2017-10-30: Super Spooky Product Demonstrations

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  • Log: Super Spooky Product Demonstrations
  • Cast: Iskandra Grendorre, Rose, Jacqueline Barber
  • Where: Great Krosian Plains
  • Date: October 30, 2017
  • Summary: Despite some amount of tension, Jacqueline and Rose join Iskandra in an exploration of the Haunted Library, so that the winged alchemist can display some of her wares to the two merchants.

==========================<* Great Krosian Plains *>==========================

The bulk of the countryside around the capital city of Krosse consists of rolling, grassy fields, a stark contrast from the arid desert sands to the north. Every year, however, the desertification spreads, and more and more life is swallowed up by the sands.

As travellers near the capital, the grasslands transition into cultivated fields. The yields from Krosse's farmlands have given the kingdom the nickname of the breadbasket of Ignas, and the majority of its trade centres around grains, fruits, vegetables, and other foodstuffs. 

While its might pales in comparison to its larger neighbours, Krosse maintains a significant standing army to help deal with monsters and green-eyed neighbours who might seek to seize that bounty for themselves. These soldiers are kept active by frequent patrols and maneuvers throughout the Plains and major roadways; as a result, travel in the kingdom is safer than nearly anywhere else on the continent.

DG: A party led by Iskandra Grendorre is now entering Haunted Library.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* Haunted Library *>==============================
==============<* CHALLENGE - The Library is Closed to Visitors *>===============
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You come to a heavy oak door. It won't open. The ridiculous part is, it's     
 obvious there's no lock on it. It's just stuck. It's probably been stuck for  
 decades. Will you be the ones to finally open it?                             
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Iskandra Grendorre has posed.

Since Jacqueline didn't give any real indications to say the venture in places unknown was off, Iskandra had assumed it was still on, and so she's come to the agreed upon place at the agreed upon time. An old library in an abandoned and ruined town, she waits for the others to arrive, but has already given the door a good shove and come to the realization that it shan't budge.

So there's a handful of clay jars already placed there. There's also a little stall full of potions, gels, strange candies, unusual pastries, and so on. All of which clearly labelled for function (Most of them do one of the following: heals wounds, cleanses injuries, boosts capabilities.) She's waiting before taking any further steps.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        Rose had forgotten she agreed to explore an old abandoned library near a ghost town. With plenty of reports and rumors of being haunted, and warning in the Adventurer's Guild to keep holy water and priests on-hand.

        If she'd paid more attention she'd have asked for somewhere more... somewhere less... haunted. Definitely, somewhere less haunted.

        At least Mirielle isn't here to make it worse this time. Or for that matter, any other of Althena's ghostly children. Not even the one that likes to treat her body like a hotel room! Wonder where he is, come to think of it.

        ELSEWHERE: Dezel naps under a tree. Life is great.

        Rose shivers, before slapping herself on the cheeks and staring at the building's door. "Okay! Show me how to... show me how your explosive jar things work, I want to throw one. Maybe if I throw it hard enough it'll discourage whoever's bunked in there from bothering us."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline had already promised to help Iskandra with her money situation, by helping her reach a wider customer base. She wasn't one to back down from her word, even if they'd had a bit of a...falling out.

She had arrived pretty early, but didn't actually show herself until after Rose had arrived. She had been...concerned. Unsure of what she should say, or if she should say anything...

She very carefully steps out from behind the building she'd been sitting behind, offering Iskandra and Rose a nod as she approaches. There was a bit less of her usual confidence in her step, and she couldn't quite bring herself to meet Iskandra's eyes.

Iskandra had been the one planning illegal activies, but it was Jacqueline who had left their last meeting feeling like a criminal.

"Rose, Miss Iskandra..." She greets, the glances toward the door of the library they were exploring, as well as the explosives Rose was looking at.

<Pose Tracker> Iskandra Grendorre has posed.

"Hello miss Rose, miss Jay." There's a bit of a glance away when Jacqueline shows her face, but Iskandra decides not to mention the events in question. Instead, she dives wholeheartedly into explaining the basics of her explosives. "So there's a mixture of things in there that burn really fast and really hot, and don't need air to do it. This creates a lot of hot gas, and the clay jar exists to keep all the gas inside until there's enough gas the jar can't hold it all anymore. That's when it goes boom." She demonstrates by lighting the fuses on both and taking a good few steps back.

