closing in! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
It's essentially 'tiptoe through the tulips'... if you replace tulips with flesh-eating monsters.
Tension likely rides high but footsteps as a whole fall accurately and more importantly, safely.
The Wels must be sleeping deeply to boot; when Animal fusses carefully with the duct on the warehouse nearby, there's not so much as a twitch. While getting inside might be tricky under current circumstances, he can definitely get up onto the roof -- maybe he can get a better picture of the area from there if he chooses.
Dean, restless, is perhaps less than cautious about where he's moving -- or more accurately, what he's moving near. He bumps into a relatively unscathed (save by wind and some minor rot that's set in) barrel, which rattles, tips--
tips--!
Only for Avril to rather suddenly step up alongside him in a flurry of quiet footsteps to set a hand on it and right it.
No recrimination is to be found in her gaze when she looks over at him. She simply indicates with a nod of her head to continue on.
Though the passage by the stilled Wels/Reapers may be nervewracking, not one of them does more than stir in their apparent sleep.
They arrive on the main road with no sign of trouble approaching.
You may all resume breathing.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
They're all clear! Well, except for when Dean nearly knocked over a barrem and Avril caught it just in time. That got his heart pounding, and he clutches his chest, meeting her eyes in gratitude. He nods back.
Still, they're in the clear and on the main road well away from the Welses, with Animal up on the roofs to be a lookout even if he decided to take the vent up, and they've left those creepy sleeping things behind. Whew! They've made a lot of progress! They might even be able to make it all the way to the Wels machine without a fight! Thinking this, Dean picks up the pace, moving into as quiet of a jog as he can manage.
If Animal did indeed take the duct up to the roofs, he'll see them first: Welses on the roofs, skulking about near the edges. Motion catches their attention, and they shuffle over to see the group moving down the main road, and
S C R E A M
An instant later, they leap down for Dean and the others below. Dean sucks in a shocked breath, but his instincts kick in and he *dives* out of the way, avoiding getting smashed by one as it lands. He frantically waves to the others towards further down the street and, pausing only long enough to grab someone's hand if/as needed, *dashes* away from them. The Welses themselves take a moment to recover from their landing, but their screaming rouses the Reapers they /just/ left behind sleeping--so if they don't get a move on to ditch the monsters, and NOW, they're going to quickly find themselves overwhelmed.
DG: Dean Stark has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Attack From Above.
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.
This is going very well! Elena thinks to herself.
Sneaking past the horde of sleeping Wels went without a hitch. Now the group was in the clear and could once more breathe - and more importantly, communicate. Elena is about to say something when the creatures begin screaming. Loudly. From every direction again.
This is not going well! Elena updates her worldview.
The Songstress isn't especially fleetfooted, and might in fact need someone to grab her by the arm and run faster - or as Cyre had taken to doing, lifting her up and forcing her onto flights. She didn't like that very much, but it'd saved her life a few times.
"How are there so many of those vile unclean ones here?!" Elena asks towards Ida and Rosa, evidently not familiar with their habits. "Would they not starve to death or reduce their own numbers to survive over time?" Oh, if only that were true.
Well, time to run.
DG: Elena has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Attack From Above.
<Pose Tracker> Animal has posed.
Climbing up on to the roof when someone suggests it, Animal does indeed see the welsies first. Part of the dodging then, for those down on the ground, is from the spry teenage up on the roofs, kicking them over the edge, rather than letting the reapers choose when they want to spring their attacks. "Incoming!" he calls out, and seems to be in good cheer, as he usually is in any situation that doesn't involve a puzzle.
Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, the shadow of his passage whips back and forth across the group as he sprints from derelict building to the next. Even diving down a floor to crash through a window.
"Weee!" he half-giggles as he comes out of a bottom floor window, riding a reaper, which he then destroys with a few hard punches to the head. "That was fun!"
Following the others then, he tries to get back to the front, because even though he has no idea where he is going most of the time, he likes to imagine that he's leading them along.
"Did you guys see when I jumped through that window? It was so crazy. It was like, 'blamph!' and the glass exploded, and then there was a reaper, so I rode him down the stairs.."
And the story goes on.
DG: Animal has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Attack From Above.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
The good news is that Rosaline's swaying tail stops swaying about midway through the crossing. This is because she is so tense it's pretty much a straight line by then. But she and the rest of the group make it to the other side.
She relaxes, a bit. Permission is given to breathe again. Don't mind if she does. This might actually be simpler than she thought.
...Oh, darn. Darn!!! She had to jinx it.
She, just like Dean, acts on sheer reflex. She bounds out of the way of the diving horde and takes off into a full quadrupedal run, not hesitating to push someone right out of the way if necessary.
"We'll explain later!" she half-shouts to Elena as she runs, a touch of desperation in her voice. She doesn't comment on Animal's rad stunt.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
In the road, Avril looks this way and that, as if to attempt to ascertain which way they should head. Probably not to her right; that would take them back to towards the entrance and run them into whatever lurks between their roundabout route in and here. But it might not be as simple as heading the opposite way. In silence still, she glances from Dean, to Ida, to Arleph and the others, asking that question of just where they're supposed to go--
SCREAM
Avril takes a step backwards as Wels leap down from the rooftops, her right hand half-raised roughly chest height as she glances hither and yon.
They're coming in from all directions.
And in the next second, she draws out the Original Artificial Medium. "Please, cover me! I only need--"
A moment. She doesn't finish her statement, instead pouring her will and silent prayer into the confines of the artifact. Lucadia, please...
The blessing of the seas billows around her for a moment, spilling out towards the rest of her teammates like the ocean's breeze. The Guardian's grace has been conferred... but is it enough?
