2018-02-01: White Rabbit
- Log: White Rabbit
- Cast: Cyre H. Lorentz, Catenna, Ethius Hesiod, White Knight Leo, Jacqueline Barber
- Where: Ash Hare
- Date: February 1, 2018
- Summary: A White Knight's memories come to life in the depths of Ash Hare.
DG: That's not a valid party leader. DG: A party led by Cyre H. Lorentz is now entering Ash Hare. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================================<* Ash Hare *>================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Rockslide-Prone Path *>====================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
One might think that the first step is getting inside of Ash Hare, but they
would be mistaken. The first step is getting to the doors. The huge double
doors, composed of a solid grey-blue steel, have opened and have a light
teal glow coming from the many panel lines on them. Someone, it seems, has
already braved these hallways once.
Whoever it was left the rocky approach to the ruins in a ghastly state.
Explosions have carved huge craters out, making a pockmarked approach that
is dangerous in the extreme. The slightest misstep can send rocks tumbling
down, and a few boulders bounce down upon your approach, try as you might to
be careful.
But, at least, it won't be hard to get inside.
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Tire===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
It's not the first time Cyre's been down into the strange, mechanical abyss that is the Ash Hare. He really hoped that it'd be the only time, but what can you do when Ilia Silvestri-Kenny shows up and kicks your butt so hard that you're still tasting the high-end shoeleather. But then, if they didn't come back this way, they'd never find out what was hidden in its depths...!
More importantly, he's pretty sure that the moment it came out where he'd been, Ethius would immediately demand to go and investigate/set it all on fire.
That is probably exactly what happened here today.
Cyre glides gently down the steep, landslide-prone approach on his unfurled parachute. "Careful about the rocks," he warns as he descends from an altitude still well above most of the others. "I'll keep an eye out and give some advance warning, but intercepting anything that starts tumbling is a no-go unless we want to risk a landslide or something. So uh. Watch your step!"
They wouldn't want to get themselves injured before even entering the dungeon, right?
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Reverse Parachute toward his party's challenge, Rockslide-Prone Path.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna really doesn't feel comfortable in mechanical hellscapes. She lives in the forest, what do you want from her?
She has the help of a rope in picking her way up the cratered landscape, but even then, the footing is precarious and there seems to be no safe place to be. Before long, her hookhold comes loose and her rope goes slack. She lowers her eyelids, reeling it in, then grasping for a handhold the old-fashioned way, more inclined to test for solidity than to take a shortcut and risk a slide.
As Cyre glides above her, she presses her lips together and sighs, momentarily wishing she'd thought to wrap her legs around him and ride along on his magic kitty sheet.
"We will be careful," she calls back to the catboi even as she boosts herself up the next little way, feeling her way towards the top with considerable caution.
DG: Catenna has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rockslide-Prone Path.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
What happened with Ethius is exactly as Cyre describes. There was that loud quarterstaff butt slam, and then the simply-worded request that he be taken there immediately. There are bets running on the CaraKin that it will likely end with him wanting to set the place on fire, but it does seem the sort of thing that shouldn't be left unchecked.
Ethius takes stock of the damaged landscape, gaze not at all following the floating guide who gives sound advice about the approach. As he tends to be at his both best and his worst, Ethius is singularly-focused upon this place that teases a teal light from beyond its doors.
He navigates this with occasional drops into thin air to rest with help of the Hot Air Sack, moving off a given foothold and hovering for a while either to reaffirm that it is stable, or just try to drift to another part of the climb without losing too much time or altitude towards their ultimate goal.
Their ultimate goal... or his?
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Rockslide-Prone Path.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
The situation in Krosse has been deteriorating, rapidly. Leo has been very busy with his duties--at this point, they amount to 'desperately try to help King Krono see reason through the fog of paranoia', and 'try to keep Adlehyde afloat while Krosse does everything in its power to pretend the rest of the world does not exist'. Being the head of the Guard, he still has the freedom to move about, but he cannot, in good conscience, abandon these people to whatever madness has gripped them. He's been entertaining theories as to what it might be, and the most likely one terrifies him.
Still, the rest of the world isn't going to go away, no matter how badly King Krono wants it to, and it's been a while since Leo's taken the pulse of other potential threats. One of his people picked up a rumor about Drifters finally breaching a ruin that had been sealed for a good, long time. It might be a good opportunity to see how everyone is perceiving Krosse from the outside, and to try and gather data on what the Fiends are up to. (And if the Destroyer is behind what's happening in Krosse, so much the better.)
This is more or less the reasoning behind Leo's presence here, at Ash Hare. He is dressed in his 'Drifter disguise', which does very little to hide his identity, and brings up the rear of the little procession. "What even happened here?" the Beastman says, arching an eyebrow. A small landslide tumbles down the mountain face, as if to accentuate his point. Seeing Catenna's trouble, Leo steps forwards, inclining his head. "Allow me, madam," he says. He pulls out a length of knotted rope, twirls it for a bit to build momentum, and throws it. The hook catches on the lip of the doorway, and Leo tugs it to make sure it's secure. "After you," he says.
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED HERE, MISTER--" Leo realizes he's forgotten Cyre's name. "SHAMAN."
DG: White Knight Leo has used his Tool Rope Ladder toward his party's challenge, Rockslide-Prone Path.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
This was Jacqueline's first time here. She couldn't help but be curious about it. It deserved investigation, but at the same time she had heard rumors of this place that made her hesitant. There was danger here...but at the same time, those dangers spoke of potential, fantastic learnings.
It couldn't be ignored, but they would have to be careful.
Fortunately, it seems Cyre has been here before already. She looks out at the approach, and only one question comes to mind.
"...What...happened here...?" She murmurs, looking each way. It was like a great battle took place here, with all the craters... It made progression all the more perilous. She was hesitant to utilize her Crest Sorcery here, for fear of accidentally starting a chain reaction that would bring the entire mountainside down upon them.
...She's not the only who's asking that question, it turns out, as she sees a familiar stranger. She looks directly at Leo with a slight frown, but doesn't say anything.
Once Catenna has gone up Leo's Rope Ladder, Jacqueline moves to take advantage of it as well. Hey, why not?
"Thank you." She says with a slight nod toward him, before turning her attention back to the pathway ahead. They would need to be careful, with how precarious this pathway was...
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rockslide-Prone Path.
================================<* Ash Hare *>================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Rockslide-Prone Path *>====================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
One might think that the first step is getting inside of Ash Hare, but they
would be mistaken. The first step is getting to the doors. The huge double
doors, composed of a solid grey-blue steel, have opened and have a light
teal glow coming from the many panel lines on them. Someone, it seems, has
already braved these hallways once.
Whoever it was left the rocky approach to the ruins in a ghastly state.
Explosions have carved huge craters out, making a pockmarked approach that
is dangerous in the extreme. The slightest misstep can send rocks tumbling
down, and a few boulders bounce down upon your approach, try as you might to
be careful.
But, at least, it won't be hard to get inside.
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Tire===========================================
===========================<* Ash Hare - Round 1 *>=========================== ======================< Results - Rockslide-Prone Path >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Reverse Parachute 1 Agility Effects: Rally and Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ White Knight Leo 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Rope Ladder 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre has not forgotten Leo's name. In fact, Cyre is pretty sure that he's met that guy underneath those comically ineffective glasses before. Uh. Yeah. "Looks vaguely like someone blasted the landscape all to hell, doesn't it? I'd wager some of this was probably done by Gear and by explosive ARMs to try and get to the entryway. Or maybe just to try and force it open? Don't know! It's pretty dangerous though, huh?"
