2018-02-20: Optimism
- Log: Optimism
- Cast: Leon Albus, Lily Keil, Jude Moshe, Josephine Lovelace, Fei Fong Wong
- Where: Lost July
- Date: February 20th 2018
- Summary: The Black Wolves enter, for various (that is, at least two) reasons, the ruined remnants of Lost July. Optimism wins the day... or does it?
DG: A party led by Leon Albus is now entering Lost July. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= ==================<* CHALLENGE - The Glass Crater - Bandits *>================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The entrance to the ruins of Lost July is through the crater where the greatest devastation here. The ground here has been blasted by some force so mighty that it rendered the crater into glass. The path onward requires crossing it, which is a treacherous thought. It may not seem so at first. A rope descends downward, with pitons hammered into the glass -- and the rock beneath. Someone else came here first. Those someones are down on the base of the crater, which is when they spot you. A loud whistle breaks the air -- then shots from gunsmoke ARMs, as a crew of bandits begin firing upon you. And one of them, it seems, is loading a rocket launcher to fire on you. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
The Kaiser was returned to Nortune and things were more complicated. The Black Wolves were neither rewarded nor hunted by Kislev, for the moment. The Kislevi government didn't seem sure what to do with them.
Leon made a decision: get the hell out of Kislev's sphere of influence before someone decided that the people who revealed Keil's influence had too many connections to him to allow to run free. The rumors coming out of Lost July provided a good reason to head that direction.
He stops on the outside of the crater. Leon looks down at it, rolling his shoulders. It feels good to do something.
"Hammer, was it?" he asks, turning to look at the Beastman. "Stick with us--keep close, don't rush in. I don't want you to get hurt, if we find hostiles. Hopefully we're not going to. But..." He turns to look down at the crater. A massive, glassed over crater. His breath catches for a moment. "...I wonder if it's true. If one man did... that."
He shakes his head, and then starts towards the rope. He meets the eyes of a bandit down at the bottom. Leon draws a sharp breath in, then ducks. A round flies over his head. "Hostiles!"
So much for hoping there wouldn't be many.
The soldier takes aim, firing a flare shot down at them. It reflects off the glass, and the soldiers scatter a little. The bandits start firing at them, while one prepares a rocket launcher. Argent Divider is snapped upward; Leon fires a couple of shotgun blasts down for the bandits.
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Flare Gun toward his party's challenge, The Glass Crater - Bandits.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily Keil knows full well that she's likely to be hunted regardless of what they announce, now. She kept secrets from Kislev, from the military and from the Kaiser, lying to them for her entire life--and her entire military career. ...And of course, she knows that they may suspect she knows more of her father's plans than she's let on. She doesn't seem particularly interested in throwing herself on the Kislevi government's mercy.
...she doesn't seem that interested in throwing herself on anyone's mercy, these days.
So here they are, at the crater, and Lily looks down at it throughtfully, looking around, making her judgement about these. "...I couldn't say," Lily says about whether one man did it. "Do you think it's possible? I wonder..."
Lily looks down at her gloved hand, recalls the fire of the Kaiser's summer palace. She shakes her head. "...You get hurt, I'll patch you up. I probably won't even have to amputate anything if you're lucky." She looks at Hammer for a moment and quirks an enigmatic look.
She starts down Leon's rope too--and sees the bandits as well. The glass reflects, and Lily looks about it, considering; she gets a bullet for her trouble whizzing past her ear, but she holds out her hand towards the one with the rocket launcher.
"...Goodbye," she says simply, and darkness starts to rise from behind him. If he doesn't get out of the way, he's going to start disintegrating outright.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Glass Crater - Bandits.
<Pose Tracker> Jude Moshe has posed.
"Just taking a wild guess here, I don't think calling him a 'man' is really appropriate."
The words come, carefree and nonchalant, at Leon Albus' back. Stretching his arms leisurely over his head, Jude Moshe has all the look of a man about to take an evening stroll as he rounds his way towards the ropes leading down towards Lost July. He stares at the desolation, dark red brows furrowing in faint thought before a haphazard smile rolls across his lips.
"When you start to be capable of doing things like that, you're past the point of being able to be qualified as anything approaching human."
Deep amber eyes turn to regard that Beastman for a silent moment. And then, with a simple shrug, Jude starts wandering again, elbows pointed up and hands locked at the back of his head. "The good Captain is an optimist to the bitter and brutal end. But hey, maybe this is one of those rare occasions where that might actually pan--"
BANG goes the bullet that whizzes right past Jude Moshe's skull, barely clipping hair.
"--out."
He would like to take a moment to let the irony settle in. Sincerely.
As it is, he's already dropping to the ground, shotgun ARM produced in tandem with Leon's Argent Divider as he fires off several, blue-tinged shots towards the bandits -- aiming to freeze their legs and the very ground their walk on to make them easier pickings.
"How's that optimism working out for you lately!"
DG: Jude Moshe has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Glass Crater - Bandits.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
It was a decision that suited Josie just fine, by her reckoning. Sooner or later, someone higher up the food chain was going to make a decision. If it worked out, great!
They could handle that one if and when it came, and preferably from a good distance away.
In her experience, though, the less 'assistance' they got from local governments, the better.
Besides, with her leg (magically, courtesy of Lily) fixed, it's not like there's anything holding her back now.
"See anything?"
Particularly when it comes to the remnants of cities that were blasted off the map (allegedly) before she was even born.
"You know, I ran into some insurance agents who were looking for 'Vash the Stampede' if you can believe it. Sometimes you wonder if there ever really was someone by that name or not... Heh." Her lips quick into a smile at Jude's comment. "Definitely not a human, if the timing of the stories can be trusted any--"
Her gaze, as lazy as it might seem from up here at the lip of the canyon, spots movement further in, perhaps just moments before that shot flies out.
Penelope whirrs upwards in a flurry of wings. Josie, in defiance of the injury she suffered only days before, flies forward for the first bit of cover that presents itself, flattening against the battered wind-worn rock and taking a shot at the first one of the bandits to pop up their head at the wrong time.
"Hey Tiger! Aim for the one with the big gun!"
Lily probably doesn't need the encouragement.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Glass Crater - Bandits.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
LAST TIME ON, YOU GOT A MIGRAINE FEI FONG WONG
Layna reveals a hidden plaque. On it are the terms: SD. Lineage. Valeria. Nimrod. Fei gets a migraine. He says it's a migraine.
