2018-02-22: Serpent's Coils for Two
- Log: Serpent's Coils For Two
- Cast: Ethius Hesiod, Bethany Liston
- 'Where:Serpent's Coils'
- Date: 22/02/2018
- Summary: Ethius wants to find out more about the Serpent's Coils. Bethany is in need of a payday for medical supplies. What could go wrong?
DG: A party led by Ethius Hesiod is now entering Serpent's Coils. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=================================================<* Serpent's Coils *>================================================== =================================<* CHALLENGE - Spamming the Search Button for Hours *>================================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- The first step in entering the Serpent's Coils is to find it. This isn't easy, as it sits in a remote part of the Gunsmoke Desert. In fact, it sits in a very remote part, and the nearby cliff faces and mountains have been worn away by sand. It will take attention to detail and ingenuity to find the entrance buried under the shifting sands. Except, of course, it might also takes hours. Literally hours. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
It's a quiet time after the Caravan Kinship made it out of the madness that is Lost July. Ethius has plenty on his mind, concerning certain revelations involving Krosse. Arrangements are being made for a deeper excursion. A certain conversation brought up by Catenna needs to be followed through, when he can catch her by her lonesome - it was a matter almost nobody else appeared to be taking with due seriousness.
Until then... he's out, wandering the desert of Gunsmoke, not too far from where the CaraKin has parked. He has a few leads he wants to look into while he has the chance. (The 'leads' are of a vague nature and he's never been prone to share.)
The strange, bandanna-masked man goes for the next in a series of cursory checks for buried explosives, retrieving an eyeglass he charges with an electrical Symbological spell to give him the insight he needs to look for such a thing.
It has been some time out in the hot desert sun as it is - he may need to just head on back to the CaraKin to rest and prepare, unless something comes up soon...
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Spamming the Search Button for Hours.
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
Bethany seems to keep running into the CaraKin in the oddest places. Sometimes a town, sometimes in a dungeon, and sometimes, every so often, in the middle of the desert. That's how she's ended up looking through the depths of the desert for a dungeon that may not be anywhere.
"Now, not to second guess you or anything, but we've been searching round here for a while. You sure we're in the right place?" The doctor, for her part, is taking care as she kicks around the desert. She's dealt with enough cases of people out in the desert for too long to know what to do and what not to do for an extended period. Still, there are limits to human endurance, especially in this heat.
DG: Bethany Liston has used her Tool Patient Notes toward her party's challenge, Spamming the Search Button for Hours.
=================================================<* Serpent's Coils *>================================================== =================================<* CHALLENGE - Spamming the Search Button for Hours *>================================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- The first step in entering the Serpent's Coils is to find it. This isn't easy, as it sits in a remote part of the Gunsmoke Desert. In fact, it sits in a very remote part, and the nearby cliff faces and mountains have been worn away by sand. It will take attention to detail and ingenuity to find the entrance buried under the shifting sands. Except, of course, it might also takes hours. Literally hours. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
============================================<* Serpent's Coils - Round 1 *>============================================= ===================================< Results - Spamming the Search Button for Hours >=================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bethany Liston 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Patient Notes 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Overwhelm Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Bethany Liston has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Serpent's Coils *>============================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Inconvenient Statuary *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Statues line this room, each of them in the shape of a woman with hands outstretched. Time have worn her features to almost nothing, save for the impression of long hair and a serene expression. However, it may be hard to stop and admire the art here; after all, a row of four statues completely blocks a narrow passage that intersects the hallway. A firm push seems to move them... slightly. To progress, you will need to clear them from your path. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Secret===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"I cannot ascertain yet whether this location is in error," Ethius says, being far too eloquent for someone who is probably approaching the end of his body's ability to go 'um I'm not dehydrated yet,' when suddenly... his eyes narrow. He throws a hand back towards Bethany.
"A buried explosive. I will dispose of it." Once the two of them are at a distance he's comfortable with, he starts to chant another Symbological spell. He's acting from the furthest reaches any of his electrical spells can hit from, sending a spark to the appointed place his sight picks up -
BOOM.
...What it leaves underneath the giant geyser of exploded sand appears to be a steep drop into a cavernous system with a number of items that appear to be the product of human craftsmanship. A walkway, a set of ornate-looking platforms.
