2018-03-25: Deep Echo

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DG: A party led by Talise Gianfair is now entering Flooded Cavern.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Ride the Rapids *>=========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 The entrance to the Flooded Cavern has crumbled away from the wall of this    
 river valley, erosion opening up an irregular fissure in the rock face that   
 opens up into the cave. However, scaling the sheer cliff to descend to the    
 opening is impossible. The only way to approach it is from the small town a   
 ways upriver, by boat - and that means braving a series of rapids in this     
 river canyon. The water gutters and gushes across submerged and               
 semi-submerged rocks, making passage to the cavern perilous - but beyond the  
 rapids, the cave mouth lies. Can you navigate your boats through the rapids   
 to reach the cave?                                                            
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

The place Benedict Greygust had marked on Talise's map lies in the mountains somewhere outside Meribia, down a river from a little village simply known as Hull's Dale on the map. He'd described it as a truly ancient ruin discovered in a flooded cavern deep along a river valley.

Of course, getting there is the problem. Climbing down the cliff was never an option given the team's luck with falling off the fuggin' ropes.

Hence this option.

Water rushes past the rowboats Talise wheedled off the hands of a fisherman. As Talise poles her way along with care, she rises up a little and shields her eyes with one hand, her lips parting a bit at the sight of rounded rocks rearing out of the water - and at the sight of the current picking up towards what looks like a yawning cave mouth in the distance.

"I think that's it," she shouts back to the others over the noise of the raging river. Extending the long pole she's steering her boat with, she touches it to one of the rocks and tries to push around it, easing past the deadly stone and pushing herself into safer waters. Then she reaches for the next one, slowing down to ride the rapids carefully.

Talise may not be a dedicated sailor anymore, but she grew up on a pirate ship and knows a thing or two about how to steer a lifeboat past hazards.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    On one of the rowboats is none other than their tag-along Seraph, Lanval, who is finding this trip through the river rapids so heart-poundingly exciting and fun that he's, er, lying back and loudly snoring while his left arm dangles out into the water underneath. There are no raging rivers so loud that they can drown out his snoring.
     ...The waters might be calmer if one squints? He is one of the Seraphim, and water is his element. Maybe he's helping just on virtue of having a hand dipped in there, all mystical-like. It could be a low-key Seraphic arte in action.
     ...
     No, he's probably passed out drunk again.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia Lampbright is not a sailor born. It's something she's trying really hard to deal with.

She's feeling rather seasick.

"Oooooogh...why is it always like this on boats..." she asks, trying to keep from puking while she works to keep her boat off the rocks.

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle had been willing to try the ropes.

You know, if she had to.

Still, a rowboat seems like a good plan to her. While she isn't as nautical as Talise or Layna - she didn't grow up at sea - she is from a seaside village and knows how to row a small fishing boat around, and this isn't so different. She's a little out of practice, but not as much as might be expected.

This is because the Dream Chasers always get her to row. Mysteriously, a princess, a spaceman, a knight, a healer, and a guy who grew up in a landlocked village are not the best with boats.

Unfortunately, being at sea doesn't prepare you for river rapids very much, and so Tethelle is struggling a little bit. "How far in - do we have to sail?" she asks, preferring to be on her own two feet for as much as possible. She has taken off her cloak and is...

...well, it shouldn't make a good sail, and in fact is a little more like a banner, but it seems to be helping a bit.

DG: Tethelle Cirdian has used her Tool Feather Cape toward her party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna couldn't help but be curious. 'Truly ancient ruin' was usually synonymous with treasure, in her mind. Sure, it was also synonymous with danger, but she was a pirate! What was a life without danger? Not something she wanted, that's for sure.

"Not the vessel I woulda chose, but she'll have to do." Layna says, patting the rim of her rowboat. They hadn't exactly had any options, really - she was just glad they had found someone Talise had been able to convince to part with them.

Fortunately, like Talise she also knew her way around a ship, so she's rowing on with confidence. Of course, even to those who knew what they were doing the waters could be treacherous - even an expert had to be careful.