NOW
"Heh, don't worry, boss." Hammer says. Lily is ma'am but Leon is boss and Fei is bro. He hasn't come up with 'nicknames' for Josie and Jude yet so they are spared Hammer for the moment. "I don't intend to get into more trouble than I can't get out of. I've spent enough time around D-Block, a bunch of drifters aren't gonna--"
He trails off. "That's a rocket launcher." He says instead before Fei drags him to the ground.
"I think you'd be surprised!" Fei tells Leon. "About what one man can do!" He rears back with a hand and launches chi blasts back at the bandits. They're shooting at him so he's not exactly going to be too torn up about singing them.
He's still wondering how the gunblade works but decides not to look a gift gunblade in the mouth, to be honest.
"Uh." He says to Jude as he adds that. "Really? Is that how it works?"
He looks a little nervous at that for some reason.
Hammer says, "An optimist?? From Kislev???" to Jude in disbelief.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Glass Crater - Bandits.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= ==================<* CHALLENGE - The Glass Crater - Bandits *>================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The entrance to the ruins of Lost July is through the crater where the greatest devastation here. The ground here has been blasted by some force so mighty that it rendered the crater into glass. The path onward requires crossing it, which is a treacherous thought. It may not seem so at first. A rope descends downward, with pitons hammered into the glass -- and the rock beneath. Someone else came here first. Those someones are down on the base of the crater, which is when they spot you. A loud whistle breaks the air -- then shots from gunsmoke ARMs, as a crew of bandits begin firing upon you. And one of them, it seems, is loading a rocket launcher to fire on you. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
===========================<* Lost July - Round 1 *>============================ ====================< Results - The Glass Crater - Bandits >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Flare Gun 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jude Moshe 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Leon Albus has posed.
"Mm," Leon murmurs, looking down at the crater, and considering Jude's words. This had to be the size of most towns in Ignas. He nods. "Point taken."
The rifle shots from below slam into the rim of the crater, sending chips of glass up into the air below. Few of them actually manage to crest it, but a few get through and force them down. The Black Wolves pour firepower down -- and yet, these bandits appear skilled. One dives away from the wave of shadowy darkness. Another dives behind their cart, and Jude's bullet makes it ice over, instead of him. Josie's round pings off a pan on the back; Fei's chi blast hits the hair of one as he ducks.
Leon scowls down at them. Then, he lifts Argent Divider, and waits half a breath. He does not remark on his optimism.
Then he fires another flare round. The bandits rise, ready to shoot--
And Argent Divider fires, six times in a row, muzzle flashes bright. The bandits all drop, blood pooling from their heads.
Leon slings Argent Divider over his shoulder, turns to Hammer, and smiles. Then, he smiles wider at Jude. "Quite well," he says. "Thanks for asking."
He starts down the rope, and makes to cross the crater. He is entirely certain he will never, ever manage that many headshots in a row again for the rest of his life.
GS: Leon Albus has reached CONDITION GREEN!
DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - Underground Explosion *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Sometimes, the residents of Lost July buried things in the ground. The presence of Drifters hhas caused disruptions throughout the ruined city -- especially where firefights have broken out. You hear one in the distance, now; apparently, two groups of Drifters have started firing on each other. There is a crackboom, and then a gunshot from a block over comes flying down. It shoots between your party, and then strikes the ground. It sinks in -- and then there is a /titanic/ explosion behind you, as an underground fuel tank goes up in a huge fireball. However, it seems this may have opened a gateway into the sewer system of the city. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Overwhelm, Secret==================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily is quiet at Jude's assessment of this Stampede. ...She stays quiet for a few moments after, thinking, considering. ...And then there's the whole bandit thing. The thing that actually does get her talking is--
It's not Josie's encouragement. It's... "....Optimism," she repeats, looking to Leon with some amusement. Her spell she leaves, not bothering with any further. "Right." A beat, "Nice shooting, Captain."
She makes her way down the rope the rest of the way along with the others, dressed in her more typical layers--as a matter of fact, in an outfit quite closely resembling her old military uniform. Once they all make it down, they start walking, and the groups of Drifters start firing on each other--until--
"Down--" Lily hears the bullet hit the ground. For a moment, things are fine. ....Then the explosion comes.
"I hate optimism," Lily grits out as she turns and throws a curve of ice between her and the explosion, and attempts to avoid falling entirely through the ground as it erupts. ...She's gonna need some help with this one.
Everyone else? Well, hope they like fire on one side of them, an underground gateway erupting below, and more gunshots on the other side. The Drifters have started all firing over here just in case.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Underground Explosion.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
*ping* goes her shot moments later, followed by the tell-tale *fzing* of the bullet continuing to ricochet off into oblivion somewhere.
Josie, back behind cover, pulls a face. "Damn, and here's us without a rocket launcher..." she mutters, flattening against the wall as she prepares to book it.
Before a barrage or grenades is let loosed, followed by a series of thuds, followed by...
Well, silence.
Josie peeks out from behind her cover and immediately is prompted to let loose a low whistle. "Nice shot," she announces, then glances over at Jude. "See, all you've got to do is think positively~"
Holstering her sidearm, she whistles jauntily as they head on down -- once a little light 'dead body reconnaissance' is completed.
Penelope, notably, has not made a reappearance. Perhaps it might be something to wonder after.
Particularly when a gunshot rings out.
"Where's--"
Underfoot rolls the low bass thrum of an explosion.
"Oh."
"--Well--"
After that, there's really not much more to do but RUN.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Underground Explosion.
<Pose Tracker> Jude Moshe has posed.
For a moment, Jude Moshe stares at those bodies, all taken down in swift succession by Leon Albus. He hears the good Captain's words, and then Josephine's -- and his head slowly tilts. S l o w l y.
"Huh. Guess so."
And with that, ARM falling back into his frock coat, Jude Moshe holds his hands up in utter, sorry defeat.
With that, the good-for-nothing reporter carries his way down with the drag of dirt and gravel, keeping eyes peeled. He hits the ground. And amber eyes instantly narrow.
"Move--!"
BOOM.
They are not the target of the bullet; he knows that the moment it goes just -too- wide past them. He swiftly turns in the direction the bullet screams through --
And then he sees it. Feels it. A little, unstable rumble that prefaces the ground-shaking ka-boom.
Within moments, the reporter is -leaping-, trying to put distance between himself and that tremendous fireball as he points his ARM towards the ground and fires off several quick rounds, sprouting shields of jagged ice jumping up to interpose themselves between him and the explosion and reinforce Lily's own icy shields.
He'd have something to say about this, re: optimism being just a horrible trap, but, well.