Tucking the Medium against her chest, Avril runs.
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
They are all clear! Arleph visibly lets out a brief sigh of relief when they are clearly out of the immediate landmine field of the dead, taking off his hat to fan himself a little. Still, he don't feel comfortable enough to speak very loudly, offering a glance to the other 'brave' people of this party. Everyone here, willingly, came back here in an attempt to take care of the horrible thing creating these monsters.
Of course, that's when the world decides to call him out on him. Him and the rest of the group.
The screech pierces the air, Arleph startling up briefly, looking upward. This feel familiar. Way too familar. He cringes, shaking his head. "Ah." He says, dejectedly. "That's... more like I remember it."
Arleph, a hand on his hat, dashes on after the younger people here. He's not super fast, but it's really funny what adrenaline can do to your body in times of need!
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Attack From Above. DG: Arleph Ardan has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Attack From Above.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
A piece of tar-coated shingle falls from the edge of a roof. Ida sees it out of the corner of her eye, turns, and--
Fear takes over. Adrenaline floods into Ida's system. She doesn't need to look to know that the Wels they just snuck past are waking up at the sound of loud noises, and the scent of fresh blood. She moves without thinking, without speaking--she steps to the side as one Wel comes rushing down at her, and dives into a tumbling roll. A third Wel gets ready to dive right at her, but Animal kicks it before it's ready, and it goes tumbling down into the alley. Breaking glass heralds the young man's arrival, though Ida has to look at him for a moment to be sure it's not yet another monster. There are too many to outfight, but she draws her gun anyway, and if she can stay unmolested for long enough, she starts putting lead into the ones near Dean and Elena.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Attack From Above. DG: Rosaline Calice has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Attack From Above.
=========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>========================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Attack From Above *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There is a scream from nearby, and several Reapers leap off the top of a nearby building or awning, using their greater height to propel their attack against the group. Their cries also have the unfortunate side effect of drawing the attention of other creatures from nearby. Avoiding the creatures diving down and making a break for safety is the only way to avoid the groups which are surely closing in! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
====================<* Abandoned Frontier Town - Round 3 *>===================== ========================< Results - Attack From Above >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 7 --(0)--> 7 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Animal 11 --(0)--> 11 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 23 --(0)--> 23 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 9 --(0)--> 9 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elena 8 --(0)--> 8 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 9 --(0)--> 9 Pass Sea Medium 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arleph Ardan 9 --(0)--> 9 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 50 --(10)--> 60 Fail Conditions: Slow(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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> Dean Stark has posed.
A lot of things happen at once. Avril asks for a moment, and Dean screeches to a halt, then runs *back* to place himself physically between Avril and the invading Welses. This, fortunately, gives him enough of a boost to dash back forward and grab slowpoke Elena by the hand, who's also shoved forward by Rosaline as she races past on four legs. Unfortunately, this delay means that they're slower-going than most--Lucadia's blessing apparently only went down to Avril herself... A Reaper rears up near Elena and Dean, and Dean shouts in alarm--but Ida puts a bullet in its head, taking it down so she has time to run too, with Arleph joining her.
"Th-thanks, Ida!" he shouts. "C'mon, Elena, let's get out of here, quick!!" A crash of glass nearly gets him pulling out his *own* ARMs, even with someone else's hand in his, but then Animal rides a Reaper out a door, smashes the monster to death, and then dashes up to join the group. "W-wow, no kidding!" he utters. "That was wild, Animal!"
Pun not intended.
However, the ruckus caused by guns and Reaper-riding and general yelling have drawn the attention of quite a few Reapers, and as the six of them run, a large group of them appear at their back. It takes the group a long while to shake them--though at least by the time they do, the adrenaline leaves them all shaking but actually in rather good spirits. Several solid gasps of oxygen, and they'll be raring to go again. Plus, it looks like they've made it to closer to their objective... at least, Dean recognizes this part of the village. He thinks.
He looks to the others. "Everyone okay?" he murmurs. "If we're all okay, let's hurry on. We don't want those things catching up to us." A howl in the air agrees--or disagrees, depending on your viewpoint.
DG: Elena has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>=========================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Spine Shooting Reaper *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Sometimes the Reapers develop strange mutations that can make them far more dangerous than the usual variety. This one appears to have mutated the ability to use the rows upon rows of spines that have grown out of its body as ranged weapons, and given that they are dripping with some strange poison, it is probably best not to allow it to open up on the party. But sneaking around will be challenging - the party will have to be careful... =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.
Elena is dragged and pushed forward by force, which is good for her survival. She seems rather thankful, if a bit out of breath (actually, a lot) when they can finally stop, finding a few collapsed building chunks to take cover behind, where they can't be seen.
Or at least not immediatly.
"I... did not think it would be this bad. Is this what you Etones must contend with often?" the Songstress finally asks Rosaline, looking uneasy. She even remembers to thank Dean, awkwardly still clutching onto that red bomb.
Until large footsteps shake the ground.
Massive, brutish hands blast through one of the collapsed walls being used as cover by the party! A mass of flesh, not a single being but perhaps over a dozen, steps through, a big, round humanoid with hands, feet and faces sticking out of its limbs and stomach. It's easily half the size of a Gear, and must have been slumbering nearby.
Maybe the most interesting thing about it, if one were able to be interested by such deformities, are the rows and rows of bones bubbling to the surface, as the beast's flesh boils and brings the hard white spikes to the surface. And then they shoot out. Those are spines - spinal cords - and each and every disc being shot out of the creature is covered in its still boiling and corrosive skin.
They also thunder like gunshots when they fire, essentially machinegunning at the party and trying to drive them out into the open, where more Wels await.