"...I cannot yet ascertain that this is what I am looking for, Doctor," Ethius says as he brings a hand to his forehead, "but this does, indeed, invite further curiosity..."
It appears safe and stable to traverse, at least. Let's see where it leads...
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
"That's an awful pretty way of saying 'no clue'." Still, when Ethius puts his hand back, Bethany stops, and waits. The explosion, however, catches her perhaps a little off guard. "Hell's bells, does everyone in your little group like blowing things up?" With that out of the way, she starts to descend.
"Well, we aren't gonna find out if we don't look, are we?" Bethany looks around at the statues that line the straightforward path, and then, eventually, the statues blocking the path. "Damn. Looks like we've gotta go through. Seems a shame."
Bethany kneels down to look at the bases of the statues, searching for either track marks or weaknesses. Eventually, she picks a statue and goes at it with a shoulder barge. And then she swears, and rummages around in her medicine bag for something, downing a pill before taking another run at it.
DG: Bethany Liston has used her Tool Painkillers toward her party's challenge, Inconvenient Statuary.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius takes a look about the statues as Bethany starts the arduous task of navigating around them. Can they move with a push? When Bethany steps back to take some painkillers after whacking her shoulder trying to push it over, he speaks once again in that overly wordy way the man like to speak.
"I believe this space has enough ventilation that it will be safe to melt the statues." Melt... the statues? These could be precious historic artifacts!!
...That won't stop him, unless Bethany objects and convinces him to push instead, but there is no doubting that this is a matter he is skilled at - casting Symbology to call forth great heat to attempt melt the statues into little molten piles they can step over after it cools.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Inconvenient Statuary.
=============================<* Serpent's Coils *>============================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Inconvenient Statuary *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Statues line this room, each of them in the shape of a woman with hands outstretched. Time have worn her features to almost nothing, save for the impression of long hair and a serene expression. However, it may be hard to stop and admire the art here; after all, a row of four statues completely blocks a narrow passage that intersects the hallway. A firm push seems to move them... slightly. To progress, you will need to clear them from your path. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Secret===========================================
========================<* Serpent's Coils - Round 2 *>========================= ======================< Results - Inconvenient Statuary >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 5 --(20)--> 25 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bethany Liston 5 --(20)--> 25 Fail Painkillers 2 Brute Effects: Resilient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ethius Hesiod 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Conditions: Secret(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
"Hey, wait, hold on a second-" But the doctor is not faster than the speed of symbology, as the attempt to melt the statues begins. Unfortunately, whatever these statues are made of, melting isn't on the menu. Exploding, however? Exploding they can do.
Stone shrapnel clatters against the walls, the ceiling, and of course, against Bethany and Ethius. The once beautiful statues are now piles of smouldering rubble. Bethany pulls herself off the ground, and pops another of those pills. "Well. We're through, at least." Still, that frigging hurt.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================================<* Serpent's Coils *>================================================== ===========================================<* CHALLENGE - Gelatinous Cube *>============================================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- Slimes infest this dungeon, but the way seems clear. Unfortunately, one of your number is struck from above. A huge slime drops down from the ceiling and falls around them! They find themselves utterly engulfed -- and the slime burns at their skin, slowly but surely. The creature also lashes out with pseudopods, trying to drag others into its caustic mass! The cleaned bones inside the slime are a promise of what awaits. However, you might notice the gleam of gold and glitter of jewels caught within it -- at least... if you're not suffocating. =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Maim, Vault======================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius, for his hubris, takes the full brunt of the blast as he slides back on his heels as he covers his face with his right forearm. Blood drips from where rocky shrapnel pierces the skin when it doesn't leave deep bruising. He seems... oddly calm about it? Then again, he managed to walk off that time with the teacup...
"My apologies, Doctor." He says as he picks up one of the shards for later, just in case as they step through towards the next hallway.
Droplets of caustic slime fall from above. Often, they seem just shy of nailing the front of their shoes, each one a reminder to watch their step lest they suffer an acid burn.
Then, from below, as if to say the droplets from above were a ruse, the stone below gives way to a swell of greenish bubbling mass that engulfs Ethius' right arm... and his leg.
"Doctor," Ethius remarks much too calmly for the searing pain that comes with having skin contact with something like this as he goes for a satchel at his belt, "these slimes do not hold great tolerance for heat. Please stand clear."