DG: Iskandra Grendorre has used her Tool Bomb toward her party's challenge, The Library is Closed to Visitors.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        "Hey Jay! ... you alright? You seem... more careful than usual?" Under any other circumstance Rose might suspect something is up. Under these ones though? "Are the ghosts getting to you too?"

        It'd be understandable.

        Iskandra offers a tutorial, and Rose picks one of the jars up, even after the fuse is lit, to inspect it, before setting it back down and retreating back to the alchemist's side. "So stationary bombs, not ones you throw. Better for controlled uses I bet. You'd have made a killing in Adlehyde a few months back when they were having to tear down all the destroyed buildings to start from scratch."

        She wonders how that's going. Hopefully well.

DG: Rose has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Library is Closed to Visitors.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Yes, perhaps jumping right into business and the specifics thereof was the best option here. Jacqueline quiets and listens to Iskandra and the explanation thereof before nodding toward Rose.

"Yes, I'm fine. I've just been having...a bit of a rough time." She says. Well, it wasn't entirely false, at least, considering some of the things she'd been doing lately...

Jacqueline has to admit, that jar was pretty impressive.

"Yes, we could've really used them. I've never been much for making explosives, so I was really only able to provide my healing potions." She agrees. To be fair, though, those were pretty useful.

In lieu of explosives, Jacqueline produces a Crest. If the bomb proves incapable of blasting open the door, she'll be there to try and ram it open with an earth pillar.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Library is Closed to Visitors.
=============================<* Haunted Library *>==============================
==============<* CHALLENGE - The Library is Closed to Visitors *>===============
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You come to a heavy oak door. It won't open. The ridiculous part is, it's     
 obvious there's no lock on it. It's just stuck. It's probably been stuck for  
 decades. Will you be the ones to finally open it?                             
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
========================<* Haunted Library - Round 1 *>=========================
================< Results - The Library is Closed to Visitors >=================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandra Grendorre                  0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Bomb                                3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rose                                0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Iskandra Grendorre          0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Wound(2)
Effects: 
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Iskandra Grendorre 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> Iskandra Grendorre has posed.

"Miss Jay and I were involved in a messy situation this weekend, got pretty rough." Iskandra expands a bit on that, it's true and yet it doesn't quite answer anything. Her tone of voice is definitely indicating that she doesn't want to talk about it, and focuses on the demolition bit. "Sounds like I should've found my way to this world a bit earlier. I have the worst timing."

As the fuses finish burning, the bombs explode and force the door to move. It's still not quite open, but now it'll actually move... Who knows what lies beyond.

DG: Rose has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Haunted Library *>===============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Spectral Librarian *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 A stern-looking spectre appears before you, raising its finger against its    
 lips to shush you. Apparently your efforts to be quiet are insufficient for   
 the ghost, as its expression becomes enraged rather quickly and it begins to  
 hurl balls of ectoplasmic energy at you!                                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        With the door blown open, Rose actually takes hold of her courage and leads the party into the dusty old building. It's just a library, come on. It won't have haunted tools or weapons or ancient undead warriors. At best, it'll have ghostly bookworms. That's fine, right?

        Past the main hall, into the lobby, the party is stopped by just one such bookworm. Or a librarian, as it would be. A good-looking man with well-kept hair, wearing a tidy suit and gloves. A butler, almost. He seems unhappy.

        "Silence in the library," he says.

        Rose is already hiding behind Iskandra and Jay.

        "Or else," the librarian continues.

        Before throwing spectral bolts of energy at the party! It's a beamspam party up in here, plenty to go around. Rose swings energy daggers back to block the shots, having unsheathed her own knives, but hesitates to go after the librarian himself.

DG: Rose has used her Tool Brad's Knives toward her party's challenge, Spectral Librarian.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline appreciates the succinct explanation. She's not about to tell Rose what happened, though she does feel somewhat awful for keeping her in the dark like that, but it's for the best. Instead she just follows Rose quietly through the door of the Library...where they're immediately approached by a ghostly librarian.

...Jacqueline kind of feels bad about this, since they were causing a scene, but...they couldn't just stop here.