Explosion.
It'll have to wait until later.
... If they're all still alive.
DG: Jude Moshe has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Underground Explosion.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Hammer says, "Dayumn! Look at those skizzles! I'm gonna have to call boss 'Captain Headshot',"
Fei places his hand on his forehead. "What one man can do, huh Leon?" He gives the man a small smile. He is a little worried he's becoming too chill about this sort of thing but he signed up for the mercenary company so thel east he can do is try not to throw up in front of Leon and at least the corpses are pretty far off so he never got a good look at them. It's okay, Fei thinks, it's all okay.
Fei literally picks up hammer and starts hopping down towards the...
...huh. The sewers.
"This is familiar." Fei says. "And I don't mean the explosions, I mean, those are definitely familiar but--"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! WE'RE GONNA DIE WE'RE GONNA DIE WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Hammer screams.
"I get that this is your first time being nearly murdered but can you keep it down?!" Fei argues.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Underground Explosion.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
'Down,' Lily says.
Leon ducks, before he turns in time to see the explosion shooting up into the air. His eyes widen and he turns his head, just as he feels the ground under his feet crack and then give way. He goes tumbling, like the others do. He runs, but he also reaches into his coat. He pulls out his coiled up climbing rope, as the rocks fall away nearly underfoot. He can't quite put himself high enough with a leap. So, instead, he throws the rope out.
He catches a half-melted pipe jutting out of the ground, then tugs. The rope tightens about it when he does. He uses it to keep himself up as he runs -- and hopefully from falling to his doom.
"Looks like plenty of people beat us to it!" he yells. Then, he glances back at Hammer. "Panic after we're not dead!"
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Climbing Rope toward his party's challenge, Underground Explosion.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - Underground Explosion *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Sometimes, the residents of Lost July buried things in the ground. The presence of Drifters hhas caused disruptions throughout the ruined city -- especially where firefights have broken out. You hear one in the distance, now; apparently, two groups of Drifters have started firing on each other. There is a crackboom, and then a gunshot from a block over comes flying down. It shoots between your party, and then strikes the ground. It sinks in -- and then there is a /titanic/ explosion behind you, as an underground fuel tank goes up in a huge fireball. However, it seems this may have opened a gateway into the sewer system of the city. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Overwhelm, Secret==================================
===========================<* Lost July - Round 2 *>============================ ======================< Results - Underground Explosion >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 15 --(30)--> 45 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 15 --(30)--> 45 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 5 --(20)--> 25 Pass Climbing Rope 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jude Moshe 15 --(30)--> 45 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 15 --(30)--> 45 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Conditions: Fright(1)|Injure(1)|Overwhelm|Secret(2)|Slow(2) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Think positively. Well, that's something. Regardless, the explosions level off, and the gunshots level off, and where does that leave everyone?
Not burned too badly, thanks to Jude's ARM reinforcing Lily's icy shields. ...Debris is still a problem. The lack of ground is still a problem. They can talk about traps, however, because they have managed to survive. Unfortunately, their path is rather set--just the one way is available now... As the rope connected to that pipe is enough to save Leon, enough for the rest of them to run into, to hang on while things settle on and stop rumbling.
They all make it.... But all of them except for Leon get a lot of debris for their trouble. It's not really very pleasant.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
===============================<* Lost July *>================================ ===================<* CHALLENGE - Controlled Demolition *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 4 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Crossing Lost July means, at times, you have to go up inside a building. You find such a case here: a large, seemingly solid building, which has a stairway inside of it that spirals up four floors. A door at the top leads back out to the roof level of a neighboring building. As you begin climbing up the stairs, though, the building shakes -- and pieces begin collapsing, including the stairs behind you! The only way out of the tower is to break through -- and quickly, before the entire thing breaks into pieces around you. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Suffer=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Hammer is also uninjured because Fei took all the damage that would've gone onto Hammer by carrying him. It did not help with his martial arts, let me tell you. Hammer whimpers anyway because going from 'bandits' to 'explosions' to--oh, an easy peasy building with nothing that could go wrong. THat's nice.
Hammer finally lets himself down and says, "Seems durable enough. If nothing else we can take some time to recover here, right?" Hammer reaches into his pouch to offer some low grade healing items to anybody who wants it. Fei definitely takes one, and then it's time to go up the stairs.
"Mmm...." Hammer says around floor two.
"Nhhmm..." Hammer says around floor. "Maybe....we should actually head back--"
It's too late! The building rapidly starts shaking and tumbling as it fumbles for the ground.
Fei clenches something in his pocket, but in the moment--
He launches out a sudden chi blast out from his fingertips--but unlike the one from before, this one's tinted red and hits the wall with considerably--
--considerably more force. But it's unlikely to be enough on its own. Fei doesn't quite have a perfect handle on chi manipulation.
"Optimism..." Fei mutters to himself, giving Leon a bit of a look.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Mother's Cross toward his party's challenge, Controlled Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon starts to roll his rope back up, though -- with a glance at it -- he sees he lost some length behind him due to the explosion. The charred end makes him frown. He slides that rope back into his jacket, and then looks back to the rest. "Maybe my optimism was misplaced," he concludes.
They start up the building. He glances at Hammer, and blinks for a moment -- then shakes his head. Which is when the building begins to shift, shudder, and shake. His eyes widen as he turns to look at the wall that Fei struck.
"It was definitely misplaced," he says, before he rams his shoulder into the wall as hard as he can.
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Controlled Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Jude Moshe has posed.
Jude Moshe's life is falling apart.
Or at least, that might as well be how getting pelted with a veritable avalanche of ruin rubble feels as the explosion rips past them, heat licking at his tanned cheeks as he grips quickly to hang on through the torrent of sheer, kinetic force. A chunk of ancient, dust-coated masonry CRACKS him across the midsection, and he can -feel- the hairline fractures form along his ribs. He bears through it with grit teeth and eyes shut to avoid blinding, and does not let go.
Not until it's all faded.
In the aftermath, Jude's ribs feel like they're on fire, already starting to swell with irritation; but all he presents to the world is an exasperated look as he stares down at himself. at his outfit. Coated in dust.
"Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting at this point," he says, simply, ignoring the pain it takes to breath. Because really. A dead, ruined city, surrounded by crazy Drifters. He brings this on himself.
Ultimately, the man just shakes his head, sighs wearily in a way that doesn't truly commit to the sentiment, and makes his way into the building after Hammer and Fei. He snatches his own healing item in the form of a cigarette, producing it from his nickel case and bringing it to his lips as Hammer hems and haws with each passing floor.