Elena is back on her feet and running as soon as she can, but she's smart enough to dive behind another section of wall, which can handle the hits a bit better than the Drifters could. "This is absurd! Perhaps if we distract it we can run past it!" Or maybe someone knows the way to go!
DG: Elena has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Spine Shooting Reaper.
<Pose Tracker> Animal has posed.
Hit by one of the spine shards almost immediately, Animal stumbles along after the others, yanking the piece of poisonous bone out of his calf as he runs after the others. He hops along for several steps and then starts running again, but seems to be slowed quite a bit by his natural ability to regenerate. Reaching into a pocket, he pulls out a piece of jerky-like meat and starts to eat it while he follows the others.
"I don't like that guy, can I drop something on him?" he asks of the others, and looks for something heavy he can throw or drop on the wels while he follows the others.
Rubbing at his forehead through his headband, he ducks behind a wall with the others, and continues to scuttle along, trying to avoid further encounters with the big lumpy reaper. Looking around while he eats with one hand, he asks, "Anyone want some meat? It'll help you heal."
DG: Animal has used his Tool Lucky Headband toward his party's challenge, Spine Shooting Reaper.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida rides a tide of adrenaline. She takes advantage of the brief lull to reload, and holsters the revolver once it's ready again.
Then, another of the abominations is upon them. It's too short and stumpy to be a Sufal, and it's mostly belly--but Ida seems to recognize something about it nevertheless.
Encountered a rare Wel variant Sifu described as a 'Preta'. Slower than the rest, rotund, grotesque in its enormity. Put a shard of bone through a wooden fence like a bullet.
Ida was saving something for an abnormal Wel like this one. She throws herself flat as bone discs tear into everyone's cover, and reaches into a pocket for a paper packet covered in Symbological runes. Inside--courtesy of one Claude Kenny--is a big, juicy Porterhouse steak, completely rare. With a flick of the wrist, Ida throws the steak at the Preta (Starving-Ghost?), and starts belly-crawling away.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Spine Shooting Reaper.
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Arleph lets out, waving a hand at the call, shaking his head. Gosh, he hates running like that. Once they are out of immediate danger, the symbologist gathers his thoughts again, straightening up to look around. "Don't say that, lady." He says, eyeing Elena. "It might actually--"
Then, things get worse. The mass of flesh sticks out and explode against them, Arleph's mouth dropping wide at the mutant. "OH COME ON!" The Symbologist cries out, lifting a hand before himself to project a shield before himself, symbology whirlling before him. That's about when a distinct flash in his optics point out something.
Arleph pauses, frowning and looking up. Ida throws a steak to distract it. "Go! Go!" He points in a direction. "It goes underneath, it wont be able to follow us as neatly, down there!"
DG: Arleph Ardan has used his Tool Optics toward his party's challenge, Spine Shooting Reaper.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Elena thanks him. Dean smiles; he's of course let her hand go by now, now that they've reached safety. "Don't mention it!" he assures her. "I'm just glad you're safe." For a relative meaning of 'safe,' of course, given those incoming heavy footfalls. A moment later, and a great monstrous *thing* punches through a nearby fall. Dean shouts, stepping around Elena and raising an arm to his face to shield the both of them from falling bricks; thankfully, neither actually reach them.
Of course, considering there's a Wels with bubbling skin and literal spinal columns and spine discs getting shot at them with acidic flesh coated out, maybe they're not really that blessed. In a flash, Twin Fenrir appear in Dean's hands, and he shoots at those flying discs, attempting to deflect them straight back towards the giant Wels and hit it in sensitive spots with its own bio-weapons. Maybe that'll help give him time and space to escape!!
Or, you know, maybe it'll go for a big rare juicy steak. Seriously, Ida, you were carrying around raw, bloody meat in Reaper country?? Fortunately, Dean doesn't consider the implications of this, instead giving Ida a thumbs up and then rushes in the direction that Arleph indicates--but not before pausing and checking to see that Avril's all right first.
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Twin Fenrir - Standard Cartridge toward his party's challenge, Spine Shooting Reaper.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline runs, having holstered her ARMs to use her hands for propulsion. She's had nightmares exactly like this. Whenever it seems the group has put some distance between the horde and themselves, a new pack appears from another direction.
Despite her feline speed, Rosaline actually falls behind a bit. One of the more humanoid undead extends a hand towards her, seeming out of reach until it the fingers fall off to let a second arm's length burst right out of its palm! And the new hand has teeth. It grabs for Rosaline's tail...
And the Etone-in-Training ducks and rolls, drawing one of her ARMs as she does, in the same motion shooting the monster's hand clean off. The expression on the catwoman's face is complex, a mix of terror, pleasant surprise and disbelief at the thing she just did.
And soon, finally, the party makes it to relative safety. There's quite the adrenalin cocktail swimming in her now. It makes the stress more bearable, in a way.
"It's our mission," Rosaline tells Elena as she catches her breath. "Etones have a lot to do, but our main purpose is to purge these abominations." Her voice falls quieter. "But I've never fought s-such a horde. I'm still new to this. I don't think I c--"
Thank goodness for giant, horrific, distracting monsters.
She ducks and covers, just like she's been trained too. "I agree!" she calls back to Elena. "We are not fighting this, though a distraction would be welcome." She accepts Animal's beef jerky, if only because saying no is not one of her strong suits. She stares at it for a moment, before looking at Ida throwing her own steak (wait, what?) away, and--
"You're a genius!" she stage-whispers, throwing her own piece of beef jerky in the same direction, and waving for Animal to do so. She clutches her cross, whispering a spell to help him heal if he does manage to part with the precious meat.
And then, Rosaline does like a steak, and makes herself rare.