While Cyre has been... concerned about what's happening in Krosse, he's had quite frankly too many fires to put out recently to really pay all that much attention to it. But then... Well. At least those Althenians aren't Granasians, so it's not like he can really have too many problems with their weird moon heathenism. Also Leo seems like a pretty neat guy. Not... Particularly smart, maybe, but neat.
Fortunately, between the team's recent experience climbing precarious surfaces while being assaulted by a variety of birds, and Leo's ace hook-flinging skills, the entire team manages to make it to that strange light flooding out through the front door. Cyre touches down soon after the others, folding his parachute back up into its handy easy-release compartment. "Alright. Careful now. There are... Robots in here."
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================================================<* Ash Hare *>=====================================================
=======================================<* CHALLENGE - Matter Transference Maze *>=======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The next chamber that you enter ends abruptly on a large, railed catwalk.
Two shimmering teal tiles are on the floor ahead. The rest of the room is a
pit, dropping down into sheer darkness below. There are, however, catwalks
and islands spread across the room -- and one on the opposite side. Each has
one or more glowing tiles on it.
When stepped upon, the tiles teleport a person to another catwalk -- and
sometimes one across the room. Clearly, finding the way to the other end
will take trial and error, and a great deal of patience.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Bad Luck===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
A short ways in, the group takes a route that sees them through a series of hallways that are full of teal energy lines running through the walls. When they come out to the first open chamber their path takes them to, they see beneath them a yawning abyss without indicator of where the floor is... if there is any.
Every footstep echoes out from the catwalk before them as though they were walking on polished glass, with more undercurrents of teal running through as though they were conveying and delivering some sort of ancient energy.
Ethius, having taken point since Cyre mentioned 'robots,' stops before the very end of the catwalk, standing before a shimmering teal tile.
He gets out that little eyeglass he carries around. One Symbological electrical spell later, he brings the gently glowing item - its light is kind of a similar color to these mechanisms, come to think of it - as he looks upon it for a short while without commentary to study what it is he's seeing.
"That appears to be part of a series of connected devices." He stashes the eyeglass, and points upwards. "It is connected to another path much like this. In fact... it would appear a network of similar devices."
If one looks up... yup. Lots of them. Just as how the abyss below seems bottomless, the way above and around them, too, seems without end.
Where does this go, then?
"I do not yet see the way out." That is not the answer the narrative was looking for, Ethius. "But I can provide the connections that I have been able to gather from this vantage point." He steps forth on one of the tiles...
Disappears, and reappears on a different catwalk. It gives him a different vantage point to pull out the Spectral Lens and check again - should his lead be followed, or perhaps there might be another way yet to suss out the exact way to go?
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Matter Transference Maze.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna's had her anxieties about Leo and his faith, but that's not a matter for right now. He's being a nice man, after all. Smiling gently at the White Knight, the Shamanessoo of Celesdue begins to climb her way up.
"His name is Cyre," she murmurs, her voice low.
She does make it to the top - but the teal energy flickering through those tiles leaves her unsettled. All the moreso when she realizes what those tiles are supposed to do. The priestess pales a little as Ethius explains. "They simply move you?" she murmurs with a blink, already on edge.
Sinking to a knee, Catenna draws a few sticks of pungent incense from a pouch at her side, and lights them. The clarifying scent of it is only part of her plan, however.
She sets the incence on a flat part of the catwalk rail, where the smoke and the lit ember of the sticks can be seen. Then, gingerly, she steps onto one of the tiles.
When she reappears, she blinks a couple of times, disoriented - but soon enough, she's able to squint back from the catwalk and spot that flicker of smoke and subtle illumination in the distance.
"So I have come in a little further," she murmurs.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Ritual Incense toward her party's challenge, Matter Transference Maze.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Fortunately, there are no horrible bone-crushing avalanches! Jacqueline can take some appreciate this. They manage to make it to the facility itself, and Jacqueline takes a moment to look it over in awe. What kind of technology went into this place? What did those teal lines indicate?
These and more questions abound as they step out onto a catwalk, with a pair of teal tiles ahead of them. Ethius is focusing on one of them.
"Fascinating... She murmurs, folding her arms in front of her as she observes first Ethius, then Catenna, stepping into them and being teleported.
"The more I see devices like this, the more I wonder how they work... It would be a great boon, if we could figure it out..." She says. "Not to mention whatever power source is keeping it running after all these years..."
It's at this point that she decides to try it out for herself. She takes a step into the tile that Ethius had stepped into first, then takes a moment to study her new surroundings.
For the time being, she decided it was a good idea to stick with Ethius. He seemed to be good at this sort of thing, after all.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Matter Transference Maze.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre is all too willing to let Ethius take point. Last time he tried to take point, he tripped a security system and almost got everyone killed! Also there are robots in here. Cyre knows better than to get between Ethius and Robots.
That crazy Mecha Otaku.
But it is not a giant killer robot that greets them in the foyer, but instead a hallway filled with ominous, teal circuitry which criss-crosses all over as if they were making their way through the bowels of a massive computer system. And then they get to...
To...
...
"Oh hell," Cyre's nose wrankles. "It's one of these things."
"There's something similar in the Cage Tower," Cyre explains to Catenna. Ethius and Leo might remember those teleporter puzzles. Is there a connection? "The worst part is that there's no way to tell each one goes to without actually walking in yourself, and that's a good way to end up someplace you don't want to be. Best to stick together."
And so he does! By following Catenna along. Also she smells nice, that helps.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Matter Transference Maze.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
Leo studies the lines on the walls as the group makes their way inside. Are they some sort of decoration? Are they a map? What kind of sorcery is keeping them lit if this place has been sealed for thousands of years? Those are questions for another time.
"If I remember rightly," Leo says, "We ended up in a cell with a skeleton inside. This seems far stranger." Ethius steps onto the tile, and vanishes. Catenna does, too. Leo, however, steps onto the other tile, and reappears on another platform.
"Well, then," Leo says, once the momentary disorientation passes. Apparently that conjecture was correct! Once it's established, Leo starts trying to brute-force his way through the maze.
DG: White Knight Leo has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Matter Transference Maze.
=====================================================<* Ash Hare *>=====================================================
=======================================<* CHALLENGE - Matter Transference Maze *>=======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The next chamber that you enter ends abruptly on a large, railed catwalk.
Two shimmering teal tiles are on the floor ahead. The rest of the room is a
pit, dropping down into sheer darkness below. There are, however, catwalks
and islands spread across the room -- and one on the opposite side. Each has
one or more glowing tiles on it.
When stepped upon, the tiles teleport a person to another catwalk -- and
sometimes one across the room. Clearly, finding the way to the other end
will take trial and error, and a great deal of patience.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Bad Luck===========================================
================================================<* Ash Hare - Round 2 *>================================================ =========================================< Results - Matter Transference Maze >========================================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 8 --(5)--> 13 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 8 --(5)--> 13 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ White Knight Leo 8 --(5)--> 13 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 8 --(5)--> 13 Pass Ritual Incense 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 8 --(5)--> 13 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 15 --(20)--> 35 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Between Ethius being able to provide an accurate network of what tile appears to teleport where before one steps on them, and Catenna leaving incense trails to mark where everyone has been, it appears that it is but a trifle for them to make their way around. The wide, vast network of teleportation panels above their starting point is soon mapped out among them...