"It's fine," says Jude, as he lifts his lighter to his lips. Snap. Snap. Fssh goes the flame, igniting that stick of tobacco.
"The worst that could happen is that the building collapses on us, and one or two of us are the unlucky ones that don't die instantly but can't escape from the rubble and eventually starve to death in horrible agony."
He looks at Hammer here, meaningfully. And then he smiles his lopsided smile.
"But that probably won't happen--"
Rrrrruumbbbbleee
"--huh. Guess I spoke too soon." His look for Hammer, at least, is an apologetic one.
"Sorry about that."
And within moments, his ARM is produced, runes glowing orange as he points the barrel towards the wall that Fei directs his attention towards.
"Fire in the hole!" he shouts, for the benefit of anyone too close. And then that whining, crackling shotgun shell fires, embeds itself in the wall, builds up kinetic force, and--
BOOOM
DG: Jude Moshe has used his Tool Demolition Shell toward his party's challenge, Controlled Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Explosions are well enough as it is. ...That's fine. But these explosions are not... Very helpful, very useful. Lily dusts herself off as Hammer offers things to them, shaking her head, refusing the offer for the moment. They're going up, up, up. She narrows her eyes, looking around, looking to Leon. "Are we done with that joke?" she asks. Then--Hammer notices the building shifting. Lily notices the building shifting.
"Here's optimism: this entire building is going to crash down around us." She says this, as she reaches into her bag, as she starts pulling out... charges. Those are definitely explosive charges, to stick to the door ahead of them. "Hammer," she says. "Might want to get back."
She sets enough of them to blow the hell out of the door, all right, even as the tower is ruining all around them. Jude's explosion rushes in, even as Fei's blast of chi does, and Lily still works, shifting to the side enough to make sure she's not hit by it.
"We can always go for worse, Moshe."
Lily steps back, and snaps her fingers--each of the fuses light at once.
BOOOM again
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Explosive Charges toward her party's challenge, Controlled Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Think positively, right?
...Right.
It turns out that even positive thinking can't quite outrun an explosion. Josie is left dangling perilously off the edge, somewhere on the rim of what looks to be a brand new spanking crater within Lost July, coat singed and smoking slightly.
But otherwise (mostly) unharmed.
With a grunt and a bit of a careless swing, she lands onto a likely ledge, and from there...
Well, it's an descent down to what was once one of the mighty buildings of Lost July, now buried beneath the rubble.
"Look on the bright side," Josie comments, slipping in through the window and helping herself to Hammer's supply kit. "We found a way down."
She pauses a moment to pop the sol.
Then slowly, s l o w l y tilts her head to one side as Jude speculates on worst case scenarios.
The building shudders.
Her eye twitches.
"Okay. Okay, get out of the way--"
From her pack, she produces it: the mattock, glinting dully in the low light.
Shortly after Fei has delivered a (n oddly tinted) chi-blast for the wall, and Leon his shoulder--
Josie muscles her way in to deliver an overhead and very unorthodox archaeological technique.
Vis a vis: the mattock, directly for the wall.
Whatever effect it has, she backs on off soon after, shaking out her right hand, expression pained.
"Fire in the hole!"
Lily chimes in.
"Fengalon's balls."
Needless to say, the amount of distance Josie attempts to put between herself and the wall right now is as much as she can.
There are limits to optimism.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, Controlled Demolition.
===============================<* Lost July *>================================ ===================<* CHALLENGE - Controlled Demolition *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 4 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Crossing Lost July means, at times, you have to go up inside a building. You find such a case here: a large, seemingly solid building, which has a stairway inside of it that spirals up four floors. A door at the top leads back out to the roof level of a neighboring building. As you begin climbing up the stairs, though, the building shakes -- and pieces begin collapsing, including the stairs behind you! The only way out of the tower is to break through -- and quickly, before the entire thing breaks into pieces around you. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Suffer=========================================
==========================<* Lost July - Round 3 *>=========================== =====================< Results - Controlled Demolition >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 45 --(20)--> 65 Pass Mother's Cross 4 Brute Effects: None ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 45 --(20)--> 65 Pass Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 25 --(25)--> 50 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jude Moshe 45 --(25)--> 70 Fail Demolition Shell 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 45 --(20)--> 65 Pass Explosive Charges 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Leon Albus 30 --(25)--> 55 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Overwhelm|Secret(1)|Slow(1)|Suffer(1) Effects: Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"It's...okay?" Hammer tells Jude. He is staying close to Fei because he figures Fei will probably at least throw him to the closest thing to safety if it comes to it. "At least I got to see...the outside world a bit. Even if the outside world I saw was mostly dead ruins. It's dead ruins I've never seen before."
"Hammer, it'll be alright." Fei says. "It's always this way."
Hammer clamps his mouth shut. Through a combination of mattock strikes and strangely red-tinted chi blasts and, well, explosions.
And then more explosions.
The wall finally gives way. Unfortunately, it gives way as Leon's about to ram it and some of the flying debris catches Jude. Well it catches everybody but it hits Jude the worst.
On the plus side, nobody dies from the building falling over.
"See?" Fei says, trying to dust dust off of his body and flicking gravel off. "Just normal business."
It's at this point Hammer realizes that these people are even less normal than he expected, which--to be honest--wasn't even that normal to begin with.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - Beaten to the Punch? *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you round the corner of this particular street, you come face-to-face with another party of Drifters. There is a brief, terrible moment of silence as they stare at you and you stare at them. A mutual sizing up; and, after encounters with other hostile Drifters, perhaps an abundance of caution. It is after a moment that swords and ARMs are drawn, and hands held aloft with Crest Graphs. However, you spot something in their eyes. A hesitance to strike. Diplomacy, perhaps, could win the day. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Treasure========================================
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
The one problem about being in a collapsing building like this: there isn't much place to run to. Though Josie lifts her (good) arm to shield herself from the incoming shrapnel, it's not exactly an advised way to deflect an array of masonry turned missile.
Under her breath, she utters something that both consists of incredibly colorful imagery and which is probably an illegal act in most nations as she rushes for the wonderful hole they've made in the wall.
From there, the pathway they tread leads on a semi-uphill slope, back up towards what was probably part of the streets of the city.
Maybe.
"Wonder if there's another way down. All the rumors mentioned something under the city, right?" Assuming a more leisurely pace, Josie readjusts the strap on her bag, cacheing her mattock within it while she's on the subject.