DG: Rosaline Calice has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Spine Shooting Reaper.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Perhaps the Guardians are fickle. Though Avril intends, as the octagonal disc shines with a strange light, to invoke Lucadia's blessings down upon them all, that little bit of a boost, a leap forward if one will, appears to only stick for her alone.
A glance backwards reveals this truth... and the fact that more than a few of the Reapers are gaining on them.
...Once they reach that safe haven, Avril heaves out a few heavy breaths, blessing or no blessing. The Medium resecured, she straightens, looking right at Dean, and nods.
No stopping now.
"Which way?" she whispers.
Footsteps shake the ground. Avril's eyes widen, and she turns to point in the direction of the incoming--
Too late, it seems.
She stands there stock still for a moment, eyes locked on the creature that emerges from the hole in the wall. Her gaze runs the length of its form. Is she terrified? Most people would be.
Avril takes one step towards it, drawing Absolute Zero as if intending to fight it, blade materializing from the hilt as boneshards pepper the ground around her.
...What in the world is she thinking?
Only when Dean stops to check on her does she finally seem to come to her senses, glancing over at him and nodding sharply. Her gaze swings wide as she turns, blade still pulled on the creature before them, and she finally points with her free hand towards some likely-looking cover.
"Over there. Hurry!"
...Hopefully the steak will help stall the creature before she can escape, too.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Spine Shooting Reaper.
==========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>=========================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Spine Shooting Reaper *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Sometimes the Reapers develop strange mutations that can make them far more dangerous than the usual variety. This one appears to have mutated the ability to use the rows upon rows of spines that have grown out of its body as ranged weapons, and given that they are dripping with some strange poison, it is probably best not to allow it to open up on the party. But sneaking around will be challenging - the party will have to be careful... =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
=====================<* Abandoned Frontier Town - Round 4 *>====================== =======================< Results - Spine Shooting Reaper >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 7 --(3)--> 10 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Animal 11 --(4)--> 15 Fail Lucky Headband 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 23 --(6)--> 29 Pass Twin Fenrir - Standard Cartridge 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 9 --(3)--> 12 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elena 8 --(6)--> 14 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 9 --(4)--> 13 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arleph Ardan 9 --(4)--> 13 Pass Optics 2 Wits Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2)|Slow(1) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Rosaline Calice has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>========================== ==========================<* CHALLENGE - The Crater *>========================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The source of the infestation of Reapers appears as the party struggles through the town. There is a large crater in the center of the town, about thirty feet across and ten feet deep. At the bottom lies some sort of strange device which has been buried in the ground. It hisses and whirls, and occasionally a Reaper will appear from inside of it via some unknown mechanism. There's no way to examine it, not with the great number of Reapers packed into the crater - it must be destroyed, and quickly. Else the entire region might be threatened by these creatures. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.
"I believe that would help!" Elena replies to Animal, not concerned with noise at this point. She's even about to hurl her bomb, FINALLY, when she sees Ida hurl a steak instead. The beast stops firing its deadly bone projectiles, sniffing the air and taking heavy steps towards the thrown meat. Unthinking, all it can feel is hunger, and you can rest assured it pursues the sight of that fresh, red meat like its life depends on it.
Arleph points the direction they should go; another half-crumbled house with a basement this time, and far too narrow for the beast to follow. With it distracted by the steak, it's even possible to wound it - with its own weapons. The bone discs slam back into the Wels, knocking it square off its feat for a moment. Sadly: it regenerates. Quickly. Of course it does. That's fine, though! A few shots, it's all it takes to buy the party that much more time to flee.
Like Rosaline, Elena throws the meat offered to her by Animal - after apologizing several times for the act - and now the lumbering beast is confused. It smells meat left, right, ahead. It doesn't know where to go. Different parts of it body struggle, trying to go different places. It slows down even more.
With Avril not going to engage it, the party flees underground, finding broken halls and tunnels that lead back out in very short order. But they get a breather, however short it might be.
"You are much braver than I could have ever imagined," she says to Rosaline after the Etone's comment. "I do not know if I could... endure a life of such hardships, try as I might."
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
The party emerges from the underground passage, one that might feel especially claustrophobic, considering the circumstances.
"A-Aw, Elena... Thank you," Rosaline answers. "Well, I'm glad you came to help us. It was good of you. Brave and good."
Once again, talk is interrupted as the screams of the ravenous horde ahead makes their mission snap back into focus. Rosaline's head whips towards the noise, and she takes point. Wisdom might dictate that they head away, but there's a very good reason they cannot...
Ahead lies their objective. A generator several of the people have seen before and failed to destroy. Even now, steam hisses out and a new undead monstrosity crawls out, clearly in pain and racked with instatiable hunger.
The mass of Reapers surrounding the machine is at war with itself. Perhaps having somehow sensed what's ahead, the horde is attempting to cannibalize itself. Already, they can see the gruesome spectacle begin as individuals that successfully tear pieces off of one another add the flesh to their bodies, growing progressively stronger.
The group has very little time before this goes from bad to worse.
And while the mutants at the center are busy with one another, the shamblers at the edges have already noticed the group. Most dangerous-looking among them is a fat Wel whose sharp-toothed mouth surrounds its entire skull, the top half of its head performing a 180 to look at the group.
Rosaline may refuse to be party leader, but on paper at least, she's the one who knows exactly what to do here.
"Burn it with fire!" she title-drops.
And with this, she pulls something out of her satchel bag-- Three charges of Holy TNT, held together by a single fuse. She whirls it around and lobs it towards the generator. While it sails, she prays to Granas that His hand guide the explosive towards its mark...
And it lands right next to the Devil's machine, but that was only part 1. Next, Rosaline clutches the Crests attached to the cross at her neck.