Some pseudopods whip out and about, looking to force Bethany to disregard his instructions as he chants the Symbological spell needed to activate the satchel's contents. He throws it inside to a huge cloud of dust that irritates it, makes it burble, and probably calm it down some as he transitions to chanting a higher-yield heat spell.
It is an encounter Ethius will eventually free himself from, but... wait! Inside the gelatinous mass, among the bones... there's so much glittering jewelry and gold in there! Shiny, shiny, expensive, absolutely bill-paying stuff! Dare Bethany point this out? If Ethius melts it too quick, they might fall through the cracks and gaps created by this slime's emergence...!
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Gelatinous Cube.
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
That's twice now Bethany has seen Ethius shrug off an injury that would have left a normal person screaming. "I'm starting to wonder if you even feel pain..." She mutters, and shakes her head. "Nothing for it now, let's just keep going."
The slime drops, however, quickly become a significant threat, as Bethany pulls her shotgun from the depths of her Medicine bag, and grimaces. These things do not look like they're going to be too bothered by buckshot. "Damnit, are you okay?" She says, a little panicked by the fact that roughly a third of Ethius is consumed by the large slime.
The shinies, while present, are not even a little important compared to, say, human life. She instead turns her shotgun on the slime, trying to distract it from consuming Ethius entirely. "Whatever you're gonna do, do it quick and pull yourself out!"
DG: Bethany Liston has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gelatinous Cube.
=================================================<* Serpent's Coils *>================================================== ===========================================<* CHALLENGE - Gelatinous Cube *>============================================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- Slimes infest this dungeon, but the way seems clear. Unfortunately, one of your number is struck from above. A huge slime drops down from the ceiling and falls around them! They find themselves utterly engulfed -- and the slime burns at their skin, slowly but surely. The creature also lashes out with pseudopods, trying to drag others into its caustic mass! The cleaned bones inside the slime are a promise of what awaits. However, you might notice the gleam of gold and glitter of jewels caught within it -- at least... if you're not suffocating. =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Maim, Vault======================================
============================================<* Serpent's Coils - Round 3 *>============================================= =============================================< Results - Gelatinous Cube >============================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 25 --(22)--> 47 Fail Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bethany Liston 25 --(22)--> 47 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 30 --(10)--> 40 Fail Conditions: Maim|Secret(1)|Suffer(1)|Vault(1)|Weaken(1) Effects: ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
True to what Ethius says, the heat will win out... eventually. Bethany gets another demonstration of just how resilient Ethius seems to be, mentally speaking - Symbology requires precise hand gestures along with chants. He's able to keep doing the former virtually flawlessly, even as the acidic prickling feeling intensifies.
His chants do become notably louder with every repetition. The room turns sweltering hot, as Bethany keeps peppering the gigantic organism. Buckshot burrows deep into the creature before it goes at rest, pushing the shiny treasure-y bits further and further in.
In time, the slime becomes more liquid, more soupy, and pours back down into the opening from whence it came, the clinking of jewels and coins lost with it as they also fall out of sight... deep, deep, deep into a chasm.
Ethius shakes out his leg, which managed to get out about half of the way through the ordeal. His forearm... well, there's still flesh on it. It's not a disfiguring, life-altering injury, but it is plainly irritated and reddened from the exfoliation. He brushes at it with the unengulfed hand to try and brush off the rest of the slime. He might need further help from Bethany herself to fully brush it off and treat it.
"Are you all right?" ...That's not the person who should be asking the other that! He's the one who almost got eaten!! Nonetheless, the way forward awaits... and there's still droplets of acidic slime coming in from above, so they should move quickly.
DG: Bethany Liston has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Serpent's Coils *>============================== ==================<* CHALLENGE - A Slime Already Drew Near *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you walk down this hallway, a pseudopod lashes out -- and a slime that had been hiding in a recess on the wall latches onto one of you! It grips on, burning at you with its acidic body. More bubble out of cracks on the floor, right under your feet! It seems the slimes are already upon you! =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
Again, life comes before money, and Bethany is already moving toward Ethius with some water to clean off the remnants of the acid, and only stopping her attempt at further treatment when she realises the acid still dripping from the ceiling. "Am I okay? You're the one who got half eaten by a damn slime monster, how are you even still standing?"