Craning her head back at Jude as she rounds a corner, she has but one question on her lips: "Don't suppose you have any spare cigarettes--"
And stops quite dead for a nano-second, before wheeling back and drawing the Reaper's Hand.
Anyone who follows her lead will see exactly this tableau:
No less than a half-dozen Drifters, loaded for bear (ARMs, swords, and more esoteric means alike) and ready for anything. They already bear the injuries of those who have faced down the threats (fellow Drifters and otherwise) in the city and have clearly survived them this far.
Tension drags itself out.
And there! Aloft in the skies--
A black shadow falls upon those gathered.
Dropping a pair of feathers as she descends in a flurry of wings, Penelope very abruptly intrudes on the scene to land in the midst of the Drifter groups.
"Coo," the pigeon announces.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, Beaten to the Punch?.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon stumbles when he rams through, some of the debris striking him. He limps, at first, as he walks out -- to a slope that leads upward, and he looks sideways at Josie. She raises a fine point, and he nods to her. "We should see if we can find a way down," he says. "The city's a bloody maze, though. Whatever did this... it wrecked the layout of the city, too."
He shakes his head, a frown forming on his lips.
The frown intensifies as he rounds the corner, and sees the six Drifters, well-armed and staring at them. He already has Argent Divider drawn -- and aimed at them. He doesn't shoot first.
But he looks ready too. He blinks, though, at the shadow -- then his eyebrow twitches at Penelope. He decides to use the break in the tension, though.
"I suggest you go," he says to the other group. "We've no quarrel with you."
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Beaten to the Punch?.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
It's okay. Of course it's okay. "Hammer, you're really damn dramatic, you know that? Have your appreciation for the beauty of life somewhere I'm not having a headache." Lily is at least talkative, so it could be much, much worse. Or maybe that gets better. She feels... Pretty beaten up by being in there for the chunky salsa effect, but at least they've made it out and through. "...You got a rosesol?" she asks him. "I could use about three." At that, she lifts a hand, starts letting red aura emanate from her, start to heal some wounds. But it doesn't do much for being tired. However... They round the corner. They round the corner, and--
"Six hostiles," Lily mentions, looking over the others and their injuries. The tension drags itself out. Lily, for her part, is unabashedly, openly studying the lot of them. ...as Penelope appears. "It makes sense that the cityis ruined," she agrees with Leon belatedly, but she does not have a weapon drawn. Leon suggests they go. Lily...
"Gonna pull something," Lily announces, and reaches into her bag to get her notebook and a pen. She starts to write a few things down about each of them. "...Four swords, Seven distinct ARMs, three longarms among them... I see some grenades... Mm, crests..." Lily writes them, speaking as she considers, looking them over. "...Injured leg on that woman there."
She finishes some tallying. "...All right. I got some prices for you figured out from our companion Hammer here for the goods you'll need to get going and on your way. Alternately, I can kill all of you. I'll start with her," Lily says, pointing her pen absently to the woman with the wounded leg, "But I'll just injure her further, so you're obligated to defend and treat her and thus become more vulnerable. Then I'll disintegrate... That one," she suggests. "You'll probably have shot me a few times by then, but that'll just make me angry."
"...Hammer's items are pretty top-quality, though." She seems entirely uncaring as to which way they do this.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Notebook toward her party's challenge, Beaten to the Punch?.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei has to do what he can to save these drifters from Lily. It's not that he doesn't appreciate Lily, but he isn't entirely sure if she would hold back on the trigger finger when it comes to edge cases like this.
But even he is not expecting the pigeon to land in the midst of the drifters. It's at this point, Fei--thinking quick--steps forward.
"C..careful...! That pigeon is dangerous...! You heard that building fall, right? It's all thanks to that bird!"
"I have evidence." Fei adds, showing off one of his Penelope sketches from a while back but this one has lots of red flames surrounding Penelope, the ruins of a city behind her. Fei ... Fei must have made that earlier, in fact it's dated a while back. Why...why did he draw this?
"This isn't even the first time." Fei says.
Hammer adds, "Um, alternately, you can just buy stuff from us?" He grimaces briefly at Lily's talkback to him but he does start handing out rosesols to the team. He seems to have a loooot of healing items.
This will probably be helpful for the other party. you know, if they're not a roving band of psychopaths.
Fei gives it even odds.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Beaten to the Punch?.
<Pose Tracker> Jude Moshe has posed.
This is, very swiftly, starting to get extremely messy.
Jude manages to vacate the building with the rest amidst the boom of fire and kinetic force, dust gushing all around him -- but the rubble that pelts him on the way through agitates the wounds of his ribs further and dislocates a shoulder on his way out. It's to his credit that he only lets out a grunt as he runs up that slope towards the cracked and ruined city streets beyond.
His only delay is a simple, casual mention of, "Hold on a sec, smoke break. I'll catch up," before offering a simple smile Josephine's way that says 'maybe later' to that request.
And it is as the others round upon an unsuspecting batch of Drifters, that Jude takes his leisurely break:
By jamming his shoulder painfully into a nearby wall until he shoves it back into its socket.
Cold sweat clings to his tanned, dust-encrusted skin. He huffs out a smoke-filled breath, cigarette hanging limp between his lips. A second passes as he smears his gloved hand down his face...
And by the time he joins the rest of them, he is all smiles and an unconvincingly surprised look as he finds himself in the middle of a Mexican standoff.
"Huh," he mutters, hands coming up in mock surrender. "You guys really know how to make friends, don't you?"
Penelope lands. And Jude takes the distraction to very suddenly reach down and press something at his wrist. Just sudden enough to be noticed. Just sudden enough for the other Drifters to pay attention to.
"Whoa whoa!" announces Jude, hands quickly snapping back up.
"Look, we don't want any problems here, right? But you ought to know:
"I just kind of accidentally set my bird to blow."
And this perhaps confusing statement is quickly clarified as -another- bird drops down from the sky with a tinny chirp, and lands next to the other Drifters, on a convenient perch just out of arms' reach. Much stranger looking. Mechanical. Gears and strange optics for eyes.
Eyes that are flashing red, over and over. In increasingly faster intervals.
"Don't want to alarm you, but maybe you should leave. Do anything to us, and, well... he looks tiny, but he packs a real big punch, I promise."