"Please cover me," she pleads, a touch of apology in her voice. She raises a hand, a ball of fire appearing above. She doesn't send it flying right away, instead letting it slowly grow.
Sweat beads on her forehead. She, perhaps unwisely, closes her eyes and begins chanting a prayer as she desperately gathers power.
DG: Rosaline Calice has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Crater.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"Avril?" Dean utters when he sees his friend making as though to challenge the Wels. If she is, though, he'll be right next to her. "Avril!" he repeats, this time decisive--but then she looks at him, nods, and points towards cover and hurries towards it. Dean managed to shoot away those disc thingies back onto the Wels, which doesn't help much since apparently it can regenerate (OF COURSE IT CAN REGENERATE), but with it confused by the scent of meat and with Avril backing down, he goes with her to the underground tunnels.
"Your *job* is to get rid of those things?" he says to Rosa then. "No wonder you're so good at it!" ...Yes, it looks like he still thinks she's a skilled Wels Hunter, his initial impression unchanged. "It's okay. With all of us together, we can make it through this!" Dean gives her an encouraging smile.
A moment later, though, and the group surfaces--right in the middle of a chaos of Reapers, right next to that machine that produces them. "There! Avril!" he says, pointing at the mechanism. "That's the thing I told you about--the thing the Reapers were coming out of!"
Twin Fenrir flash back into his hands. At this point, there's no point in being quiet; they made quite an entrance. "I'll cover you guys! Go go go *go*!" he calls. Dean then wastes no time in racing towards a nearby fire leyline. Once he feels its power underneath his feet, he calls upon the power of his Sword Medium copy to create a concussive force of flame to explode directly in the center of the crowd of monsters, hopefully opening up a path for some of the others to destroy the machine--more permanently than they'd managed the last time. "Take THAT!" he roars.
DG: Dean Stark has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Crater.
<Pose Tracker> Animal has posed.
Truly shocked that someone would throw his meat, Animal looks stunned but follows along anyway. He regenerates, even without the meat he'd given up, though he still assumes it's because of the food he had been eating. Pushing along, they find themselves face to face with the same predicament. The machine and the scrambling hordes which will surely come to repel them.
"We can do it, this time!" he declares with a fist pump and immediately starts trying to punch the machine to pieces. When Rosaline shows up with explosives however, he immediately recognizes the stuff for what it is, and disengages his savage offense against the machine.
Turning his attention to the swarming hordes, he starts to fight them tooth and nail. His incredible strength allowing him to throw the reapers around, but for every reaper he throws, two more take its place.
As always he finghts with no real finesse or skill. He just seems to have that ferocity and extraordinary strength as his sole assets in this contest, luckily, he's really strong. So when he does hit, he tends to hit them really hard.
DG: Animal has used his Tool Vest of the Turtle toward his party's challenge, The Crater.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida pulls herself upright, and brushes herself off. Everyone seems all right after that little jaunt, and there's no way the Preta can pursue them that quickly. "Rosaline's stronger than she gives herself credit for," Ida says, in a rare moment of letting the public face down. There is a very real chance they will all be eaten by Wels in the next ten or so minutes, and she doesn't want to die without having voiced it. A short jog brings them to the edge of the crater.
Granas, it's even more horrible than last time. Ida would leave the Wels to their sickening spectacle, but she knows that's not an option, and it will do nothing to decrease their overall combat effectiveness if she does. "In Granas' name," she says, turning to Rosaline and Elena. Her revolvers practically jump into her hands, and as the Wels charge, she begins the kata. Six bullets find homes in the flesh of charging Wels; the monstrosities tumble, fall, and slide downwards into the churning pit of flesh and death. There's still too many coming. Thinking quickly, Ida whips a small canister off her back, holds the fuse in the energies Rosaline is channeling, and then throws the lit grenade into the horde. "FLASH-BANG!" Ida shouts, because it's a short phrase that encompasses what's about to happen. The grenade explodes with a brilliant flash and a sound like thunder, hopefully stunning some of the horde. Ida draws her other revolver and resumes shooting, targeting and destroying Wels with terrifying precision. She is back in the Satori of fear again.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flare Grenade toward her party's challenge, The Crater.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Dean, being closest and knowing her best, might note something off about his friend just now. It's like Avril zoned out there for a moment... if one can enter some sort of battle-ready fugue state while mentally checking out.
But she appears to come back to reality, to the facts of their current situation. She backs down, turns and flees underground with the rest.
Absolute Zero is still in her hand by the time they come across the machine.
And the dozens and dozens of Reapers surrounding it.
"...I see it, Dean," the green-clad woman replies, gazing at the swarming creatures with a narrowing gaze. "I suppose we have no choice but to go through them, first."
...and there's this machine that turns people into them...
That's right. These things were people.
"...Very well," Avril murmurs, features grim. Holding out Absolute Zero before her, she makes a slight twist of her wrist.
The blade vanishes. Her finger eases over the trigger in the 'hilt'.
"We'll cover them, Dean!"
While others turn their energies towards the machine in the back, she'll join Dean, and do whatever it takes to hold back the horde.
Leaning back for only a fraction of a second, Avril leaps ahead, pulling the trigger as she surges right into the incoming Reapers. Light flares. The arc of the beam whip that emits from the hilt cuts skyward, redirects with a half-second turn of her arm and hand, and cuts again, horizontally.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Beam Whip Mode toward her party's challenge, The Crater.