Before Ethius will have much of a chance to answer, a smaller slime bolts out of the wall and grips onto Bethany's leg, leading the doctor to respond with a loud curse. But it's only one as the slimes bubble out of the ground from where the large slime had melted through. Whether it's the same slime all split up, different slimes all together, or the discovery that heat allows these critters to reproduce is a whole different question. Either way, the slimes are charging at Ethius and Bethany both.
For her part, Bethany opens fire with a couple of rounds, before trying to knock the slime off her leg with the butt of her ARM. She may not be as good at not showing pain as Ethius, but the doctor is still plenty durable.
DG: Bethany Liston has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Slime Already Drew Near.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
It is a very good question! Ethius is, for all intents and purposes, another human being. He bleeds like one just fine, his pigmentation and hair coloration combination are common over in the Baskar Colony - but it does seem more than a little crazy just how resilient he appears to hold up against severe trauma, in most circumstances.
The oncoming slimes ensure there's no time to answers on that, indeed, but Bethany does at least get a sense that this man feels some kind of fatigue - spellcasting as heavily as he has, just to survive that big glob, appears to have winded him some as he elects to utilize his quarterstaff to try and stab and poke into any parts of the slime(s) that correspond to what might be their brains, but each strike comes with a risk.
They're slimes, they might eat the quarterstaff or just refuse to let it leave their gelatinous masses - but he at lest puts priority on anything trying to join in on munching on Bethany's leg.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Slime Already Drew Near.
=============================<* Serpent's Coils *>============================== ==================<* CHALLENGE - A Slime Already Drew Near *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you walk down this hallway, a pseudopod lashes out -- and a slime that had been hiding in a recess on the wall latches onto one of you! It grips on, burning at you with its acidic body. More bubble out of cracks on the floor, right under your feet! It seems the slimes are already upon you! =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
========================<* Serpent's Coils - Round 4 *>========================= ====================< Results - A Slime Already Drew Near >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 47 --(15)--> 62 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bethany Liston 47 --(25)--> 72 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ethius Hesiod 40 --(10)--> 50 Fail Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(2)|Maim Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
The slimes don't manage to get any further purchase on Ethius, deftly dissuaded by the quarterstaff, and failing to keep the weapon engulfed in their mass. Bethany has far worse a time of it, a slime getting too close and engulfing the barrel of her shotgun, preventing her main means of protecting herself. Even with Ethius' help, the slimes start to drive her back, and the acid burns on her leg get worse.
There's nothing for it. "We've gotta run!" Bethany yells, after eventually levering the slime off her leg. The one on her gun gives way after eating a few rounds, but that's gonna need a meister. "We can't hold these things off forever!"
Still, Bethany's not going to start moving until Ethius agrees. The second he does, though? It's time to start bolting and get even more lost in these spirals.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================================<* Serpent's Coils *>================================================== =============================================<* CHALLENGE - Hot and Cold *>============================================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- When you enter the next room, you find that something has gone terribly awry. Symbols (as in the things that power Symbology) cover the wall, but have been smeared and chipped away at. The result is that the door ahead is literally frozen over -- as is the whole room. The marred Symbols have made it drop to freezing, and your breath hangs as mist in front of your mouth. You will need to find a way to thaw the room out, to open the door ahead. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Reckless===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is in agreement that they should run. Once they're out of the tunnel, it takes some time before any one of them might have the adrenaline fade as such that they will stop and think to dress their various wounds... but they do so in a place that is truly breathtakingly beautiful. The reflective surfaces shine as though they were immaculately polished, kept up by whatever natural forces saw it to see fit that the ground be a slipping hazar--
Ethius stabs his quarterstaff into the ground for balance ,catching himself on the knee that was previously engulfed. A muffled grunt escapes the presumed mouth under his bandanna. It's ice. It's all ice. He looks up and around as he pulls out that eyeglass of his again to get a better look to make sure there aren't any underlying mechanisms in play... hm.
"Symbology crests." He is a Symbologist, so he should be able to recognize those. There's nobody dangerous rounding the corner. With help of the quarterstaff for balance, he goes about the perimeter of the room on his survey.
"This is most curious... the Symbology crests are damaged. They are not, at present, active." Ethius remarks. Just above them is arid, scorching desert!! Why is everything frozen over down here?
Well, at least now is a great time for him to turn on a great ol' melting spell, like old times, right? Just melt everything, ever, as Ethius seems to be of the mind to do in these parts as he adopts another set of gesticulations and incantations--
Then a bolt of electricity leaps from his hand, and into one of the crests. Huh. That's not a heat spell.