Those red lights are flashing. More, and more, and more and more and more and more
"Must be something about those Zeboim explosives I packed him with--"
and more and more andmoreandmoreandmoreand oh god what is that ominous whining sound coming from Jacob--
DG: Jude Moshe has used his Tool Jacob toward his party's challenge, Beaten to the Punch?.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - Beaten to the Punch? *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you round the corner of this particular street, you come face-to-face with another party of Drifters. There is a brief, terrible moment of silence as they stare at you and you stare at them. A mutual sizing up; and, after encounters with other hostile Drifters, perhaps an abundance of caution. It is after a moment that swords and ARMs are drawn, and hands held aloft with Crest Graphs. However, you spot something in their eyes. A hesitance to strike. Diplomacy, perhaps, could win the day. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Treasure========================================
===========================<* Lost July - Round 4 *>============================ =======================< Results - Beaten to the Punch? >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 65 --(5)--> 70 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 65 --(5)--> 70 Pass Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 50 --(10)--> 60 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jude Moshe 70 --(5)--> 75 Pass Jacob 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 65 --(5)--> 70 Pass Lily's Notebook 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 55 --(15)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Overwhelm|Stupify(2)|Treasure(1) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Skinflint," Josie pronounces upon Jude, before they run into that spot of trouble.
The pigeon, that was probably not quite what the other Drifters were expecting.
Not quite what Josephine was expecting, either, to judge by the expression on her face.
Penelope meanwhile bears the same expression as she ever does, which is to say, that of a pigeon who is absolutely done with the world and everything in it.
"Coo," says Penelope again, and begins to pigeon strut towards the nearest nameless Drifter.
They share a collective look amongst themselves as Leon affirms he doesn't want any trouble.
The woman with the large sword (and the even larger ARM) steps forward. The leader, perhaps?
She shakes her head. "I don't think so. What's keeping you from stabbing us in the--"
Her eyes cross as Fei presents court evidence--er, the sketch of a pigeon and a burning building. ...She's taken back, a dubious expression on her face as she looks between the bird then back at the drawing and...
And this is where Lily opts for the cold logic of a soldier.
Here, someone in the back of the Drifter group shuffles and raises a hand. "I wouldn't mind a bandage! Or four!"
...Diplomacy is easy!?
Then Jacob descends.
A hush falls over the group of Drifters as they eye the metallic pigeon. More than a few of them side-eye Penelope, as if silently calculating the odds.
Jacob's eyes begin flashing.
The bird is a bomb, Jude explains.
Josie slowly turns her head towards the wayward reporter, as if to silently inquire herself as to this little 'fact', one eyebrow raised in mute alarm.
The flashing lights only grow faster.
As one, the Drifter group scatters noisily off into the depths of Lost July, apparently unwilling to take their chances.
Dust settles in their wake.
And this point, when silence descends upon the street, is when Penelope whirrs up into the air and with murderous intent attempts to divebomb (the probably still flashing) Jacob.
DG: Jude Moshe has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= =========================<* CHALLENGE - Barred Door *>========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Sometimes, obstacles have collapsed and blocked the pathways through the streets. The buildings, however, offer shortcuts, as sometimes paths have been cut through. You reach a place where a collapsed building might be circumvented by going through a building on the other side of the street. The door, however, has been barred shut -- debris having knocked it in place. The door has to be forced open... without collapsing the building. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Weaken=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Jude Moshe has posed.
Josie looks at Jude.
And Jude Moshe's brows lift, in a subtle way, as if to say, with all due sincerity,
'Eh!'
Who knows?
Regardless of what the truth is, the Drifters all start to scatter, thoroughly convinced. Jude just puffs an ambivalent plume of smoke as they go, watching with mild, blinking eyes as the assembled opportunists flee as far as their legs can carry them. Without a word, he produces his cigarette case, slides one free, and dangles it in front of Josie, completely and utterly ambivalent about the fact that Jacob still looks like he's about ready to burst.
"See? Everything worked out fine--"
And that's when Penelope divebombs Jacob with murder in her eyes like some predatory bird out of hell.
She collides with Jacob, in a destined duel just as that whining reaches critical mass--
--and with a metallic little squawk, Jacob's eyes flare red as his beak opens and he spews what looks like -- confetti? is that confetti?? -- confetti into Penelope's face, glitter and streams gushing vibrantly through the air all around them as they soar in their horrifying and/or adorably celebratory deathmatch.
Jude Moshe watches, squinting, for a long moment.
"... Eh, they'll probably be fine," he decides with an utter lack of care, and with that, he shambles on.
Eventually, their path brings them towards a large, multistory building, practically cracked in half. The sheer amount of force that would have to go into such an act is mind-boggling -- but all that really matters right now is that it is a deterrent. A deterrent that Jude Moshe seems to be intent to go around --
--by pointing his ARM at the door to another, nearby door.
"It's locked," he informs them, quite certain*, before he fires off another demolition shell into the thing without pomp or ceremony with one cacophonous fireball.
*NOTE: JUDE DID NOT ACTUALLY CHECK TO SEE IF IT WAS LOCKED
DG: Jude Moshe has used his Tool Demolition Shell toward his party's challenge, Barred Door.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei hangs back for the moment, since he has a feeling if he tries it well--he really doesn't trust himself to be delicate.
But he does aside to Hammer, "It's okay." to him. "It's always locked. Faster this way."
"R..right." Hammer manages. This is the least terrifying thing that has happened to him all day so he adds, "Take your time, bro."
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Barred Door.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon watches them flee. He sighs. "We could have really used the gella from buying from Hammer, though..." He trails off, though -- and then jumps when Penelope flies down right towards Jacob, with a promised bird war about to break out. He tenses, stepping back from them both, and then confetti sprays out everywhere. But, specifically, onto Penelope.
"What the hell?" Leon asks.
He rubs at the back of his head and shakes that same head. He doesn't trust Jude on this, as much as he decides that he has no clue where this might go. Instead, he follows after Jude. He pauses in front of the door, and then he looks sideways at Hammer. He shrugs once. "Fei's pretty good at this."
Then, he helps.
He lowers his shoulder, and gives it another solid ram.
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Barred Door.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Hammer gets a look from Lily. It is not an unpleasant look, actually. She takes the rosesol. She watches the others. And then there is... There is... Jacob. With the bird set to blow. Lily lifts an eyebrow. Diplomacy was actually kind of easy. Until... This. She sort of stands exactly where she is because she really doesn't feel like moving, and as Penelope divebombs, Lily applies the rosesol, and shrugs. "We could've used the glla," she agrees, "But what the hell is right. Why not? Moshe is always like that."