=========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>========================== ==========================<* CHALLENGE - The Crater *>========================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The source of the infestation of Reapers appears as the party struggles through the town. There is a large crater in the center of the town, about thirty feet across and ten feet deep. At the bottom lies some sort of strange device which has been buried in the ground. It hisses and whirls, and occasionally a Reaper will appear from inside of it via some unknown mechanism. There's no way to examine it, not with the great number of Reapers packed into the crater - it must be destroyed, and quickly. Else the entire region might be threatened by these creatures. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
====================<* Abandoned Frontier Town - Round 5 *>===================== ============================< Results - The Crater >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 10 --(0)--> 10 Fail Flare Grenade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Animal 15 --(0)--> 15 Pass Vest of the Turtle 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 12 --(0)--> 12 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elena 14 --(0)--> 14 Fail Mist Egg 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 13 --(0)--> 13 Pass Beam Whip Mode 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arleph Ardan 13 --(0)--> 13 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Reckless(1) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1)|Stalwart(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has successfully explored Abandoned Frontier Town!
=========================<* Abandoned Frontier Town *>========================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Identification Tags *>====================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Among the many remains strewn about the town are a set of strange dog tags. They appear to have been torn free and are lying on the ground near a pile of dead Reapers and a few humans who were fighting them. It is hard to tell whom the tags belong to, given that they are damaged. An expert in town might be able to shed more light on them. You should send in a +request regarding this discovery. =Dungeon Conditions: =========================================================
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Dean compliments Rosaline. Ida, who has actually seen her in action far more often than he has, weighs in with a similar thought. Rosaline's ears twitch at the sound, and her answer is to smile nervously while looking away with a slight blush.
They might be right, though. They have to be, right now. She can do this. She can definitely do this!!
Dean causes explosive flame to erupt from the ground just as Arleph does the same with sharp pillars of ice. Both attacks fired from different directions work wonders in different ways. While the fire spreads among the horde and halts the Wels' regeneration, the ice causes what creatures it impales to freeze and crumble apart before they can regenerate. The fat one is halted in its tracks, allowing Avril to dance up to it with her beam whip and slice it apart is a gruesome tableau.
Animal punches the machine, and to his credit sparks do fly and seem to halt production for the time being, before the damage on the horrible machine seems to mend itself. He's seen it happen before. They can't allow it to happen again. He joins Ida in dispatching the rest of the horde, tossing and pulverizing whichever creature is within reach, allowing Ida to line up shots and dispatch the shamblers without wasting a single bullet.
The stage is set.
Rosaline's face is pale, and there are tears in her eyes. The ball of flames she's holding aloft has grown, but when Elena's power washes over the team, the Etone-in-Training is relieved of some of the enormous strain the spell was putting her body under. Color returns to her face. It's true. They CAN do this together.
The ball of flames more than doubles in size over the course of a few seconds.
"HERE GOES NOTHING!" Rosaline calls out. The oversized fireball sails forward, the path clear but for a few stragglers, that are summarily swallowed. The magical flames hit the machine, coming into contact with the TNT Rosaline placed earlier.
The explosion is massive.
Metallic debris fly. The machine has finally been disabled. Rosaline smiles as she catches her breath. They can't stay here for very long, but...
The day is won.
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.
It's incredible, but they pull it off. And by the end of it, radiating healing and supportive magic as she had been, Elena falls to her knees, the light draining from her Mana Egg as the last of the Wels falls.
In the safety of the back row, Elena finally has time to process what they just saw and her stomach inverts itself all over the... well, okay, the floor here is already a mess of blood and guts, there's like... no functional difference or appreciable devaluing of the area because a Songstress threw up.
BUT IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS, OKAY?
After a few moments she wipes her mouth with her forearm and makes whiny sounds, dragging herself back to her feet (possibly, with help). "I do not... I do not ever want to see such horror again. Please tell me we are to destroy that infernal machine, Sister Calice, miss Everstead!"
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
As the swarm begins to falter, Ida runs out of ammunition. The Wels seem to sense this, and close in from where they were circling--one of them clips her shoulder with knifelike claws before she spins around and drives the butt of a revolver into its head with the horrible sound of splintering bone. She smashes in the throat of another as it lunges for her, and launches a snap-kick at the third. That particular Wel goes tumbling backwards, into the crater. More of its bretheren join it, dead or wounded. Rosaline's fireball hits bottom a few seconds later, and reduces them all to a thin layer of carbon and snapped bits of bone.
Ida comes staggering back towards the group a moment later, covered with blood. Mercifully, very little of it seems to be her own, though she's been wounded a few times--the adrenaline is fading, now that they're out of immediate danger. "Yes," she says to Elena, having politely averted her eyes while the Sister of Granas was doubled over and puking everywhere. "Once we're finished examining it. I want to know what it is, and why it is here."
Something glimmers in the blood, catching her eye. It's too evenly-shaped to be a piece of the machine, and Ida scoops it off the ground, peering at it. Metal tags on a metal chain, with markings on them. The kind Celesti--and several other nations--issue to soldiers.
Ida looks at them, thoughtfully. "How unusual," she says.
<Pose Tracker> Animal has posed.
Seeing as how Elena is down, Animal walks over and offers her some more jerky. Pulling it out of a pocket and removing the small bit of lint on it, he smiles at her and says, "I can give you a piggy-back ride if you need one." Taking up the meat then, he examines it, and gives it a testing bite before offering it again. "It's my special spicy meat, it has lots of flavor bits on it. From all my spices," he explains patiently.
Wafting it at her, he tries to lure her to her feet with it.
He has no interest in the machine they are so interested in, especially now that it is destroyed. Though, as he does usually get a good deal for scraps of metal out of machines like this, he does consider dragging some of its remaining scraps to town.