He seems to be of the mind that it would be more economically feasible, in terms of whatever currency sorcerers run on (their stomachs), to see if he can't jolt one of the crests back 'on.'
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Hot and Cold.
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
"What do you mean it's not active?" Bethany sounds somewhat incredulous. "How in the hell is this place frozen solid if they're inactive?" She looks at the wall, dumbstruck. But as Ethius has the same question, Bethany stops asking further. This is well out of her league.
For the moment, instead, she focuses on their wounds, cleaning areas burnt by the slime. And grimacing the whole time. She watches Ethius try reactivating the runes, and pauses. She's not much for symbology, but she remembers patients. "Hey, have you tried that one?" She asks, pointing at one in particular that looks rather bifurcated. "Had to stitch up a symbologist once. He was pretty adamant I get something that looked right that stitched up right, or he said his leg'd catch fire. I wasn't real game to argue."
DG: Bethany Liston has used her Tool Patient Notes toward her party's challenge, Hot and Cold.
=================================================<* Serpent's Coils *>================================================== =============================================<* CHALLENGE - Hot and Cold *>============================================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- When you enter the next room, you find that something has gone terribly awry. Symbols (as in the things that power Symbology) cover the wall, but have been smeared and chipped away at. The result is that the door ahead is literally frozen over -- as is the whole room. The marred Symbols have made it drop to freezing, and your breath hangs as mist in front of your mouth. You will need to find a way to thaw the room out, to open the door ahead. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Reckless===========================================
============================================<* Serpent's Coils - Round 5 *>============================================= ===============================================< Results - Hot and Cold >=============================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 62 --(5)--> 67 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bethany Liston 72 --(5)--> 77 Pass Patient Notes 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 50 --(20)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Injure(1)|Maim|Reckless(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Nothing happens from the symbol Ethius zaps. He takes a step back to consider which one to try next. He could attempt to heat this up the hard way, but a part of him becomes hesitant when he can't quite make out how solid the flooring beneath them is. The room... could be held up entirely by this ice. There may not even be a floor...
The good Doctor points out another reasonable candidate. Wordlessly, he carefully walks along over as to not trip and slip all over the ice, and proceeds to zap that one. It glows from the renewed energy, and the room grows warm enough that the ice begins to thaw. Drip, drip, drip...
The way forward is still covered in ice, but if the two of them dig at it with what force is available (her shotgun, his quarterstaff), they can break apart an opening and get through.
Is there a nefarious reason for the great differences in temperature between this location and its surrounding environment...? Maybe the next chamber will shed clues on that front.
DG: Bethany Liston has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Serpent's Coils *>============================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Jammed Secret Door *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- This long hallway seems to end in a dead-end. Three-fourths of the way along the wall, though, is a secret door. The good news is that it isn't so secret; it is ajar. The bad news is that it is firmly stuck, and will need some work to possibly open. =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
The path forward is covered in a thin layer of frost, as are the walls and ceiling. But nothing as prominent as that wall of impossible ice. And it leads for a long way, until that light at the end of the tunnel. Or rather, a wall jutting out slightly diagonally.
The door looks heavy, and the fact it's jammed only makes things worse. Solid stone, like the walls. She sighs, and once again finds herself going to the pill bottle. With the amount of damage she's sustained so far, she's going to need something to take the edge off the inevitable pulling against the door. She also makes a mental note to try and cut back on dungeons. She also wordlessly offers the pills to Ethius.
"I reckon we might be best off seeing if we can't get your staff in the crack there, use it as a lever." The doctor finally starts. "Unless you're planning on trying to blow this one up too."
DG: Bethany Liston has used her Tool Painkillers toward her party's challenge, Jammed Secret Door.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius regards the pills for a short while. He should be sore - he is sore. This far in, he starts showing far more properly human signs of duress. Usually he does an impeccable job even hiding the simple, slight tics humans have just from existing. His chest moves visibly as he sucks in deeper breaths than before. When he clenches the bottle, there's a small twitch, as though it pains his forearm to grab onto something that tightly. There was that slight limp from when he fell on his knee in the icy chamber.
Remarkably, he hands the bottle back.
"The thought is appreciated." He says with that same even tone of voice... he's in pain. Why won't he just take the medicine? Whatever his reasons, he seems to go along with her idea. The make of the stone here doesn't seem different from the statues, and they both know how that turned out...