But there is something peculiar in play.
Ethius guides the party past a panel that he proclaims seems to lead back to the very beginning, and so that panel is ignored... until Leo decides his manner of brute-forcing involves jumping on the tile that should send him back to the very beginning.
Jay will notice immediately that he is not at the beginning at all. Cyre's superior hearing will pick up the sound of further footsteps below, once everyone else stops walking so he can hear it.
As it turns out, the arrangements of these catwalks are a clever ruse. The catwalk leading out is directly beneath the one they started. The entire network is arranged in such a way that one can never have a clear vantage point in which to see this. The whole arrangement exists just to keep eyes looking upward, to the skies - and never what's beneath.
And so, the gung ho barely-disguised White Knight Leo proves that sometimes, the best way forward is to just not think about it too hard.
DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================<* Ash Hare *>================================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - The Collapsing Wall *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- When you enter this hallway, the ubiquitous darkened panel lines light up. These ones, however, alight with a angry crimson glow. Then, the wall on the left side of the room shudders. The wall begins to advance forward -- and the hallway is far too long to flee. You need to stop it, somehow, through some manner of brute force, before it crushes you -- or forces an unintended retreat, into one of the darker parts of this labyrinth. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Treasure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Even with the incense trail, there's something about all this warping around that unsettles Catenna. Once she's done, she reaches out and takes Cyre's hand, squeezing firmly, as if to remind herself that, yes, the man she loves is solid.
She looks up at him, smiling mutedly.
Catenna presses on. A door slides open, admitting the group into another corridor lined with teal Tron lines. "That is unsettling too," Catenna mutters as she squints at the light on the wall. A few hatches can be made out in the wall to the group's right, and at the far end of the room, a container of some sorts sits, waiting for someone to open it. Hand at her sword, Catenna moves forward.
After she takes two steps, there's a low, mechanical buzzer sound from somewhere overhead -- and the wall lines switch to red.
"What on Filgaia," Catenna begins, before gasping at the sound of masonry grinding on masonry - as the wall to the team's left begins to slide forward inexorably.
Quickly, the Shamaness snaps a glance to the left and to the right - too far to run. She clenches her teeth and smacks her palms against the wall, then plants her shoulder, trying in vain to shove it back with what little strength she has. "We have to stop it," she groans. "Quickly--!"
DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Collapsing Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The path ahead...was located at the very beginning? Jacqueline can't help but chuckle slightly at that. It was pretty clever, actually, but now that they're back on the right path she moves on.
They find themselves walking through another corridor, once that's dealt with. Jacqueline eyes the container at the end of the hallway...but quickly reaches for a Crest from her pouch upon hearing a buzzer.
The lines on the wall become an angry crimson...and so in response, Jacqueline draws out some bottles containing liquid of a similar color. She hurls them to the others, hoping to provide them with a bit more physical strength. And then...
"Understood!" Jacqueline invokes her Crest. A pillar of earth rockets outward, attempting to slam into the wall and force it back...or at least slow it down long enough for them to get through safely.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, The Collapsing Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre is solid. He's still here, in spite of being trapped in a devious teleporter maze. He gives Catenna's hand a gentle squeeze and her look a lackadaisical smile as if to say 'don't worry about it, we'll be fine!'
And they will be fine.
Provided they don't also get pancaked.
"Damnit, trap walls!" Cyre growls, snatching Jacqueline's vial out of the air and swiftly knocking it back. Heat and strength flood through his limbs. Once again, it turns out that drugs are actually a pretty effective digger tool...!
An assembly of blazing rings of light lensing into being around his fist. Energy pours out of the array, forming into what is essentially a spinning drill of pure energy. Cyre yells as he drives it into the flat end of the wall, hoping to at the very least carve out a large enough niche for the team to maybe escape into and avoid being crushed.
Nobody wants to be a digger pancake.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre is solid. He's still here, in spite of being trapped in a devious teleporter maze. He gives Catenna's hand a gentle squeeze and her look a lackadaisical smile as if to say 'don't worry about it, we'll be fine!'
And they will be fine.
Provided they don't also get pancaked.
"Damnit, trap walls!" Cyre growls, snatching Jacqueline's vial out of the air and swiftly knocking it back. Heat and strength flood through his limbs. Once again, it turns out that drugs are actually a pretty effective digger tool...! Power blazes around the shaman, igniting the censer at his hip as the power of The Sky Guardian surges into the world.
There's smoke. It smells nice. Hooray shady Baskar herbs!
An assembly of blazing rings of light lensing into being around his fist. Energy pours out of the array, forming into what is essentially a spinning drill of pure energy. Cyre yells as he drives it into the flat end of the wall, hoping to at the very least carve out a large enough niche for the team to maybe escape into and avoid being crushed.
Nobody wants to be a digger pancake.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, The Collapsing Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
'What on Filgaia,' are Catenna's exclamations as the panels come to light of a less foreboding, far more dangerous color and start moving towards them in unison. Ethius brings a hand to his forehead, just... standing there DURING A TIME WHERE THERE'S NO TIME TO STAND AROUND OR CONTEMPLATE THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING SQUISHED.
He's dwelling on Catenna's words, of all things, as though they were more important than the immediate situation... but his eyes aren't idle. He subconsciously walks towards the left as he sizes up the moving wall. The invigorating scents of Cyre's and Jacqueline's potent mixtures fill the air, but he pays them little mind. Entire intricacices about the hows and whys of the way the wall rattles and moves, all the way down to the tiniest eccentricities that might yet suggest the wall is not a singular solid segment...
He takes his quarterstaff in both hands as he picks out a section of wall, lunging at it with a precision thrust in which to transfer all his physical strength into...
"Far Point!"
If he has 'read' the wall correctly, he hopes to strike out an opening with just one good, hard strike.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Collapsing Wall.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
Once he's gotten his bearings again, Leo takes a moment to peer into the corridor on the other end of the maze, checking for sunlight beyond. He nods, allows himself a satisfied little smirk, and gestures up at the rest of the party. "Down here," he says. "The people who built this labyrinth were clever, but not clever enough." The rest of the group appears. Leo waits, graciously, until everyone is here, and proceeds. He takes a moment to just look at the strange self-opening door, and almost gets caught on the other side when it slams shut.
"A most disconcerting welcome," Leo says, his eyes narrowing as red light bathes the corridor. He can feel the rumbling around them before he hears it, and his lips pull back to reveal pointed canines. "They're trying to crush us, now!" Leo braces his feet against the floor and presses his shoulder against the wall. The smoke from Cyre's incense wafts up towards him, and he coughs, momentarily disrupting his plan to just shove back against the crushing mechanisms with all his strength. He's back at it a moment later, though--with one small change. Leo thrusts out a hand, palm up, and raises it, as if beckoning something to rise. More earth pillars rise from nothing, hopefully slowing the crushing walls even further--or stopping them in their tracks.
DG: White Knight Leo has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Collapsing Wall.