"I'm sorry..." Jacqueline murmurs, drawing out one of her bottles of repellant and hurling it toward the ghost. As a ghost it won't really affect him, but maybe it'll provide enough of a distraction for them to slip on by?

He was just doing his job, after all, so similarly to Rose she didn't want to attack him directly.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Reliable Repellant toward her party's challenge, Spectral Librarian.
<Pose Tracker> Iskandra Grendorre has posed.

"Oh shut up." Iskandra answers the spectre, and unlike the others, she does want to attack him directly. She quickly drinks a liquid then rushes towards it, trying to weave between the spectral bolts of energy to get a solid hit in. Fighting ghosts of any kind is always tricky, though.

DG: Iskandra Grendorre has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Spectral Librarian.
==============================<* Haunted Library *>===============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Spectral Librarian *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 A stern-looking spectre appears before you, raising its finger against its    
 lips to shush you. Apparently your efforts to be quiet are insufficient for   
 the ghost, as its expression becomes enraged rather quickly and it begins to  
 hurl balls of ectoplasmic energy at you!                                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
=========================<* Haunted Library - Round 2 *>==========================
=========================< Results - Spectral Librarian >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandra Grendorre                  5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   10 --(5)--> 15                 Pass
Reliable Repellant                  2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rose                                10 --(5)--> 15                 Pass
Brad's Knives                       2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Iskandra Grendorre          20 --(25)--> 45                Pass
Conditions: Treasure(1)|Wound(1)
Effects: Embolden(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Iskandra Grendorre has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        Between Rose and Jay, only a handful of those bolts even hit their marks, and individually they're not that powerful. They make you uncomfortable, at best! More importantly, Iskandra goes to town on the poor librarian.

        The librarian is blasted apart into mist, not to return. Hopefully. Rose emerges from behind Jacqueline, pointing at where he used to stand. "Yeah, take that, dumb ghost!" She's a lot braver now that he's gone, isn't she?

        "Stupid, dumb haunted buildings... what'd you just drink anyway, Iskandra?"

DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Haunted Library *>=============================
====<* CHALLENGE - Books Have Spines Does That Mean They Have Skeletons *>====
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 A large number of skeletal remains lay on the floor in this room, heaped      
 where they must have died. A terrifying disembodied laugh echoes and the      
 skeletons lurch to life, rising to block your path, clawing at you with bony  
 hands.                                                                        
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline glances toward Rose with a somewhat dumbfounded look, but sighs and starts to move on. The hallway they've chosen seems pretty sparse...but as they move further, they can start to see bits of pieces of skeletons scattered about.

"Just what happened here, I wonder...?" Jacqueline murmurs. As if prompted by her question, a haunting cackle rings out and the scattered skeletons start to shake and take form. They don't have any weapons, but they're in the way and they don't look happy...

...And one of the bony hands is flying right toward Rose's face!!

Not as an actual attack or anything, it's just trying to get to its owner who is currently behind her.

Jacqueline draws out another bottle of repellant and hurls it toward the skeletons, before drawing a Crest and blasting them with raw, concussive force.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Reliable Repellant toward her party's challenge, Books Have Spines Does That Mean They
Have Skeletons.
<Pose Tracker> Iskandra Grendorre has posed.

"It's short-lasting concoction that increases the reaction speed of the user. I call it a swift draught, I'm always tweaking the formula to be ever better." Iskandra answers Rose's question without a moment's pause, "Personal invention, though building upon the work of others. I've got similar concoctions for other needs, depends on what people's strengths are."

Then there's more things to fight, and this time she doesn't go for the sword. Swords suck at breaking bones, but she happens to know one useful factoid about bones, and she gets out a couple of flasks and starts throwing them at the skeletons, they contain acid. Acid to dissolve the calcium phosphate within the bones.

DG: Iskandra Grendorre has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Books Have Spines Does That Mean They
Have Skeletons.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        Look, Jay, ghosts are spooky. In fact, they are spoopy. Rose just has enough common sense to remember this at all times and act on it. It's fight or flight! Standard human responses! SHE'S NOT AFRAID, SHUT UP.

        Oh look books. And skeletons. Especially skeletons.