The tag in Ida's hand earns a curious look, but he doesn't know what it is, so after a brief glance, seeing squiggly lines-- he goes back to trying to help Elena.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
As neatly as anything, the photon edge of Absolute Zero's beam whip slices through the fattest of the Reapers. Avril does not blink.
This is what she knew she would have to do, the moment she made that choice just minutes before to engage them directly. They were human, once; now they aren't. Perhaps this might be an end to a cruel existence.
Rosaline calls out. Releasing the remainder of her ARM's current charge, Avril gestures to the others with her on the front lines. "Fall back--"
The fireball flies.
There is at last silence, interrupted only by poor Elena in the corner. Avril rises to her feet from where she had sought shelter, gaze lingering first on the remains of the Reapers, then shifting towards the debris.
Slowly, picking her steps carefully, she approaches part of what remains of the devilish machine.
And gazes at it in silence. "..."
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline pretends not to see Elena throwing up. She is in absolutely no position to judge. A part of her already feels guilty for bringing the Songstress to see this. But then, could they have even succeeded without her?
And already, Sister Calice is back to work, magically tending to the wounds of her teammates-- Albeit weakly, for perhaps obvious reasons.
She nods to Elena and Ida. "I agree. I... I want to know why this had to happen, but I don't want this infernal machine to hurt anyone ever again."
Then, she turns to the rest of the group. To Arleph, whom she already knows, but also Dean, Avril and Animal. "Thank you so much for helping us," she says, a hand to her heart. Technically, she was the one brought in to help, but the reverse is also true. This IS supposed to be her job, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
The fight was rough. The explosion was similarly massive... and the whole battle a grim reminder of the other mysteries that lies within this world. Is this a result of some man behind the scene, trying to manipulate things? It's clear that these monsters were humans once. Is it a retrovirus? Some genetic tampering? Or... something else, something specific to this world? Like that hideous purple aura that surround things of the realm of the dead. Of, he hesitate to even qualify it as such, 'evil'.
Arleph shakes his head, taking his heat off as he takes some steps closer to get a look at some of the carnage they caused. Biology of this magnitude is not his field of study, yet... If he only he had the damn needed labs for this!
He looks up at Ida, snapping out of his reverie, peering at the tags. "Identification tags, I'm presuming." He says, pushing himself back to his feet, dusting his hands off with a brief blue glow, cleaning himself. "I hestitate to make a call without getting a closer look to... to all of this."
He tilts his head at Rosaline, nodding at her. "Don't thanks me. This had to be done. Now, we just need to find out who makes this... happen."
He turns to look at the machine, frowning. "And how it works."
<Pose Tracker> Elena has posed.
The sight of meat makes Elena pale. "I... thank you, but I believe I will be avoiding meat for... a while, after this," she manages to answer, resolving herself to eat leafy green things for at least a few days. Sadly, she won't resist the lure of a good steak that long, but here too it's surely the thought that counts.
At least she seems to really appreciate Animal coming to look over here. She summons some strength and nods to Ida and Rosaline when they give their judgment.
"Whoever made such a machine deserves every moment of suffering life can throw at them! I hope he yet lives that we may find him and bring him to justice." Sadly it's unlikely this machine will lead back to its creator, but maybe one day. Or maybe whoever made this thing died to its products immediatly. That's not that unlikely.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
If Ida hadn't gotten an idea of how Animal operates, she'd question how he can think of eating at a time like this. He means well, at least!
Ida tucks the gore-splattered tags into a small canvas pouch, the one that was carrying the steak from earlier. "You all did good work," she says, with a smile. It feels... good, in a way, to have put those monsters to rest--to use her skill at arms for something that is undisputably a net positive. Avril... wanders down to inspect the machine. Ida watches her a moment, and then walks down to join her. "Clearly an ARM of some stripe," Ida says. "But I've never seen anything like it."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"...I cannot recall if I have or have not," Avril states simply, the result of her silent investigation/study of the strange device as Ida approaches.
This may be a puzzling statement for her to hear.
"Ida, was it not? Dean said that you are familiar with Reapers. I am his friend."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
"I'd... have to look at it closer." Arleph mutters, getting closer to the fog pod, frowning but not getting to close. Carefully, he casts a brief spell on himself, taking in a deep breath as he speaks. "Maybe... it is a mutagen?" he mutters to himself, crossing his arms as he analysis things.
And, of course, his lenses are recording this. He'll review all of this later, with more time to think on.
"You can't introduce such a change into an humanoid body this... radical, without some serious work." He says, outloud.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
There *was* something strange about Avril for a moment there. Like she was spacing out even as she was about to go into a fight. It worries Dean a little--you need to pay attention while you're fighting!--but they escape, and then it's into an actual battle. At least this time they manage to take out the Welses, though it takes a lot of effort and hard work, and this time it seems like Avril's okay. He thinks. He's not sure.
For a time, he's nearby Elena, grimacing at her barfing and unsure of how to help despite wanting to. But Animal takes care of her, so Dean instead smiles to Rosa at her works of gratitude. "Thanks to you too!" Then he decides to head back over to Ida, Avril, and Arleph, in time for them to discuss the matter of the ARM machine thingie with each other.
"Glad we could help," he says with a smile to Ida. "How're things over here?"
<Pose Tracker> Animal has posed.
It's not often that someone turns down good meat, but Animal accepts this at face value, and eats it himself. He goes over to look at the things that other people are looking at, but inevitably finds that he doesn't understand much of it, so he focuses on just staying out of the way and watching for more of the reapers. Finding a spot to stand, he hunches over and wraps his arms around his knees. He then starts to slowly count his toes, and glances up occasionally when he hears something or someone move in a spot he hadn't expected.