==================================<* Ash Hare *>================================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - The Collapsing Wall *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- When you enter this hallway, the ubiquitous darkened panel lines light up. These ones, however, alight with a angry crimson glow. Then, the wall on the left side of the room shudders. The wall begins to advance forward -- and the hallway is far too long to flee. You need to stop it, somehow, through some manner of brute force, before it crushes you -- or forces an unintended retreat, into one of the darker parts of this labyrinth. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Treasure=========================================
=============================<* Ash Hare - Round 3 *>============================= ========================< Results - The Collapsing Wall >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 13 --(5)--> 18 Pass Invigorating Vapors 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 13 --(5)--> 18 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- White Knight Leo 13 --(10)--> 23 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 13 --(5)--> 18 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 13 --(5)--> 18 Pass Brewte Force 1 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 35 --(25)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Treasure(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz 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> Catenna has posed.
The wall grinds forward inexorably - and there are only five members of the party to stop it.
They happen to be among the most skilled explorers on the planet. Jacqueline calls forth the earth; grinding rock screeches against the bizarre metal and masonry of the approaching wall, and its advance slows. Cyre pounds into the wall, caving in part of the masonry. Ethius, meanwhile, smashes the wall, not making an opening, but denting and warping part of the wall. Something catches; it shudders, and there's a metallic squeal as something tries to move forward, but can't.
Leo and Catenna have the simple expedient of just shouldering it - until Leo hurls more stone into the wall. More of the metal and stone wall edge buckles and warps. Again something groans in protest - and the wall lurches to a halt.
Behind it, something can be heard clicking and chugging repeatedly. Then there's a loud popping sound, like a huge spring flying loose, followed by the sound of several metal things hitting a stone floor and bouncing. The wall sags a little but moves no further.
Exhaling, Catenna looks around at the others. "Goodness," she murmurs as she hustles down the corridor to the container and pops it open.
> Found Melange Gel x5
With a blink, Catenna shrugs, then pops one.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Ash Hare *>================================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Connecting the Conduit *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The room you enter has a ceiling twice as high as most of the rooms inside
of here. Three doors stand on the opposite side of the room, and all are
slammed shut. The panel lines, no matter what you try, are all darkened.
However, the center of the room has something notable. On the floor, there
is a large depression, with three deep holes.
On the ceiling, there is a massive pylon, which ends in three gold-plated
spikes that would fit in the holes. The pylon bobs, slightly, held by some
manner of invisible force. Those seem to be projected from glowing teal orbs
on the wall. The pylon hovers in midair. If you can connect it, you might be
able to restore power to the doors across from you -- and proceed deeper.
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline takes a moment to assess everyone's condition. They seemed to be taking this at a fairly good pace...it didn't seem like anyone was too exhausted, but locating a stock of extra curatives certainly helped.
She nods quietly to herself than moves onward, into a room with a rather high ceiling. Unlike the rest of the rooms here, the lines...well, lining this room are all darkened, indicating a lack of...something.
Jacqueline's not quite sure yet what that 'something' is, but the lines seem to connect with a set of three closed doors on the opposite end of the room...as well as a depression in the middle, featuring three holes - one each for the three gold-plated spikes on the massive pylon above them.
But how to lower it...?
Murmuring to herself Jacqueline moves over to side of the room, to one of the glowing teal orbs that lined the walls. She starts to reach out for it, but reconsiders and reaches into her bags for something. It appears to be a small slip of something, that she holds out to the orb.
The slip reacts pretty quickly, blackening and falling away.
"...They're hot. Try not to touch them directly." She comments, then studies it pensively. Hmm...how to approach this...
Jacqueline reaches into her bags for a bottle of Haywire Draught, and very carefully pours some on the orb, to see if it reacts.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, Connecting the Conduit.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
What does 'melange' even taste like, anyway?
Some kind of... mixture of melon and orange...?
Well, whatever. It's tasty and curative for a lot of ails, that's all that matters.
Onwards! The party finds their way to a room that Cyre finds oddly familiar. Wasn't there someplace in the Ordeal that had something similar...? That's right. He had to do Leon's homework every so often, so this kind of thing... Hm.
"I bet they're energy sources," Cyre muses, setting his still-smoldering incense censer to the side. He drops into a squat, peering inquisitively at the orbs and the lines and the raised platform. He makes a few curious noises, and then concludes:
"Don't see any switches. I say we pull it down by force. Maybe a bit of muscle power and a little gravity might do the trick...?"
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, Connecting the Conduit.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
There's so much teal. Catenna chews on her Melange Gel in a slightly surly fashion.
And then there's no teal except the orbs on the wall. With a frown, Catenna brushes back a lock of her hair, taking a look from door to door. As Jay indicates the orbs, though, Catenna blinks and looks over to them.
She crosses her arms beneath the curve of her chest. "It seems like an oddly-designed lock, if all that is required is to smash some orbs," she murmurs. "There must be some trick to it."
Nevertheless, Cyre's suggestion is well-taken. The Shamaness steps back; she doesn't smash any Orbs because Catenna's just not a smasher. Instead, she sets up station near those three gaps in the floor and lifts her hands towards that hovering pylon.
Beginning to chant an invocation to Celesdue in Zortroan, Catenna lets the arcana flow. The grip of gravity seizes the pylon. Working against the charge of the orbs, Catenna begins to drag it steadily downward, though that charge will probably decrease as party members get to orb-breaking. She's aiming to guide the pylon more quickly to the holes.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius lingers in the long hallway for a bit longer. The item(s) of interest - some Melange Gels - is as far as it goes in terms of having anything interesting in there. He hasn't tried to intercept Catenna to see what she's holding, or... much of anything, yet. Usually in places like this, Ethius becomes much more hands-on and bossy about what people touch, where people go, who goes... he's been somewhat more cooperative than usual?
Maybe he hit his head at some point and nobody noticed. He sure does that a lot.
When he has it in him to rejoin the rest, he watches Jay test the temperature of the air near the orbs before deciding to just dump one of her mixtures on it.
"I believe Miss Jay has the right of it." He says as he is staring directly at the pylon suspended above. He seems to have a plan in mind already, but yet he can't quite bring it out in the open because... why? What benefit is there to keeping them in the dark? Does he know what's inside? That can't be right. He is certain he has not been here prior.
It seems that Cyre zeroes in on what his true thought lies upon - the pylon. Ethius knows that he doesn't need it to come all the way down. A small tugging feeling reminds him that he should take a step back from Catenna's handiwork to give her Celesdue-granted gravitational powers ample space.
He looks about the room once more to get a better stock of what everyone's doing before he contributes anything meaningful on his part - a Symbological spell to shoot electricity into the pylon and hope it can reach far enough from there to spark into the holes to activate the mechanism.
...Activate, or destroy?
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Connecting the Conduit.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
Leo rolls his right shoulder a little. It's not quite hurt, but it did not like being slammed up against a hard metal wall. Still, everyone's alive, and that counts for a lot in a ruin like this.
"What manner of sorcery is this?" Leo says, as he stops to inspect the pylon. It's a little telling that he seems more concerned by the 'what' than by the 'sorcery'. To his eyes, it's some sort of floating thing that's standing in the middle of the room for no clear reason, supported by the orbs.
"Well then," Leo says, as blackened bits of ash fall to the floor. "Allow me." The Beastman unsheathes his sword, raises it, and brings it down on the strange teal orb in a single, mighty strike. He's not trying to simply hit the thing with his weapon, as that would be crude and unswordsmanlike, but to cut clear through it.
DG: White Knight Leo has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Connecting the Conduit. DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Connecting the Conduit.