        "GYAAAAH!" Rose says, diving to the ground under the incoming skeletal hand. She glares back up, at the skeletal reader reassembling itself. She, too, isn't a fan of using bladed weapons on bones, supernatural style or not. That's why the knives don't come out again.

        "A swift draught, handy. I might want to keep a supply of those for my own use. Some strength ones if you make them too." Flames coat her feet while she's talking.

        "Any after effects?"

        If she's talking business she can ignore those spooky skeletons being spooky. Largely by flame-spinkicking one.

DG: Rose has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Books Have Spines Does That Mean They Have Skeletons.
============================<* Haunted Library *>=============================
====<* CHALLENGE - Books Have Spines Does That Mean They Have Skeletons *>====
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 A large number of skeletal remains lay on the floor in this room, heaped      
 where they must have died. A terrifying disembodied laugh echoes and the      
 skeletons lurch to life, rising to block your path, clawing at you with bony  
 hands.                                                                        
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
=======================<* Haunted Library - Round 3 *>========================
======< Results - Books Have Spines Does That Mean They Have Skeletons >======
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandra Grendorre                  10 --(5)--> 15                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   15 --(5)--> 20                 Pass
Reliable Repellant                  2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rose                                15 --(5)--> 20                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Iskandra Grendorre          45 --(20)--> 65                Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)
Effects: Embolden(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Iskandra Grendorre 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> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

In between chat about business and potions, the party smashes some skeletons. They're not particularly effective fighters - they're more obstacles, than anything, and with the forces lined up against them they don't do more than just get smashed apart.

Jacqueline...tries not to think about why exactly Iskandra would need acid that can dissolve bones.

She distracts herself by watching Rose unleash a flaming spinkick that knocks the skull right off of one of the skeletons, forcing it to abandon the fight to run after its lost head.

In much this way, the path forward is made open once more.

DG: Iskandra Grendorre has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Haunted Library *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Shut the Door! *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You're traversing a series of small rooms, most likely once reading           
 chambers. The skeletal remains of what appear to be a group of Drifters like  
 yourselves lie against the wall of one of the rooms, puzzling you slightly,   
 when from behind you comes the sound of a door slamming shut in the           
 distance. Then, another, closer--the doors behind you are shutting in         
 sequence! There are still several rooms between you and the stairway          
 ahead--can you make it to the stairway before the doors close on you, too,    
 leaving you to await a terrible fate?                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Iskandra Grendorre has posed.

"Tires you out, mostly. Overuse can lead to you feeling sluggish without them, but then we're talking serious overuse. No more than two doses per day or five doses a week is what I'd recommend. I do also have a strong draught for strength, enduring draught to make you tougher, and so on." Iskandra explains more about her buff potions, as they move on.

She's about to throw another flask of acid at the bones she spots, when she realizes that these skeletons aren't rising up, they're a sign of something worse. A trap. The doors close behind them, and she tosses both Rose and Jacqueline a swift draught, "Perfect time to get a hands-on experience with these, right?" She suggests as she bolts for the stairway.

DG: Iskandra Grendorre has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Shut the Door!.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        "So don't overuse them, gotcha,"

        Doors shut behind them. Rose frowns. On the other hand, this IS a good chance to try the potion. Without hesitation, Rose chugs one down, and then starts running on ahead. She's immediatly amazed by how much swifter she is - and Rose can already run incredibly fast to begin with. She reaches into her bag with one hand, grabbing hold of her grappling hook as she quickly determines it's the fastest way up.

        "Hang on, we don't need to use those stairs! We can reach the next level from here," she offers, spotting a broken down part of the ceiling right overhead. "That'll let us get behind whatever's trying to trap us if they think we'll go the way they want us to."

        The rope and hook go up, through the ceiling and latching onto something on the next floor up. Hopefully something heavy enough to support them climbing up, but with those swiftness potions it won't be hard.

DG: Rose has used her Tool Grappling Hook toward her party's challenge, Shut the Door!.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline listens as Iskandra explains about the swiftness potions. It was similar to her own Invigoration Elixirs...though with those, the only real risk was that you'd overwork yourself using them. She'd recently reworked the recipe, though - less taxing but less effective, though it carried a curative effect with it.