Though 'careful' is something Layna rarely is. If it wasn't for a certain someone having gotten into her stash, she'd probably be in the middle of a drink right about now. But unfortunately for her, she's having to actually focus on the task at hand.

DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

If they had a carpet, this would be much easier.

Sadly: they do not.

Lemina has almost no sailing experience, and a history of frankly mediocre steering ability (that was one time and the object itself malfunctioned, that totally doesn't count!!). As a result, she is frankly terrified as she attempts to steer her dumb little boat.

The bad news is that she has no idea what she should be doing beyond the most basic sense of 'move forward with paddle.' The good news is that she's wearing her furry little Chiro sandals today, which means she can at least very rapidly adjust her position when it seems like things are going haywire.

"We were never meant to navigate the rivers and seas! I'm getting mega-sick," Lemina says, as her boat rocks and bashes around.

DG: Lemina Ausa has used her Tool Chiro Sandals toward her party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Ride the Rapids *>=========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 The entrance to the Flooded Cavern has crumbled away from the wall of this    
 river valley, erosion opening up an irregular fissure in the rock face that   
 opens up into the cave. However, scaling the sheer cliff to descend to the    
 opening is impossible. The only way to approach it is from the small town a   
 ways upriver, by boat - and that means braving a series of rapids in this     
 river canyon. The water gutters and gushes across submerged and               
 semi-submerged rocks, making passage to the cavern perilous - but beyond the  
 rapids, the cave mouth lies. Can you navigate your boats through the rapids   
 to reach the cave?                                                            
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
==========================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 1 *>==========================
==========================< Results - Ride the Rapids >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     0 --(20)--> 20                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tethelle Cirdian                    0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Feather Cape                        2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sephilia Lampbright                 0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lemina Ausa                         0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Chiro Sandals                       1   Agility Effects: Cleanse              
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Talise Gianfair             0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair 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> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"It's all part of the experience!" Talise calls back towards Sephilia with a fiery grin, her eyes flashing with private delight. There's a not-insubstantial part of her that adores being on the water.

As Tethelle calls out, Talise waves broadly. "We're close!" she shouts over the roar of the rapids, reaching out to pole past a rock with a good shove.

Tethelle's feathery cloak gives her all the edge she needs! She and Layna slip on past the rapids easily enough, taking Sephilia's boat along with them. Sephilia's soon to join as Talise makes way for the girl's boat to slip by.

Then she looks back at Lanval lounging in the back of her boat.

She lowers her eyelids a little.

Digging her pole in, Talise slips past the last rock, maneuvering her boat up to the yawning cave mouth. The water rushes over the edge and into the cave beyond, but there are a few dryer rocks one could use as footholds to descend into the cave. Talise chucks an anchor off over the side. "Alright. Let's get in there. Maybe we'll find something useful," she says.

Talise pauses for a second, then.

She turns and prods Lanval a couple of times. "Lanval. Lanval. Lanval. Lanval. Lanval. Lanval. C'mon. C'mon. Giddup. C'mon. Lanval. Giddup. C'mon. C'mon. Giddup. C'mon."

This will continue until Lanval joins the festivities.

DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================================<* Flooded Cavern *>==================================================
============================================<* CHALLENGE - Fallen Column *>=============================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 Peeking out from the natural cave walls, dusty and decaying masonry,          
 seemingly thousands of years old, presents itself. A few columns rear out of  
 the rocky, dirty ground here. One of them, however, has fallen at an angle    
 across the pathway ahead, blocking progress into the next cavern. You'll      
 simply have to manhandle it out of the way if you're going to move on!        
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval's awakening is gradual. There's something oddly innocent about how leisurely he seems to just take the fact he just barely survived a run through dangerous river rapids unscathed with help of, oh, everyone else!!!
     The initial way in has a few shallow drops down flowing streams of water which is kind of fun, but also an excuse to shove him ahead as the local water expert on grounds of being a water elemental, which is not a bad idea. He comes at the bottom first, leading the way through the natural cave walls ahead... supported by ancient masonry.
     'Supported' is kind of pushing it, because it's all looking about ready to fall over at any moment. Well, at least at one point, one of the columns here did just that - laid out in front of the pathway in a cut-and-dry blockade with an obvious answer as to how one moves on ahead.
     Lanval sits down against this overturned pillar as he leans back and enjoys the sights. "Never sheen thish kinda thing before." He starts running a finger across one of the nearby intact pillars too, finding the grooves entertaining to his touch, as he laughs a bit. "Ya shee anything here that got yer eye?"
     ...Like that he's laying against the thing they gotta move.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Fallen Column.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise actually didn't bring her gauntlets with her today. They'd have gotten in the way if she'd tried rowing or swimming. Instead she's got a pair of leather gauntlets with a few plates along the back.