================================<* Ash Hare *>================================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Connecting the Conduit *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The room you enter has a ceiling twice as high as most of the rooms inside
of here. Three doors stand on the opposite side of the room, and all are
slammed shut. The panel lines, no matter what you try, are all darkened.
However, the center of the room has something notable. On the floor, there
is a large depression, with three deep holes.
On the ceiling, there is a massive pylon, which ends in three gold-plated
spikes that would fit in the holes. The pylon bobs, slightly, held by some
manner of invisible force. Those seem to be projected from glowing teal orbs
on the wall. The pylon hovers in midair. If you can connect it, you might be
able to restore power to the doors across from you -- and proceed deeper.
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret, Tire=============================================
===========================<* Ash Hare - Round 4 *>=========================== =====================< Results - Connecting the Conduit >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 18 --(5)--> 23 Pass Invigorating Vapors 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 18 --(5)--> 23 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ White Knight Leo 23 --(10)--> 33 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 18 --(5)--> 23 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 18 --(5)--> 23 Pass Brewte Force 1 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Secret(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz 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.
Jacqueline watches as the orb's light begins to flicker and fade...and then steps aside as Leo moves in with his sword drawn and brings it down on the orb. It's not as clean a cut as he might've liked, but all the same the orb falls apart. This will make Catenna's job that much easier as she invokes the power of Celesdue, dragging it downward the power of gravity. Cyre goes to ease the spikes into the proper slots...
...But just before they're inserted, Ethius sends a jolt of electricty into the mechanism.
It's hard to tell what's responsible, the pylon being inserted or Ethius's Symbology, but either way the three doors begin to open.
In a slightly malfunctional fashion, but they open nonetheless.
DG: White Knight Leo has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================<* Ash Hare *>=================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Memory Analysis Spike *>=====================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The next door leads into a medical facility. Rows of empty sickbeds can be
found here, with cabinets, chairs, and consoles that doctors were meant to
use. A large storage closet is located in the back of the room. Robotic
arms, containing a variety of medical tools, hang from the ceiling -- likely
meant to assist in caring for the patients here. The entire room is spotless
and seemingly unused, though eerily clean. Even thousands of years later,
this room has stayed sterile.
As you enter, though, one of your party is quite unfortunate. A large arm
swings down and slams a lengthy syringe directly into one of your necks.
Lights on the arm begin to pulse -- and the afflicted person has the strange
and terrifying sensation of having their memories activated, bringing to
mind particular individuals of import from their background. Lights on the
arm flash, and a beeping can be heard from it -- and from a station on the
wall.
The arm needs to be removed, quickly but carefully. While the syringe is not
lethal, it could be disastrous if the arm is removed carelessly.
OOC: It is strongly recommended that the person who is stabbed GM the next
card.
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Injure======================================
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
The door slides open, and light from within filters into the room. So does a strange, acrid chemical odor, which makes Leo frown and wrinkle his nose. "Is this a barracks?" he says, as he takes a step towards the door, his blade still in his hands. "It smells like nowhere I'd want to spend the night." Leo starts walking into the room, now, glancing around at the strange labels on the cabinetry--labels in a language no one here would recognize.
"I suppose we can turn around," Leo continues, as he spins on a heel to look back at the others. A low whirr emanates from somewhere above, and he turns to look, glancing about. "What was--"
A panel in the ceiling above Leo slides open, and a pair of segmented arms emerge from within, closing three-tined claws around the Beastman's shoulders. A third goes for the back of his head. "UNHAND ME!" Leo bellows, pulling against the restraining claws with all his strength. He doesn't notice the fourth arm as it zeroes in on him with robotic precision. The claw holding his head tightens, and the ones holding his shoulders push down, firmly. The needle strikes the target zone at the back of his brainstem. A pinprick of pain, and then everything starts to go wrong.
'Unhand me!' Leo tries to say, but his mouth does not move. His eyes flick back and forth, scanning the room and the 'fellow Drifters'. He can't move anything else. His sword falls from numb fingers, and clatters to the floor. Memories start to bubble up, unbidden, as though this vile machine were rooting carelessly through his innermost thoughts--
No. Deliberately.
Memories.
He's looking over the Destiny's railing at a young man with short brown hair and some sort of strange pink cat-thing perched on his shoulder. "My name is Hiro, and this is Ruby! Identify yourself!"
Leo wants to laugh at the audacity--the sheer improbability--but this is too serious. He takes a step forwards, puts a hand on the railing, looks down. "Certainly," he says. He might as well humor the lad a little before he instructs him to leave the area.
Deeper.
He's looking down at a man, who is lying against a building wall like a sack of garbage. The air smells of cheap liquor, rot, and far less socially-acceptable things. For a moment, Leo wonders if this is a sick practical joke--if the man he spoke with gave him the whereabouts of some beggar instead of the man he's looking for. Then the man looks up at him. His face is still flushed, but Leo recognizes it, instantly, and something in his heart pulls tight at the sight of it.
"Ronfar?"
Deeper still.
He's ten years old, walking through the corn maze some of the neighbors made for all the village children. He can hear his sister sobbing, and he knows she's nearby, but he can't find her. "Mauri!" he shouts. "I'm almost there, I'll find you! I promise!" Leo turns one corner, then another, then another. He doubles back, takes another intersection, follows the sounds. He turns one last corner, and there's Mauri, sitting on the ground. "There you are."
"I got lost," Mauri says. She rubs tears from her eyes and tries to pretend she wasn't crying moments ago. "Its it night? Mama and Papa will--"
"I'll get you home, Mauri," Leo says. "And then we can have some cider. Squire's honor."
DG: White Knight Leo has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Memory Analysis Spike.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
There is a certain smell that comes with medical sterility. Something faintly chemical, yet overpowering in its absence of the sorts of thing Catenna normally associates with air. No scent of the forest on the wind; no smell of grass, or water, or sand. Just artificial things.
It makes her sick.
Growing pale, the priestess takes a slow step after Leo, but soon falls back to hang closer to Cyre. She doesn't let it show in her face beyond that subtle loss of colour in her cheeks.
Cyre knows her well enough by now that the tension in her shoulders and the haunted look in her eyes probably betray her. Catenna is afraid of this room and she is trying very hard not to let others see that fear made manifest, no matter how much she wants to run away.
A fear only amplified as that arm comes down, powered by nothing natural. Catenna's eyes widen, and she recoils from it - before it shares Althena's noble knight, and injects him in a place no one should ever be injected.
"Abishap," she hisses under her breath as she darts forward. Laying her hands on the mechanical arm, she stares along it - and realising just where the needle is entering Leo. A visible shudder rolls through her as she processes it, with no small amount of horror.
But Leo needs help. She will have time to have nightmares about this place later. "There must be a way to turn it off," she murmurs as she attempts to grip the arm and begin to ease it backwards, trying to find some kind of button to make it do what she wants it to do.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre recognizes this place for what it is the moment he hears that telltale whirr. "Damnit, everyone, watch your necks--!" Too late. The robotic arms seize around Althena's legendary White Knight. By the time the shaman is in motion, that dreadful spike has already plunged itself deep into Leo's brainstem.
"Damnit, damnit, I should have known we were getting close," Cyre seethes and goes to lift his censer closer to Leo's face. He might be immobile, but he can still breathe. "Come on, you big lug. Breathe deep. Find yourself. We need you intact for this."
'This?'