She is curious to test the effects of Iskandra's potions, however, so she takes one as recommended. Indeed, it helps her move quickly...

Alongside Rose's Grappling Hook Jacqueline draws her Crest and generate some stone pillars to give them a bit of a foothold to make climbing upward much easier.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, Shut the Door!.
=============================<* Haunted Library *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Shut the Door! *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You're traversing a series of small rooms, most likely once reading           
 chambers. The skeletal remains of what appear to be a group of Drifters like  
 yourselves lie against the wall of one of the rooms, puzzling you slightly,   
 when from behind you comes the sound of a door slamming shut in the           
 distance. Then, another, closer--the doors behind you are shutting in         
 sequence! There are still several rooms between you and the stairway          
 ahead--can you make it to the stairway before the doors close on you, too,    
 leaving you to await a terrible fate?                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
========================<* Haunted Library - Round 4 *>=========================
==========================< Results - Shut the Door! >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandra Grendorre                  15 --(5)--> 20                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   20 --(5)--> 25                 Pass
Rapid Remedy                        1   Agility Effects: Cleanse              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rose                                20 --(5)--> 25                 Pass
Grappling Hook                      2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Iskandra Grendorre          65 --(20)--> 85                Pass
Conditions: Fright(1)|Tire(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Iskandra Grendorre 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> Iskandra Grendorre has posed.

"Pretty much." Swift reactions, with or without alchemical enhancement allow the group to get a move on, and Rose's grappling hook gives them a further edge, especially with the stepping stones provided by Jacqueline. So without much delay, they find themselves a floor higher and the door shutting trap behind... below them. Iskandra sighs in relief as she looks around, trying to figure out what mess they've landed in now.

DG: Rose has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Haunted Library *>===============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - The Endless Stairs *>=======================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 The stairway up to the library tower is ahead. It stretches on seemingly      
 endlessly, doubtless due to some otherworldly weirdness. You'll have to       
 climb, and climb, and climb to the top. Some parts of the stairway have       
 collapsed - you'll need to leap across, or carefully edge your way up.        
                                                                               
 No one said this would be easy.                                               
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        Up one level. The party stops, and they can take a moment to look around. At the end of the hallway, the stairway continues up. Up above, the hole in the ceiling also continues on, as if someone had crashed through a dozen floors from the top one.

        "Well, looks like we could use the stairs... or keep climbing with ropes through this hole and hope it lets us avoid notice. Or guards. Personally I'm all for this." Not to mention that with the potions active, climbing is a breeze.

        Rose tosses the rope up several more levels, tugging to make sure it's secure, before she resumes climbing. "It'd be nice if this place was just empty all the way up..."

DG: Rose has used her Tool Grappling Hook toward her party's challenge, The Endless Stairs.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"That would be convenient, yes..." Jacqueline comments with a frown. Convenient, but would that really be the most fun or effective way to show off Iskandra's wares?

...Well, it'd be efficient, at least.

Jacqueline continues as she did before, creating footholds for the party to use as they climb up with Rose's Grappling Hook. And with Iskandra's potion still active, they don't have to worry about slowing down.

"I certainly hope there are some good books waiting for us...I haven't really seen any so far..." She comments.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, The Endless Stairs.
<Pose Tracker> Iskandra Grendorre has posed.

"Don't tempt fate." Iskandra comments on the suggestion that the place would be empty upstairs, using the provided grappling hook and her own residual effects of the potion to get her way up, wings also used to give her that little extra edge where necessary. She seems to be somewhat wary. "Or if not books, at least something valuable."

DG: Iskandra Grendorre has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Endless Stairs.
==============================<* Haunted Library *>===============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - The Endless Stairs *>=======================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 The stairway up to the library tower is ahead. It stretches on seemingly      
 endlessly, doubtless due to some otherworldly weirdness. You'll have to       
 climb, and climb, and climb to the top. Some parts of the stairway have       
 collapsed - you'll need to leap across, or carefully edge your way up.        
                                                                               
 No one said this would be easy.                                               
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
=========================<* Haunted Library - Round 5 *>==========================
=========================< Results - The Endless Stairs >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandra Grendorre                  20 --(20)--> 40                Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   25 --(5)--> 30                 Pass
Rapid Remedy                        1   Agility Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rose                                25 --(5)--> 30                 Pass
Grappling Hook                      2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Iskandra Grendorre          85 --(0)--> 85                 Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Iskandra Grendorre has passed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        Up, and up, and up.