He sticks the quarterstaff into the gap and starts attempting to apply leverage, taking in deeper breaths as he puts his back into it. If they can just get this open...
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Jammed Secret Door.
=============================<* Serpent's Coils *>============================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Jammed Secret Door *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- This long hallway seems to end in a dead-end. Three-fourths of the way along the wall, though, is a secret door. The good news is that it isn't so secret; it is ajar. The bad news is that it is firmly stuck, and will need some work to possibly open. =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
========================<* Serpent's Coils - Round 6 *>========================= ========================< Results - Jammed Secret Door >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 67 --(5)--> 72 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bethany Liston 77 --(5)--> 82 Pass Painkillers 2 Brute Effects: Resilient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ethius Hesiod 70 --(20)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Reckless(1) Effects: Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
Sometimes the simple methods are the best, the door yielding to the combined strength of Bethany, Ethius, and the concept of levers. What lies beyond isn't immediately visible, but there is something deeply satisfying about the door being thwarted.
Bethany shakes her head as the offer of painkillers is declined. "It's your call." Still... There is no way Ethius is going to not need medical attention by the time they're done here. The same applies to Bethany herself, of course, as there's more than a few nasty burns that she'll need to handle herself. Or find someone else, but the idea doesn't appeal.
"Well then," She indicates the now open door. "Shall we?
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================================<* Serpent's Coils *>================================================== =========================================<* CHALLENGE - Collapsing Catwalks *>========================================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- The lowest chamber is, like some of the rooms here, multi-leveled: this time with three. You enter the room on the highest, on an ancient wooden catwalk. The rails are dusty and the boards dry. After a few steps, the wooden catwalk starts to collapse! It is a long way down -- but a few places look safer, where ledges and more sturdy catwalks might hold your weight. Otherwise, it will be a long, painful way down... and because a pit is along the rim of the room, you may not be able to reach the end of the dungeon. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
It's a short trek from the pried-open door before they come across a vast chasm. They can hear the wind rush through... it's a long, long drop below. Ethius elects to go first, stepping onto an ancient wooden catwalk ahead--
It snaps, and falls apart. He leaps back in the nick of time to prevent plummeting. Looking to either side, there's a series of other routes they might be able to take... short hops, arduous climbs over a pit that does not seem to end within the reach of their eyesight.
"I will attempt to scout ahead a more suitable route," Ethius says as he gets out a patchy sack, wrap the harness around his wris-- not that one, the one that stings. He puts it on the uninjured forearm, then goes about casting the proper yield of heat spell to gain some lift and start hovering between promising ledges.
Bethany is free to try and follow, though there is the possibility that the footing might get too dangerous, and potentially strand them in a place where they can't easily get back up.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Collapsing Catwalks.
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
The room feels ready to collapse at any point. This is an awfully bad time to only have your own two feet to move around on. Unfortunately, that's all that Bethany's got at the moment. "S-sure." The doctor responds, looking around. There's no room to be slow here, which is a real pain at this point.
Bethany gives Ethius time to scout ahead, but waiting doesn't seem an option, as the first few steps of the catwalk give way and Bethany is given no option but to jump on and start running. "Oh for the love of..."
Raw speed and persistence are all Bethany can put into this last charge, hoping she has what it takes to get to the end. After the amount of pain they've been through, it'd suck to fall short.
DG: Bethany Liston has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Collapsing Catwalks.
=================================================<* Serpent's Coils *>================================================== =========================================<* CHALLENGE - Collapsing Catwalks *>========================================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- The lowest chamber is, like some of the rooms here, multi-leveled: this time with three. You enter the room on the highest, on an ancient wooden catwalk. The rails are dusty and the boards dry. After a few steps, the wooden catwalk starts to collapse! It is a long way down -- but a few places look safer, where ledges and more sturdy catwalks might hold your weight. Otherwise, it will be a long, painful way down... and because a pit is along the rim of the room, you may not be able to reach the end of the dungeon. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
============================================<* Serpent's Coils - Round 7 *>============================================= ===========================================< Results - Collapsing Catwalks >============================================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 72 --(100)--> 172 Pass Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bethany Liston 82 --(100)--> 182 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Ethius Hesiod 90 --(10)--> 100 Fail Conditions: Slow(2) Effects: Resilient(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: Ethius Hesiod is too exhausted to continue! DG: Bethany Liston is too exhausted to continue! DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has successfully explored Serpent's Coils!