What's 'this?'
"I don't know what this thing's going to do, but if it replicated Claude's--" phenomenally womanly-- "dad, then I can only imagine what it'll do to someone from the moon. We need to get that spike out of there fast."
Beat.
"No setting it on fire until AFTER we extract the bit!"
More of those arcane arrays form, materializing in the air around the robotic arms. It looks like... He's trying to cut through whatever actuator is forcing the arm forward. At least then, if they can weaken it, they might be able to ease it out...!
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, Memory Analysis Spike.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"No, it smells more like...a medical facility." Jacqueline replies, shaking her head. It was a familiar smell to her. She gives the place a quick look over...but before any of them can react, a claw has emerged, grasping Leo and injecting something into his neck.
"A-ah!" Jacqueline lets out a gasp of surprise, then quickly begins rooting through her bags.
"We have to remove that arm, quickly! I don't know what it's injected him with, but there has to be something in here to neutralize it..." She murmurs to herself, drawing out several portions and setting them on a nearby counter. There are also a number of 'Brewte Force' potions set out, for people to take as they please.
"As for the arm itself...well, um...try not to jerk it out too quickly, you might end up, um...rupturing something." She says. And that would likely not end well for Leo.
"Right. You all see if you can't remove it manually. I imagine there has to be an emergency stop somewhere..." Jacqueline murmurs, heading over to the station on the wall and looking it over intently.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, Memory Analysis Spike.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius steps in closely after the White Knight. The others might notice - he seems a bit more animated once he's able to see what lies beyond. He's following their Lunarian 'fellow Drifter' almost uncomfortably close.
"Yes." Ethius replies, flatly, to the idea that they turn around - but his eyes track upwards moments before the mechanical sounds emanate - and the segmented arms come too fast even as Ethius tries to grab Leo's upper arm.
One of the segmented arms' 'elbows' conks Ethius right in the head, sending him to a kneel and a wince as the equipment starts its work on the ensnared Beastman. The mysterious Symbologist shakes his head, narrows his eyes, and stands up again as he rests a hand upon that fourth arm.
The other swings outward to the rest as if to say 'wait!!'
Resting that other hand already on that fourth arm with the needle, he's already finding himself discarding the obvious options. He can't melt it, it might heat the mixture in the syringe to dangerous or explosive results. Electrifying it is similarly out, it would electrocute him. Cramming it full of dust... same issue.
He doesn't look Cyre in the eye as he explains what's going on - let alone when he chides him.
"Mister Cyre, what do you take me for?" He says as he pulls his glove off of his left hand, and crouches again to allow both Cyre and Catenna room to get to work in their own ways. For his part, he inches closer in a kneel, using his gloved right hand to hold the needle-bearing arm steady as his free hand...
Inwardly, one would imagine they would curse not having a specific set of tools on hand, like anything Shalune might carry. He knows there's a reason why he doesn't, and that the inconvenience will not stop him.
With his ungloved left hand, he moves to try and disassemble one of the joints by hand so that he can pull the needle out once the surrounding frame is no longer connected to the rest of the arm that dictates its elevation and movement - if he can get fingers around anything able to be pried loose, the rest should soon follow.
"Please hold them steady." He seems strangely... calm, about all this, even if he might not find anything to yet grip.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Memory Analysis Spike. DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Memory Analysis Spike.
=================================<* Ash Hare *>=================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Memory Analysis Spike *>=====================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The next door leads into a medical facility. Rows of empty sickbeds can be
found here, with cabinets, chairs, and consoles that doctors were meant to
use. A large storage closet is located in the back of the room. Robotic
arms, containing a variety of medical tools, hang from the ceiling -- likely
meant to assist in caring for the patients here. The entire room is spotless
and seemingly unused, though eerily clean. Even thousands of years later,
this room has stayed sterile.
As you enter, though, one of your party is quite unfortunate. A large arm
swings down and slams a lengthy syringe directly into one of your necks.
Lights on the arm begin to pulse -- and the afflicted person has the strange
and terrifying sensation of having their memories activated, bringing to
mind particular individuals of import from their background. Lights on the
arm flash, and a beeping can be heard from it -- and from a station on the
wall.
The arm needs to be removed, quickly but carefully. While the syringe is not
lethal, it could be disastrous if the arm is removed carelessly.
OOC: It is strongly recommended that the person who is stabbed GM the next
card.
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Injure======================================
============================<* Ash Hare - Round 5 *>============================ ======================< Results - Memory Analysis Spike >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 23 --(5)--> 28 Pass Invigorating Vapors 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 23 --(5)--> 28 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- White Knight Leo 33 --(5)--> 38 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 23 --(10)--> 33 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 23 --(10)--> 33 Fail Brewte Force 1 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 80 --(0)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Overzealous(2)|Secret(1) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz 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. DG: White Knight Leo has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================<* Ash Hare *>=================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Second Stage Einherjar *>====================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The arm is removed, but the danger has not yet passed.
A large panel in the wall opens and mist spills out. A humanoid form steps
forward, silhouetted by the mist, and it lurches and shakes. It is slate
grey and color, and featureless -- but the unmistakable look of musculature
can be seen underneath its skin. This is something organic, yet not quite
natural. It looks up, and looks directly at the one who had been spiked.
And then, dark purple lines of circuitry light up across its body in
intricate patterns. Its flesh twists and shifts, forming a mockery of a
person remembered by the individual struck by the spike. In silhouette, they
resemble them -- and inky black and purple Ether form, creating weapons and
magics that might resemble how this remembered person would have fought. The
simulacrum opens its mouth, and screams a wordless cry.
Then, it leaps in to ravage and attack.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
Leo would demand to know what needs to be set on fire, what is at risk of being ruptured, and--simply put--what the hell is going on. He can't. He's lost in some sort of hazy nowhere-place; memories flicker across the present, one after another, as the vile machine rifles through his life's experiences. Cyre swings the censer in front of him, and this time, Leo manages not to cough--it helps that he's not fully there right now. Catenna finds out that the arm is terribly strong, while Jay tries to make sense of a terminal in a language she doesn't understand. Ethius and Cyre make headway on the arm, bit by bit, with Cyre's lasers cutting through actuators and Ethius disassembling the main mechanism piece by piece. It's terribly sophisticated. It should be troubling that Ethius knows how to do it at all.
Deeper.
He's five years old, and knocking on a door in his family's home. His parents offered the spare room to a knight who was on his way to Pentagulia on pilgrimage, and Leo decided it would be best to show their guest some hospitality. After a moment, the door opens--standing in the doorway is a tall, broad-shouldered man with blonde hair and a full beard and moustache. Even unarmored, his bearing is proud and regal. He is very much like the knights Leo has idolized ever since he knew what a knight was.
"Yes?" says the man. Leo smiles, earnestly, and sets down the bucket he carried all the way from the well. A moment later, he pulls an apple out of his tunic pocket, and offers that to the man as well.
"This is from our well, and this is from our orchard. They're for you."
The man looks down at him. A small, faint smile dawns on his face. "You're a good lad," he says. "what's your name?"
"I'm Leo, sir. What's your name--?"