        "Well yeah, I hope there's SOMETHING up there. Just... not something that's alive. Or undead. You know? Books. Not ghosts. Or skeletons. Or anything else." Wishful thinking, yes. And Iskandra's right, better not tempt fate.

        They reach the top floor. Iskandra is the last to climb the rope to the last floor. Rose makes the mistake of saying, "Heh, that was easy! Probably way easier than dealing with whoever's waiting for us at the top of those stairs!"

        Her rope breaks, and Iskandra falls! ... or would, if Rose and no doubt Jacqueline didn't quickly move to catch her by the arms.

        "Okay, we GET IT, building, you're haunted. Ugh."

DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Haunted Library *>=============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Grand Master *>======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 A ghostly man in fine robes sits, looking bored, at a table. Behind him is a  
 door. Lying in front of him is a key, and a chess board. He looks up at you   
 as you enter, smiling a sinister smile. If you wish to earn the key to the    
 door behind me, you must first defeat me at a game of chess, he says in a     
 sepulchral voice. He's had decades or centuries to study the game...dare you  
 face the Grand Master?                                                        
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Fortunately for Rose, ghosts aren't in the room waiting for them at the apex of the stairway, and in fact the library itself!

There is just ghost.

Singular.

He sits at a table, and separating the part from him is an ornate chess board, constructed of fine marble. It seems like it has seen much use over the years, and yet, at the same time, it looked completely pristine. It was as if you were seeing it from two time periods at the same time.

The man at the table is the same way - at one moment he appears to be a young man in regal-looking robes, and the next older, his clothes worn, ragged, and stained with blood from a knife buried into his chest.

"Welcome, guests, to my library..." He says, looking up from the chessboard. He sounds both youthful and wizened at the same time. "It has been many years since I have faced another in a battle of wits...and I grow tired of this unlife. Challenge me, and satisfy my boredom...and I shall bequeath unto you that which I have guarded and preserved all these years..."

Jacqueline glances toward the others and nods, before look back at the man.

"Is there a catch?" She asks, slightly suspicious, and his expression darkens.

"Only...your souls..." He says. He lets that fade a bit, before letting out a raspy chuckle.

"No, no...truthfully, it is nothing serious. Besides...I can see that yours have already been touched...I do not think I could take them if I tried..." He seems to be speaking more to Rose and Iskandra with that, than anything.

Jacqueline glances toward the others for a moment, then nods and takes a seat.

"Okay, let's play. Shall we take turns?" She asks.

"Do as you will...you can even work together, if you like." He replies.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Grand Master.
<Pose Tracker> Iskandra Grendorre has posed.

"Hello." Iskandra listens, and the 'do as you will' gets her going. She passes out flasks to Jacqueline and Rose, "These'll help us concentrate and should allow us to be more patient. Game like this, your worst opponent is your own impatience." She takes a sip of her own and then sits down, trying to conceive of a plan by which to get the board into a state of inevitable victory. "I think one of us should play, and the others only alert the player to anything really important. If we discuss our strategy out loud, we'll help him more than we'll help eachother."

DG: Iskandra Grendorre has used her Tool Alchemy Kit toward her party's challenge, The Grand Master.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        Rose is not onboard with this at all.

        Until...

        "WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY SOUL?!"
        She storms to the table. Slams her hands on the sides of the chessboard. "I will have you know that my soul is pure and untainted, thank you very much!" Touched. What an awful word!

        What did he mean anyway? She has no idea.
        Maybe it's this whole Squire business. Or, unbeknownst to her, it's the whole Dezel business. Probably both, really.

        "We'll beat you before you even know what's going on!"

        Rose moves a pawn forward without thinking.

        "THERE! Your move, mister chessmaster!!"

        This is a terrible plan. Do not let Rose play.
        Any other party present is a better, safer bet.