=================================================<* Serpent's Coils *>================================================== ========================================<* CHALLENGE - Ancient Account Books *>========================================= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- As you proceed from the final room, you find a door that -- mercifully -- is not sealed. It leads into a room filled with shelves, and some have books on them. The room is dry enough to preserve the books -- and opening them reveals them to be accounting ledgers. While not immediately valuable, historians and museums might pay a pretty gella for the information contained within. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius floats on ahead. His descents are careful and calculated - but as Bethany takes her route forward, it becomes ever clear that this is not something they can take slow! Things become more frantic as Bethany goes lower and lower down the route, and Ethius finds he has to cut off the Hot Air Sack's airflow in order to get down to her level... but footing gives out, and a sure plummet awaits...!
Ethius chants and gesticulates that heat spell again as he wraps that arm around Bethany for the save (barely). He has to pick up his legs in order to even make landfall on the final platform as the two just barely survive that final descent. They both might need to take some time to catch their breath and reflect upon the near-death experience...
When they find it in them to proceed into what lies beyond, it appears to be full of... cabinets. Shelves. Books. Someone's office? The room is dry enough that its contents have been well-preserved over the years. A cursory glance will reveal them to be... ledgers. Accounting? Purchases, debts, sales... books contain ancient contracts of some kind.
"Doctor." Ethius says as he steps away from one such pile of written documents regarding expenditures. "You may do with these as you wish."
...Does this mean he's leaving empty-handed? He doesn't look her in the eyes. "All I ask in turn is your discretion." ...What does that mean?! Deos he want this to have been a secret? It's not like there was anything crazy super secret in here that shakes the foundations of the Badlands, is there?!
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
Speed and persistence just aren't enough, and the floor is falling faster than Bethany can run. It is inevitable that she puts a foot in front of her and there is nothing there to catch it. She grabs onto the next slat of the catwalk, but that comes away in her hands. It's only Ethius' quick thinking that stops her from taking the long way down. Reflexively, she grabs tightly onto him to stop from falling. Somehow, they make landfall. Just.
It takes Bethany a few minutes to recover herself when they finally land, the doctor's breath is ragged and heavy. "...hell's...bells" she splutters, before finally stabilising. When she makes it into the room, she looks at Ethius before she looks at the haul. "Thanks for that." She manages, her breath still a little heavy. "I wouldn't have made it if you didn't grab me."
It's only after Ethius offers her everything that Bethany looks. Oh good. Paperwork again. Still, to the right buyer...
But then she pauses. "You don't have to buy my silence if that's what you want." The doctor collects some of the ledgers, even as she says that. "If you don't mind me asking, why don't you want anyone knowing?" Bethany doesn't really expect an answer. After all, if he wants it kept secret he was here, he probably wants to keep those reasons a secret as well.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
If he doesn't reply, does that means he doesn't mind saying? Turning his back to the Doctor, he opens back up the door to the way they came - which they are going to have to navigate in order to return to the surface.
"I believe I see a safe climb for us to return whence we came." ...Ah, he's going with the 'deliberately not answering version of saying he does mind someone asking.' "I will be prepared to make the ascent once you've finished discerning what you will be taking back."
...Well, at least he's a free hauling service, so she can take back twice the stuff for herself... but he risked life and limb as much as she did for this. Hell, he almost got eaten by slimes over it... and blown up... but he seems intent on leaving empty-handed with just the experience, when all of Filgaia is struggling to make ends meet.
Just a bored scholar of Ignas with nothing to do, or...? Well, maybe that's not important right now.
<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.
Fair enough. Bethany shrugs, and starts going through the documents. "Well, if you're sure you don't want anything..."
She probably spends about fifteen minutes looking for the items that are in the best condition, rather than trying to ascertain necessarily the significance. That's not really her realm of expertise. Perhaps a bit surprising that the scholar doesn't seem to care, but so be it. Either way, she ends up with a couple of neat parcels of information. "Alright then. Let's get out of here, shall we?"
Bethany doesn't probe again, instead heading to the door out. "You really have to wonder who'd go all this way for some ledgers." It's more musing out loud, than anything. Just something to pass the time as they head for the surface.