She hears that the door is locked, as they walk in, and she looks to the confetti just to say, "...As long as that doesn't get on me." She heads forward, and when they reach this building through them... "Whatever," she says, and after Jude's explosion, she tosses a bomb and lights it on her way. She really just doesn't seem that concerned with anything right now. It's been a long few days.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Explosive Charges toward her party's challenge, Barred Door.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josephine, in spite (?) of her nature, seems skeptical about this, to gauge by her expression.
Yet she doesn't hesitate to take the cigarette from him, without missing a beat. "Knew you'd come through eventually," she says.
Did she? Did she really?
Her lips move; she snaps the fingers of her left hand and thus extrudes a Symbologic spark, lighting the end of the cigarette. A little messier than Lily -- or Jude's, for that matter -- flame trick, but.
"All's well that ends well, huh," she had started to say, lifting the cigarette to her lips.
Before Penelope collides with Jacob, and, in the heat of the moment, the still glowing cigarette drops from her fingers to land amidst the dust. Jacob spews forth terrible--
Confetti. It's confetti.
The word for Josie's current expression is 'nonplussed'.
And there the two love (?) birds go, off to wage war up in the skies.
Josie opts to kneel and retrive her (now dusty) cigarette. "...Birds," she says, as if that explains everything.
Their path leads onwards, eventually finding them at yet another damaged building blocking their path. "Huh," Josie says, taking a drag on her cigarette. "Don't suppose anyone actually feels like climbing that."
While she's looking at that, Jude unloads a nearby door.
"No warning this time, Moshe?"
Her own methods are perhaps less flashy but hopefully just as effective: the prince of archaeology tools applied in a way that is technically contraindicated by every archaeology textbook on the planet.
"Don't worry about it! No one lives here anymore anyway~" she informs Hammer.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, Barred Door.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= =========================<* CHALLENGE - Barred Door *>========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Sometimes, obstacles have collapsed and blocked the pathways through the streets. The buildings, however, offer shortcuts, as sometimes paths have been cut through. You reach a place where a collapsed building might be circumvented by going through a building on the other side of the street. The door, however, has been barred shut -- debris having knocked it in place. The door has to be forced open... without collapsing the building. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Weaken=============================================
===========================<* Lost July - Round 5 *>============================ ===========================< Results - Barred Door >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 70 --(5)--> 75 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 70 --(10)--> 80 Fail Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 60 --(5)--> 65 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jude Moshe 75 --(5)--> 80 Pass Demolition Shell 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 70 --(5)--> 75 Pass Explosive Charges 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 70 --(20)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Overwhelm|Stupify(1)|Tire(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Jude Moshe has posed.
"I like to try to keep you on your toes," Jude asides to Josephine, nonchalant as can be.
And just like that, through a careful and tender and very delicate application of shoulder ramming, matlock jamming, and a healthy but tastefully restrained amount of 'excessive explosive material,' the door is blown off its hinges and sent screaming through the air, on fire, bent in half, so hard it just sort of explodes through the opposite wall.
One might think people were feeling a little spiteful.
"Well," declares Jude, whistling as he watches the door fly.
"That takes care of that, I guess.
And off he walks, past the gaping hole that was once an unlocked (???) door.
DG: Leon Albus has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - The Barred Way *>======================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- It has not been easy to locate the rumored Elw ruins. However, it seems that you may have found the way. Inside a building, a stairway made of stone instead of concrete or rusted metal leads down into a long, narrow chamber. The air is cool here, and less dusty and smelling of decay. The hallway leds on for a very long way, until you come to the end. There was a doorway here. However, someone has beaten you to it. Instead, you find the way ends in a massive pile of rubble. The rubble is much too focused. It fills the way, floor to ceiling. This was done deliberately to block the way. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Overzealous======================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
The door explodes inward, and the way is revealed into a room. It ends in a stairway that descends downward, made of stone instead of metal. A few footsteps are cut into the dust, though, and that gives Leon pause. He stops in the hallway, and glances down at the ground. His eyebrows narrow, and then he starts leading the way. His hand goes down to Argent Divider, drawing the weapon out.
When he comes to the bottom, though, he finds that there is no threat awaiting.
There is, though, a pile of rubble. He wrinkles his nose and peers back at Jude. "We should have seen if it was really locked," he adds, before he looks at the rubble. "This looks deliberate, doesn't it? It's too thorough."
He shakes his head. "Let's see if we can break through it."
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Barred Way.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily has some spite going for her right now. ...A good bit of it, for that matter. She does not pull any cigarettes, however, any alcohol, or anything of the sort. She just walks forward, glancing up at the birds and shaking her head, until they make it through the door and it... Definitely. Definitely goes. She seems to approve, nodding in some satisfaction at it as they walk ahead.
"I don't know," Lily says to Leon about the door, "I feel better." She walks the rest of the way forward, sniffing as she notes the decay... and kneeling befor ethe rubble, investigating it with her hands. "This... Yes, it does look deliberate. Looking at it this way..."
She stares, doing some math as she does, and beginning to place charges largely up, preparing to force the rubble where she'd like it to go, sticking them in place. "Won't be a problem, I think... Though this is the last of my charges."
She gets to it, anyway. There's going to be a lot of boom.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Explosive Charges toward her party's challenge, The Barred Way.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong WOng frowns as he sees this latest blocked door to impede their progress. Yeah, maybe they shouldn't have used all that stuff on the last door but sometimes you just have to do things because they are satisfying not just because they are efficient. "Elw ruins." Fei says. "...Nothing in an Elw Ruin is likely to be good but..." He looks to Leon. "Maybe I should've asked Mariel to come along."
He doesn't actually explain this comment though, instead rubbing at his forehead more. As usual, Fei is always a little unsure about investigating the past even if he's already made his decision in Adelhyde to uncover these truths.
Hammer says, "Having any more headaches, bro?"
"No."Fei says. He again does not walk at the explosives but he does pull some rocks free to make it a little less difficult to explodinate.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Barred Way.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
In response, Josie tosses Jude a glance that might be withering if it weren't for the lopsided grin appended to it. It sort of undermines the whole look, honestly.
The door, technically, didn't stand a chance.
"Better than lockpicks," comes Josie's remark, slinging the mattock onto her shoulder before she heads on through.
There is indeed not much that stands in their way.
Not until they reach the bottom.
"Definitely deliberate. See?" She gestures, plucking the cigarette from her lips with her bad hand as she gestures expansively. "Rubble doesn't fall like that. I've been in enough tombs and caves to know the difference." She smiles, as if satisified in her knowledge, then strides forwards for the rubble pile.