She runs one glove along the crumbling masonry, her eyes widening a little. "It looks ancient," she murmurs. "Really ancient. I've never seen a wall looking this worn-down before either, Lanval."

She frowns, pausing for a moment. "...Or maybe I have. Huh."

A memory gnaws at her, but she can't seem to place it just yet. She frowns, then shakes her head. "Maybe not," she murmurs as she shoulders forward, resting a hand on Lanval's shoulder and another on the pillar.

"Lanval," she says with the patience of Job, "if you keep napping on that pillar, I might have to roll you." She smiles politely.

Even without her gauntlets, Talise has more than a few advantages in a physical challenge - the benefits of her half-Beastman heritage. She slips her arms beneath the pillar and plants her palms. With a groan of effort, she begins to push. She clenches her teeth and strains as she labours to shove the pillar back into place, working against its heavy mass to try and clear it out of the way.

DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fallen Column.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle Cirdian anages to guide her small boat to a rough but servicable stop nearby Talise's - in fact, it's actually easier for her to hop from her own boat to Talise's and then to the stepping stones than it is to just try to get to stepping stones, though it involves a pretty big hop and rocks Talise's boat dangerously.

"Sorry," she says, once it's settled.

Tethelle picks her way over the stepping stones to solid ground, where she's always most comfortable - she'd always rather walk when she had the opportunity. "It really is old, isn't it?" She can't guess exactly how old, but she can tell it's certainly got years and years on it.

There are a lot of things that catch her eye. It would be difficult to pick a way to go, except Talise has done that for her. "Want a hand?" she asks, and barely waits for a response before she joins in; as Talise tries to lever it up, she tries to get it sliding, putting her entire weight behind it.

DG: Tethelle Cirdian has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fallen Column.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia is fine, once she's a little bit more landbound. She looks significantly less green! She carefully affixes Chauncey's digging claws. "Chauncey's gonna help too! You know he's good for it!" she declares, beaming, as Chauncey grows to huge size and lumbers over to do so.

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Digging Claws toward her party's challenge, Fallen Column.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

If they had to take the boats the entire way through the ruins, Layna wouldn't object. Unfortunately, this is where they need to start going on foot. She supposed that was just how it went.

She steps out of her boat and moves over to where everyone's trying to help move a heavy pillar out of the way.

"Aye, maybe we could use him for leverage." Layna jokes with a grin, then rubs her hands together.

"That it is, lass, but don't go easy on it!" She says with a glance toward Tethelle before moving in, aiming to add her own muscle to the effort.

DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fallen Column.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

Lemina has never once brought a tool to bear against rock, masonry, or random garbage. The way she figures it, if she can't just blow it up with her magic, it wasn't meant to be.

Lemina does not show Lanval any patience. But then, she doesn't really need to, either; her plan is to blow a hole in the base of the pillar, far from where Tethelle and Talise are working with it. Making it smaller -- and removing the jagged base component -- should make it a lot easier to move.

"I feel like if we had some books with us, we could figure out about how old this place is, but..." Lemina purses her lips a bit, her contribution to the pillar now finished. "... I dunno. A lot of older ruins kinda look the same to me, and most of the stuff I've actually been to is on the Blue Star..."