The needle comes free after what feels like an eternity. The memory retreats into the depths of Leo's mind. He almost collapses from the shock of it, but he plants a boot heel on the floor to catch himself. His eyes are almost perfectly round, and his ears are flattened back. He sways unsteadily as he reaches for his sword. A panel on the wall hisses open. Leo whirls to face it, a thin trickle of blood dripping down the back of his neck. Mist surges into the room, and in the center, something humanoid but shapeless, inchoate. As Leo watches, that circuitry crawls across its flesh, and it starts to take shape. It grows taller, its shoulders widening, its body gaining muscle definition. Its features reshape themselves like wax, forming the face of a stern-looking man with an immaculately-groomed beard. It reaches out a hand, and a sword crackles into existence from the violet energy around it.
Leo recoils in horror. "You're dead," he breathes. The duplicate leaps for him, striking with a mighty two-handed swing that Leo barely keeps from decapitating him. He stumbles back, a cut on his shoulder joining the pinprick on his neck--he falls back against one of the medical cabinets as the simulacrum whirls on the others, sweeping its blade and shrieking wordlessly. Waves of horrible energy wash up from the floor.
Its technique is very much like Leo's.
DG: White Knight Leo has used his Tool Leo's Goods toward his party's challenge, Second Stage Einherjar.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna can't figure out the arm to safe her life. Too much of her mind is consumed by the horror of this situation. She may have misgivings about Leo, but no one deserves to suffer this kind of torment. "Abishap," she whispers again, her eyes wide as she steps back, watching wide-eyed as Cyre and Ethius handle it.
When the needle does finally come free, Catenna darts forward a little to try and help - though she has no idea how to help. And indeed, that mist is rippling in.
And as she looks up, from it emerges an abomination - and Jay and Cyre and Ethius will hear something they would not normally hear.
Catenna lets out a startled scream that lasts about half a second before she catches herself, cupping her hands to her mouth and just staring at the shapeless mass of inhumanity. A thing that should not live. A thing that does not live.
A twisted doll, animating itself into the semblance of a man, as though mocking the very idea of human life.
As Leo tumbles backwards, Catenna's close enough to him that the shadowy figure rounds on the Shamaness. Only instinctive responses to danger enable Catenna to draw her short sword in time - and even then, it's simply no contest. Pale-faced and wide-eyed and adequate with a sword but nowhere close to Althena's White Knight in her skill, Catenna manages to parry a couple of strokes before the bearded swordsman steps in, swats her weapon aside, then swings back and slams her across the chest with the flat of his larger sword. With a yelp, Catenna hits the ground and rolls, clawing her way back to one knee with a wince of pain. Blood runs from a wound across her shoulder and collar.
She reverses her sword and levels her right hand. "Iruacan chadani," she calls out, her voice peaking a little more than usual as a spark of panic surges through. Gravity wells above the inhuman figure; she struggles to focus on her spell even as she attempts to hurl the "man" off his feet and slam him into wherever the ceiling is.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, Second Stage Einherjar.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"There has to be something..." Jacqueline murmurs, looking through the terminal. She can't be too reckless with this, for all she knows one of the options would be fatal for Leo. She's seen the kind of technology that goes into these places, she wouldn't put it past them.
Before she can figure anything out, the process ends abruptly, and a panel on the wall hisses open.
"...What in the world...?" Jacqueline murmurs, backpedaling away from the panel as the thing starts to take on a humanoid form. Jacqueline glances toward Leo as he speaks, but she can't focus on those words for long - the figure before them sweeps his blade out in a dangerous arc, capable of cleaving a man in two.
It only narrowly misses Jacqueline and she pales, taking a deep breath.
She quickly begins rummaging through her bags as she seeks to put as much different between herself and that figure as possible. She can tell by the way he moves that she's no match at close distance. If he gets close, there's no way she can survive...
So, once she's far enough away, she hurls a bottle of black liquid at him. She doesn't expect the repellant to have much effect on him, which is why it's soon followed up by the invocation of a Crest - the bottle she threw glows an angry red before detonating in a fiery explosion right at the figure's feet, hopefully splattering it with flaming liquid and molten glass as well.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Reliable Repellant toward her party's challenge, Second Stage Einherjar.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius' work is methodical. Any small interlocking piece is not given much time to contemplate whether it is something that can, or should be pulled off. He just does. He just does it in the same way he might decide to destroy a precious cultural artifact or take another life. He does this seemingly numb to the abject terror and uncertainty that washes over Catenna nearby. Once it comes to a point that the needle can be safely pulled out, he makes sure Leo is secured by someone before he sees to its safe removal...
And then throws what he has into the ground with ear-splitting clatters. He was originally hoping to keep it in a neat pile for later disposal, but there's that hiss from the wall that sees him hold out his ungloved palm like one might a loaded gun. He voices some sort of protest to Leo's sudden movement, but it is lost to the grisly assembly that happens before their very eyes.
The abomination of a... knight, of some kind? No, it doesn't matter who it's supposed to be. He brings up his quarterstaff in a defensive posture to try and catch the sword swing before it can get much momentum behind it.
The creature's strength and speed prevail, flinging Ethius across the length of the room. A bolted surgical table catches him, taking the air out of his lungs as his upper back crashes against hard metal. His quarterstaff snaps in two from the deep incision made by the two-handed sword. Blood seeps from his forehead.
His gloved hand slaps against it to stop even a single drop from hitting the floor. He can't fight something like this head on. With his ungloved hand, he grabs a satchel from his belt and starts to speak the proper syllables. It takes some doing for him to do the proper hand movements with his other hand while trying to press against the wound, but the urgency of it ensures he can flex his fingers the correct way, bend the wrist in the directions it needs to, to complete that prerequisite.
Lights form around the visible tattoos on his forearms, the air, and the ground to indicate the spell needed to activate the satchel's contents as he hurls it at the scientific parody of a great knight with a choking, obscuring, irritating dust cloud whose particle matter might be disruptive to whatever the thing is made of.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Second Stage Einherjar.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"It was a joke," Cyre mutters back at Ethius. "I mean, we've got someone with a spike jammed into his head. There needs to be something to keep our minds off all the things that could mean."
Because Cyre knows. He knows what it means if they're too late.
And they're... Too late.
"Catenna," the shaman murmurs as that ominous fog begins rolls. He leaps, lunging for her as that... that simulacrum of a swordsman sends her flying. The pair skid back, as he catches her mid-roll only to slam into a medical cabinet. "Catenna," Cyre murmurs, the wind already beginning to gather, scattering the clinical miasma gripping the air, "Hold it together. I'm right here."
He takes in a breath.
"Together, then." Cyre reaches out to that spirit he knows so well. The winds answer. Even as Catenna pulls from above, Cyre pushes from below. A narrow, upward spinning vortex of raw, elemental air erupts from underneath the construct. Air and gravity move as one to pin him in place, as the former is forged into a cutting drill to tear a hole straight through its center...!
Is this a... Dual Tech!?
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Second Stage Einherjar.
==================================<* Ash Hare *>==================================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Second Stage Einherjar *>=====================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
The arm is removed, but the danger has not yet passed.
A large panel in the wall opens and mist spills out. A humanoid form steps
forward, silhouetted by the mist, and it lurches and shakes. It is slate
grey and color, and featureless -- but the unmistakable look of musculature
can be seen underneath its skin. This is something organic, yet not quite
natural. It looks up, and looks directly at the one who had been spiked.
And then, dark purple lines of circuitry light up across its body in
intricate patterns. Its flesh twists and shifts, forming a mockery of a
person remembered by the individual struck by the spike. In silhouette, they
resemble them -- and inky black and purple Ether form, creating weapons and
magics that might resemble how this remembered person would have fought. The
simulacrum opens its mouth, and screams a wordless cry.