DG: Rose has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Grand Master.
============================<* Haunted Library *>=============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Grand Master *>======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 A ghostly man in fine robes sits, looking bored, at a table. Behind him is a  
 door. Lying in front of him is a key, and a chess board. He looks up at you   
 as you enter, smiling a sinister smile. If you wish to earn the key to the    
 door behind me, you must first defeat me at a game of chess, he says in a     
 sepulchral voice. He's had decades or centuries to study the game...dare you  
 face the Grand Master?                                                        
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
=======================<* Haunted Library - Round 6 *>========================
========================< Results - The Grand Master >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandra Grendorre                  40 --(5)--> 45                 Pass
Alchemy Kit                         2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   30 --(5)--> 35                 Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rose                                30 --(10)--> 40                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Iskandra Grendorre          85 --(35)--> 120               Pass
Conditions: Stupify(2)
Effects: Enlighten(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Iskandra Grendorre has successfully explored Haunted Library!
============================<* Haunted Library *>=============================
==================<* CHALLENGE - A Grimoire Most Magical *>===================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 As you defeat the final guardian of the library, the door behind swings       
 open, leading to a small chamber. Inside, carefully stored for preservation,  
 is a pristine tome: a grimoire of Symbology magics, many of which have        
 fallen out of general knowledge. This work will be very valuable to scholars  
 or collectors, but of course there's also the option of using it yourselves   
 to learn the techniques within. Either way, it is a very valuable discovery!  
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

The ghost gives an enigmatic chuckle when Rose complains about his choice of words, like any proper ghost would in that situation. He doesn't seem about to elaborate on what he meant, either...though it is very possible that Rose may have already landed on the answer herself.

And then, suddenly, Rose makes a move. The chessmaster raises an eyebrow.

"A bold move..." He observes. A bold move, but not a very good move - in fact it was a pretty awful one - but he seems to have manners enough not to say that out loud.

"Ah, Rose...yes, perhaps you should just keep an eye on the board? Just to make sure neither side cheats..." Jacqueline suggests.

It's not something they actually have to worry about, which gets her out of the way while she and Iskandra plot their moves against the chessmaster.

In the end, it's a very close match. It's hard to tell how much time passes, but in the end, the chessmaster looks over the board.

Minutes pass, as he considers his next move...but in the end he stands from the chair.

"...I concede." He says. If they study the arrangment, they can see why - there is no arrangement of moves that does not lead to an eventual checkmate of his king.

"You three did well...I shall give you what I have been protecting, as I have promised. I only ask that you not misuse it..."

As he speaks he fades away, until there is nothing left in his place but a memory.

A hidden door in the far end of the room slides open, revealing a pedestal. A book floats above it, encased in a sphere of sorcerous energy that keeps it perfectly preserved. As the party approaches it the sphere vanishes and the book drops slowly onto the pedestal.

"This is...a book on Symbology! And quite an old one, too..." Jacqueline murmurs. "Do either of you have any interest in Symbology?"

<Pose Tracker> Iskandra Grendorre has posed.

Iskandra seems satisfied when they're done, and takes one good look at the book. "Nope, but that looks valuable." She answers Jacqueline's question easily. "Sell it and split the proceeds between the three of us?" She suggests immediately after, after all, they earned this thing together, the lot of them.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

        Awful plays and corrections happen. Fortunately, one wrong move doesn't screw the party over too badly, and the other two can fix Rose's hasty mistake. The grandmaster disappears, and Rose huffs.

        "I just want to meet ONE ghost who's normal. One! Just, one!" Luck has not been on her side for that. Not at all.

        With the prize being a magical grimoire, Rose passes. "Not me. I don't think I could do it even if I wanted to, since I'm from Lunar. I'm fine with selling. The real prize today was seeing all those products in action, really! Now I don't have any qualms about selling them or sending people your way."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"I think being a ghost in and of itself requires you to be bit different than what one would generally consider 'normal'..." Jacqueline comments. She doesn't mean that in an insulting way!

Rose comments about not being able to use Symbology because she's from Lunar, and Jacqueline looks at her curiously for a moment.

"...You know, that's interesting. I don't think I actually know for sure whether or not people from Lunar can learn Symbology. That would be an interesting experiment some time...but this one probably isn't the best teacher for that. These symbols look a little...advanced..." Jacqueline comments, flipping through the pages carefully.

"But yes, I agree, I think we could get a good price out of this!" She says cheerfully.