DG: Lemina Ausa has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fallen Column.
==================================================<* Flooded Cavern *>==================================================
============================================<* CHALLENGE - Fallen Column *>=============================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 Peeking out from the natural cave walls, dusty and decaying masonry,          
 seemingly thousands of years old, presents itself. A few columns rear out of  
 the rocky, dirty ground here. One of them, however, has fallen at an angle    
 across the pathway ahead, blocking progress into the next cavern. You'll      
 simply have to manhandle it out of the way if you're going to move on!        
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 2 *>=============================================
==============================================< Results - Fallen Column >===============================================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     20 --(8)--> 28                 Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      5 --(13)--> 18                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       5 --(13)--> 18                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tethelle Cirdian                    5 --(8)--> 13                  Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sephilia Lampbright                 5 --(8)--> 13                  Pass
Digging Claws                       3   Brute   Effects: Rally                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lemina Ausa                         5 --(8)--> 13                  Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
-------------------------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------------------
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair 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> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "Huh?" Lanval turns his head towards the pillar he's laying on. "Ohhh. Ohhhh! Ha ha ha! Shorry~" He gets up and lounges against the nearby wall instead, which neatly gets him out of the way as the rest roll up their sleeves and get to work. Talise goes about the process of heavy lifting, and starts to help get it into place when Tethelle joins her. Things seem to already be well in hand when Layna tries to join in.
     The only problem is that it doesn't quite fit onto the pedestal it looks like it might have come from, but there's nowhere to really put it otherwise. Sephy and Lemina come to the rescue, tag-teaming their sorcerous methods between Chauncey's magically animated claws for his magically animated self, and Lemina just mega-magic explodes a hole through it.
     This leaves the lifters with a smaller chunk to put somewhere behind them. Once they do, there lies a small problem - a slight decline is enough to get this smaller chunk of pillar rolling, causing another to buckle and... let's say there's a bit of a chain effect.
     At least the ruins are polite enough to collapse behind the group and not impede their progress. Doubling back might be a bit more complicated later, but that's a problem for Fox Company of the Future. The Fox Company of the Present is here to unwrap whatever gifts lay ahead.

DG: Layna Manydays has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Flooded Cavern *>=============================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 2 *>=============================================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Doberman Chest Challenge *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 There's far more down here than natural caverns, it seems: You stumble upon   
 a small alcove of ancient bricks, half-peeking out of the rubble of a cave    
 wall. Within the alcove, a time-worn metal treasure chest sits, dusty and     
 rusted shut, yet intact. To lift the lid on the chest will take some          
 physical effort to break through the rust. Making matters worse, there's a    
 creature sleeping a few metres from the chest, looking not unlike a massive   
 pale-blue water snake with no eyes. It seems to be in a doze... but it could  
 wake up if you don't open the chest on the first whack and get out of here.   
                                                                               
 	> Hit it                                                                     
 	> Kick it                                                                    
 	>Leave it alone                                                              
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure, Exhaust========================================


<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna glances back at the pile of rubble behind her. She looks at it for a moment, considers, and then...

"Let's not worry about that right."

And then they're off, continuing further into the ruins...at least until Layna's treasure sense kicks in, and she stops in her tracks.

"Wait a second..." She moves off to the side of their current pathway, and sure enough, there's a small alcove there. As with the pillar from before, it's yet more ancient construction, this time bricks and a metal treasure chest that's definitely seen better days, sealed shut by years of rust.

It's stuck firmly into the ground, so just picking it up and taking it with them wasn't an option. Ordinarily it wouldn't be a problem, except sleeping not too far from the chest is a massive pale-blue snake.

Layna considers it a moment...before deciding they probably don't want to tangle with it here.

So instead she reaches for the drill at her back. It comes whirring to life - but thankfully, not so loud as to wake it. She then begins to use it to try and remove some of the rust around the sides of the chest, to make it easier for the others to get into.

DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Arm-Mounted Drill toward her party's challenge, Doberman Chest Challenge.


<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise shoots Tethelle a grin, her cheeks colouring just a touch.

They manage to move the pillar and press onward, though as the ruins collapse behind them, Talise can't help but cringe a bit. "Well, that can't be the only way out. The water's still getting in, after all," she rationalizes with an anxious smile.

But then, something about this entire place puts her on edge. She can't quite figure out what it is.

Maybe it's the giant sleeping snake with no eyes. Talise squints at it as if trying to determine why it doesn't seem to have those.

It doesn't need them, she realizes with a touch of horror.