"Are all of the reapers dead, by the way? Why aren't they coming?" he asks. Trying to put that piece together in his head takes too long, so he decides to just ask. "You guys could use your gear to lift the rest of the pieces of the machine out, so you could look at it somewhere else, and since that thing makes them, right? We can just come back and kill the rest of them whenever!" he explains, because sometimes he figures things out, and when such thoughts pop into his head, he has to share them.
Mostly because he never gets to have an idea.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"Oh! That's a good idea!" Dean adds to what Animal says, because it's Dean. "I could start on shoveling it up while you get your Gear, Ida!"
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
That's a hell of a thing to say. It almost reminds Ida of Fei--the way he seems to remember things he shouldn't know, and not remember things he should know. "I see," she says. She looks over a piece of paneling for distinguishing marks, and finds nothing at first glance. "Once again, it was a pleasure to work with you, Miss Avril. I only wish it could have been under better circumstances." She pauses a moment, and eyes something that's glowing green and sparking in the burned ruin of the pod. "My mother was an Etone for several years. She survived many encounters with these monstrosities, and taught me her art to better fight them."
Arleph speaks up. Ida looks at him. "You speak as though you know of things like this, Doctor," Ida says, evenly. Dean gets a bit of a look. "We have no idea how it works. If it deployed a pathogen, or a mutagen--" She's borrowing Arleph's term, there, obviously. "--then long-term exposure to it could turn us into more of those things... or anyone else who comes into contact with it. Let's determine what we can, and then inform the Ethos branch."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
Arleph looks up, blinking, breaking out of his train of thoughts, to look around at Ida. "Not... as such, no. I can only guess at what might be doing something like this to a human body. In more ways than one it feels like... to steal my own coined phrase,"
He waves a hand at some of the reapers, the mishapen bodies as proof. "It's seems like a cancer. Parts of the body being told to 'grow!' and just keep doing into some random patterns." He crosses his arms turning around fully, nodding. "I agree. We seem to be fine, however, but I will fully recommend for everyone to be fully cleansed when we are out of here, including our clothing... I do not think it is needed, as we were fine last time, but it's best to be prudent."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
There are many similarities between Avril and Fei's situation... and also many of the other Drifters, Avril herself has felt, that she has met who are also without their memories.
She reaches out a gloved hand to touch the piece before her, but hesitates and withdraws. Then stands, turning to face Ida. "Yes, it was. Perhaps another time, it could be under better circumstances."
Which may be an invitation...? But it's hard to tell with such a serious-faced lass, sometimes.
Which itself is followed by a nod, a brief glance over at the remains, over at Rosaline. "Your mother? I see. Then, she taught you well, it seems. We did a good thing today."
Given that Avril's memories stem back only to about eight or so months prior, she should not understand what Ida and Arleph discuss. Nonetheless, though she frowns briefly, her brow creased, she still nods. "...I see. Then we should take care with what we remove from this place as well, in case it could also be contaminated," she states, having gotten to the heart of their discussion nonetheless.
She takes one step back, pulling away from the huddle with Arleph and Ida here. "Dean, we should let Rebecca know. She may need to meet up with us separately."
Just in case.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Prudent," Ida says, to Arleph. "Could your magic arrange for that?" And then a hot bath when she gets back to the Hotel Renais, because there is no way she will feel clean without one. "Yes. Yes, we did. I fear, though, that we have simply scratched the surface of a much greater problem." She shifts her weight, and the dog tags clink in their pouch. "The only thing I've removed are those identification tags. Perhaps we could look into them together, Miss Avril?"
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
Arleph offers a nod in Avril's direction, smiling. "Yes. We should also not tarry very much. In case they decide to come over while we're busy scratching our heads at this." He looks at Ida, nodding again, unfolding his arms. "I can, yes. It wont be a problem. It might itch a little, however."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"We can fall back to my Gear," Ida says. "I brought some extra medical supplies as well, in case we needed them." Pause. "Itch?"
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean... grimaces at that, eyes going wide. He hadn't considered that they might themselves get turned into Reapers if they hang around the machin too long. Generally speaking, Dean's pretty hard to scare, but being turned into a flesh-hungry monster and being unable to stop it because they stayed too logn around an ARM or whatever that machine is... That gives him the creeps something fierce. "O-okay," he agrees. When Avril moves over to him, then listens, then nods again, this time more serious. "Yeah, I think so too. I don't like just leaving this thing here, but... at least we've done everything we can."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
"It is a spell that purifies bodies of water, as well as on and inside human bodies." Arleph says, working hard on holding back every little details. 'Microrganisms' and 'tiny little living things' might be hard to understand. "It is targeted so, yes, it itches, a little."
<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.
Arleph pause. "Because we are made mostly of water and mostly for the exterior, anyway. You'll see."
<Pose Tracker> Animal has posed.
"I'm not made of water. I've seen, I'm made of bones and meat and blood," Animal says to Arleph. Very serious. Like, how can he accuse them of being made out of other things. That's so weird.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I would like to, if I can assist. Perhaps someone around this village may know more," Avril answers, casting a look Dean's way. "Dean? What would you like to do?"
Technically speaking, at this point, she can already guess.
They might have a lot to do already -- between earning money, searching for information about Golems and a certain name or two, and seeing what they can do to find and protect the Guardian Statues -- but they just wouldn't be them if they walked past this without so much as lending a hand.
What's happened here is wrong.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"You don't even have to ask," Dean tells Avril seriously. "If there's something I can help with, of course I'll do it." Though there may not be a need for so many people to look into the owners of those dog tags... who knows? Maybe an extra person will help. Besides--it's as Avril observes: what's happened here is wrong. And if they can do something to help make it stop, then they've got to do what they can, no matter what else they've got on their plates.