Then, it leaps in to ravage and attack.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
=================================<* Ash Hare *>=================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Second Stage Einherjar *>====================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The arm is removed, but the danger has not yet passed.
A large panel in the wall opens and mist spills out. A humanoid form steps
forward, silhouetted by the mist, and it lurches and shakes. It is slate
grey and color, and featureless -- but the unmistakable look of musculature
can be seen underneath its skin. This is something organic, yet not quite
natural. It looks up, and looks directly at the one who had been spiked.
And then, dark purple lines of circuitry light up across its body in
intricate patterns. Its flesh twists and shifts, forming a mockery of a
person remembered by the individual struck by the spike. In silhouette, they
resemble them -- and inky black and purple Ether form, creating weapons and
magics that might resemble how this remembered person would have fought. The
simulacrum opens its mouth, and screams a wordless cry.
Then, it leaps in to ravage and attack.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
============================<* Ash Hare - Round 6 *>============================ ======================< Results - Second Stage Einherjar >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 28 --(5)--> 33 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 28 --(5)--> 33 Pass Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- White Knight Leo 38 --(5)--> 43 Pass Leo's Goods 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 33 --(5)--> 38 Pass Celesdue Medium 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 33 --(5)--> 38 Pass Reliable Repellant 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz has successfully explored Ash Hare!
=================================<* Ash Hare *>================================= =========================<* CHALLENGE - Power Cells *>========================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The storage closet contains, among various and sundry goods, a few canisters that act as power cells for Zeboim-era technology. These cells were also repurposed and used to power many Metal Demon Wars-era ARMs, and thus there is quite a market for these cells. Of course, they should be handled carefully; the substances inside of them are quite caustic. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
Jay's bottle hits the floor at the simulacrum's feet, and shatters. Black goo splatters everywhere, but as she predicted, the entity seems to ignore its existence--the fire, though, that's more effective. Flames leap up around the simulacrum's feet as it turns on Jay, and the flammable gel catches fire very quickly. The thing doesn't so much as shriek in pain, and it lunges towards Ethius, the powder grenade adding a cloud of fine particulate matter to the flames engulfing it. A horrible, mechanical shriek splits the air as smoke reaches the ceiling--little rods slide out of openings scattered across the ceiling tiles, and some sort of thick, foamy gel starts spraying everywhere. It does a good job of keeping the fire from getting worse!
Catenna plucks the simulacrum off its feet before it can retaliate. Shearing wind starts tearing at its flesh. Leo looks through the smoke and flame at the thing that has his mentor's face--his mentor's face, twisted in a look of terrible fury. Leo grits his teeth. He blinks back tears, even as the creature's blood spills to the floor. This is nothing more than an abomination.
Leo strikes exactly like the creature did, but faster, driven by fury. The first strike takes off its sword-hand at the wrist, and the blade winks out of existence as the severed appendage hits the ground. The second swing takes off its head.
Leo looks down at the corpse as it falls to the floor, hitting the tile with a meaty thump. He's breathing heavily. He has no words for what just happened.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Cyre being there helps, a little. But Catenna's still pale and wide-eyed, even as the simulacrum goes down.
The look of despair and horror she sees on the face of Althena's White Knight is almost as shocking to Catenna as the creature itself.
She reaches over to Cyre, squeezing his hand tightly for a moment. Then she slips forward towards Leo.
Saying nothing, the priestess eases up beside him, her sword sheathed, her hands clasped at her waist. That whirlwind of fear continues to churn deep in her gut, but she forces herself to focus on what Leo's feeling. This meant more to him than it did to her.
"You did what you must, White Knight," she murmurs, her voice quiet. "I know it is hard."
The treasure means nothing to Catenna, but her instinct is to try and provide guidance, even if it is to a heretic from another world who dislikes her friends.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
It is quick, and not at all pretty. It's better that way - if they had to fight an extended battle with the simulacrum, chances are they might start taking losses. Leo finishes it off with a pair of debastating swings, matching the technique of the simulacrum.
It's easy to see why he has the position he does, from the way he fights.
The opponent is dealt with, and the room is available to loot at their leisure...but Jacqueline doesn't have any particular interest in that. She moves along with Catenna to stand by Leo, looking up at him.
"...Are you alright...?" She asks quietly. Very carefully she offers a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius does not pause to catch for breath as the creature stops moving. Covered in a foamy, cold gel, he paces with an economy of energy that betrays the usual composure he often maintains in tense situations. It is as though the righteous indignation that possessed Leo has jumped like an airborne disease towards the dark-skinned man. He reaches down to one half of the cleaved quarterstaff with his ungl-- no, he can't. He pulls his right hand from his forehead inst-- no, he can't either.
"Everything." Ethius speaks up. "Everything you touched in this chamver. It must be destroyed." Inventively, he tries to nudge the quarterstaff halves towards where the removed injection arm pieces currently rest. "Now."
That is not a Vaguely Helpful Ethius Suggestion. That is a demand. With the fire extinguishing gel everywhere, this is going to be quite the problem. Making a conventional fire now of all things won't go. The best he can hope for is to just get things so hot that they become inviable for... something. That word is strong in his mind right now. 'Inviable.'
What's more important is that absolutely no trace be left. Once he nudges everything into the pile - including the glove he pulled off earlier (he can get a new one), even the empty remains of the expended Powder Grenade satchel - he begins to chant up a heat-based spell to start trying to melt the offending items again. He's going to keep trying this until he nearly passes out from starvation or the sprinkler systems foil him again.
There's a nice-looking storage closet whose locking mechanism was damaged in the melee. If one acts quickly, they might be able to see (and take) what's in there while Ethius is so directly fixated upon... destroying detritus.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"We'll be out of here soon," Cyre says, gently clasping a hand around her shoulder. "Promise." Just as soon as... As soon as Ethius gets done doing what Ethius is going to do.
...
...Cyre goes to retrieve the loot while his erstwhile companion does... things. With his magic. Cyre is of the opinion that the things he is doing are positively unhealthy in the long run, but at least give ample opportunity to retrieve at least something of worth to take home. Can Zeboim-era fuel cells be recharged? If there's a way, Shallune and Asty can probably figure it out. If not them, then Emma.
Well.
One thing at a time.
"Hey," Cyre says to the White Knight. "You guys have prohibitions on alcohol? 'Cause it seems like you could use a drink." He frowns, idly adjusting... something or other inside his pack. "...Look. Don't let it get to you, alright? That... Whatever that was, it wasn't the person you knew. Do... do you need to talk about what just happened? We'd be willing to listen, I'm sure."
Even if he is kind of a jerk to Kourin.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
Leo takes an apple gel out of a belt pouch, chews it deliberately, and swallows. Others are expressing concern. Ethius is making a ridiculous demand. Leo seems oblivious to it, lost in his own little world. "That man died, years ago," he says, at long last. "That infernal machine--it made me remember him, and then--" A part of him realizes he should be glad it wasn't Sergei, or Ronfar, or--Althena forbid--Mauri. It's a cold comfort.
"Nothing more than a ghost." He debates whether or not to explain for a moment, then: "General Heldalf. He taught me the ways of the blade. I would not be who I am if he hadn't shown me favor." Humility? This must really have gotten to him.