"Well. We're probably good to go for this, right?" she says, assessing the obstacle in their path. "Spot me a little magic after this, Tiger. Okay? I think I'm gonna need it."
And once again, she resigns herself to the task at hand and grips the mattock with both hands before digging in to make some holes for Lily's charges.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, The Barred Way.
<Pose Tracker> Jude Moshe has posed.
"It was definitely locked," is all Jude Moshe says on the matter of the door, and he says it with such certainty one could just picture him trying to open the door.
He didn't.
But that doesn't make it sound any less certain. And isn't it cathartic enough for one to just assume it was true?
Still, amber eyes stare at that rubble for a long, quiet moment. In the distance, the sound of mechanical chirping can be heard, the faraway sounds of what is doubtless a legendary battle in progress. Jude pays that clash of tiny titans much heed as he assesses the situation.
"Yep, pretty deliberate," muses the reporter, scratching the side of his head. "The real question is whether that's a good thing, or a bad thing. Either something very nice is waiting for us on the other side of that rubble..."
Or...
Well.
Jude will just let their impressive imaginations fill the gaps.
As it stands, it only takes a moment before Jude lifts that ARM again. It whines with buildup, reaching a fever-pitch as presumably Symbological energies crackle and coil around the barrel like a railgun ready to fire. "Might want to clear the way for a bit," he helpfully suggests to the others--
--before with the squeeze of a trigger, he peels off a demolishing shell from that shotgun, sending it screaming its explosive path to the dead center of the rubble to try to break through it. With forceful efficiency.
DG: Jude Moshe has used his Tool Demolition Shell toward his party's challenge, The Barred Way.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - The Barred Way *>======================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- It has not been easy to locate the rumored Elw ruins. However, it seems that you may have found the way. Inside a building, a stairway made of stone instead of concrete or rusted metal leads down into a long, narrow chamber. The air is cool here, and less dusty and smelling of decay. The hallway leds on for a very long way, until you come to the end. There was a doorway here. However, someone has beaten you to it. Instead, you find the way ends in a massive pile of rubble. The rubble is much too focused. It fills the way, floor to ceiling. This was done deliberately to block the way. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Overzealous======================================
===========================<* Lost July - Round 6 *>============================ ==========================< Results - The Barred Way >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 75 --(100)--> 175 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 80 --(100)--> 180 Fail Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 65 --(100)--> 165 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jude Moshe 80 --(100)--> 180 Pass Demolition Shell 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 75 --(100)--> 175 Pass Explosive Charges 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 90 --(10)--> 100 Fail Conditions: Overwhelm|Overzealous(2)|Tire(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Fei Fong Wong is too exhausted to continue! DG: Josephine Lovelace is too exhausted to continue! DG: Leon Albus is too exhausted to continue! DG: Jude Moshe is too exhausted to continue! DG: Lily Keil is too exhausted to continue! DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Leon Albus has successfully explored Lost July!
================================<* Lost July *>================================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - The Elw Ruins *>========================= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The path is cleared, and you find that the doorway leads into another hallway. This hallway, however, has a strange feature. Instead of being darkened, sunlight spills in -- inexplicably, given the depth of the hallway -- and lights up the stones here a brilliant golden color. The path leads ahead, to stairs leading upward, and a double door. It swings open, and reveals a strange sight: an open sky, seemingly underground. And yet, there is a shimmer in the air. Elw sorcery, which has transported you to a place of interlocking platforms that float in the mountains. The air is cool here, but you can see that the stone platforms are dotted with trees. Somehow, you have risen thousands of feet into the air, for if you look down, you can see the ruins of Lost July below. Even still, the stairway leading down will lead back under the ruined city. Welcome to the Pleasing Garden. =Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
The rubble is torn into, first by Fei and Leon's efforts, then by the mattock, and finally by explosives. However, that causes an unexpected problem -- as portions of the ceiling come crashing down. Stone ceiling tiles are blasted loose, then come crashing down in their midst. Leon shouts, leaping away from one. He shakes his head, taking a deep breath, and then rubs at his head.
It takes a moment for the dust to settle. He peers through the doorway -- and finds a glimpse of something strange. Sunlight. Except, of course, it shouldn't be sunlight from here. He looks back to the others.
"Let's go look," he says.
He follows it, and emerges into the sunlight. The chill strikes him first; he looks around, and realizes the altitude. Atop a mountain, Leon realizes, as he turns to look down on Lost July. The platforms around them float about, with bridges connecting them. He stares, then looks back to the others.
"I think this must be it," he says.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
You got it," Lily says Josie as they work. Good, or bad. Lily is not that concerned with which it is; she'll simply have to wait for it. ...She gets out of Jude's way, sets off her explosions to move with his--but as it turns out...
This has indeed been very tiring. Lily, when the rubble comes down, the ceiling crashes around them, Lily rushes forward to get out of the way, throwing a barrier of darkness above her and Josie in the meantime to try to deflect what she can. "Gh..." Sunlight, though. It can't be. She thinks... And then passes an aura of red healing on to Josie before she rises, shaking her head. "Right, let's.."
Lily steps through, getting out of the way of the others, and blinks, as she looks down, disoriented for a moment but otherwise--
"...It's beautiful," she admits, breathes, looking down, feeling some of the chill. ..."I..."
She shakes her head, steps forward. "Regardless, we take a moment to rest. We need it. Then... Whatever this is."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei bursts out laughing as he sees what just happened. They're high up in the air! Way above Lost July! His cynicism fades somewhat as he shakes Hammer by the arm. "I can't believe how high up we are!" He says, grinning like an idiot. "And it's nice here, it's actually nice! Wait--"
He takes a quick look around. He sees the platforms but--
"--And no monsters yet!" Fei says. "Or ancient evils! This is great!" He flops onto his back, laughing still.
"You're a weird guy, bro." Hammer says as he gets to work pitching Survival Tents.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Somewhere in the distance, a terrible battle is still being fought.
But for now it's neither here nor there. Birds will work it out eventually, one way or another, Josie figures.
In the meantime, there's the matter of the rubble in their path.
And the fact that when they blow it up, it takes a chunk of the ceiling in with it.
Josie yells something. It's probably something not for polite audiences, but the bulk of it is drowned out as the ceiling starts to cave in.
She pushes through the now opened doorway, briefly blinded by the light--
And comes to a halt here, gazing about herself as if dumbstruck. Red light briefly limns her figure as she then stares down.
Down at Lost July.
"Huh... I can't say I've ever seen something like this before," Josie says, quite simply.