As Layna's drill whines to life, Talise resists the urge to speak. She circles into the alcove and hunches behind the chest, laying her hands on it and taking a firm hold of the lid. As more and more rust is chipped away, she tightens her grip and begins to pry, working her fingers into what crevices the drill can open up and forcing it open just a crack - or at least, attempting to. Forcing something this rusty and old is no easy task, after all.

She throws another worried look towards the snake.

DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Doberman Chest Challenge.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle Cirdian is glad Sephilia looks less ill now. She was worried about that. (Having never really felt seasick, she doesn't really 'get' it, deep down - though the time she got up real high in the Pleasing Garden and looked over comes close.)

Tethelle tries not to worry about things like that as a general rule. They'll need to get out, but... well, maybe they can climb over it then? Or they can find another way out and circle around. There are options.

The chest is... tempting. Tethelle takes a step toward it, but is beaten by Talise and Layna. She circles, looking toward the giant snake but never getting quite close enough to wake it - and then she has an idea.

Very slowly and carefully, Tethelle picks up rocks - big ones, but ones she can lift with both hands and set down veeeeery carefully. She makes a little wall between the snake and the chest; it won't stop it forever, but it might confuse it for one lunge if it's blind and thinks it knows perfectly well there is no wall there.

DG: Tethelle Cirdian has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Doberman Chest Challenge.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

"Yeah, I'm fine with that. I have a plan, anyway," Lemina says, brightly, as she looks back at the rubble. She then skips merrily ahead, deciding to leave the possibility of 'I have to create a relatively complex layer of ice over this to make it walkable and I'm exhausted' to future Lemina, who is probably still a sad loser trying to rebuild her guild anyway.

"Turning her attention to the snake, Lemina considers for a few moments. "... Well, that's gonna be pretty awful in about a minute," Lemina declares, albeit not terribly loudly.

Then she's almost immediately at the treasure chest because such is her way. "I, uh, I got... paaaaart of this," Lemina says, whisper-chanting. The room gradually -- but not too gradually -- becomes extremely cold. Snakes sleep deeper when it's cold, right?

DG: Lemina Ausa has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Doberman Chest Challenge.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval happens along behind them as hard decisions are made as to whether the contents of the treasure chest are worth risking life and limb in the face of the giant snake that might be asleep, as Lanval stumbles along in front of...
     He kneels down on the ground, hands on knees, as he leans forward towards the pale blue serpent at rest. He turns his head a few times as he leans closer... closer... closer.
     His dumb smile widens some more as he turns over to the others who are working hard at opening the chest.
     "Thish shnake hash... no eyes." He's having a hard time suppressing a laugh. That's so weird!

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Doberman Chest Challenge.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle Cirdian gives Lemina a Look.

The Look means 'I am wearing shorts, please watch where you point that ice.'

It's a very condensed look.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia Lampbright already has Chauncey out and be-clawed. "All right, all right, let Chauncey have a go," she says, waiting for folks to step aside so the big fox plush can lumber forward and try to jam his claws in.

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Digging Claws toward her party's challenge, Doberman Chest Challenge.
=============================<* Flooded Cavern *>=============================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 2 *>=============================================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Doberman Chest Challenge *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 There's far more down here than natural caverns, it seems: You stumble upon   
 a small alcove of ancient bricks, half-peeking out of the rubble of a cave    
 wall. Within the alcove, a time-worn metal treasure chest sits, dusty and     
 rusted shut, yet intact. To lift the lid on the chest will take some          
 physical effort to break through the rust. Making matters worse, there's a    
 creature sleeping a few metres from the chest, looking not unlike a massive   
 pale-blue water snake with no eyes. It seems to be in a doze... but it could  
 wake up if you don't open the chest on the first whack and get out of here.   
                                                                               
 	> Hit it                                                                     
 	> Kick it                                                                    
 	>Leave it alone                                                              
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure, Exhaust========================================
========================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 3 *>========================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 2 *>=============================================
====================< Results - Doberman Chest Challenge >====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     28 --(8)--> 36                 Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      18 --(8)--> 26                 Pass
Arm-Mounted Drill                   3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       18 --(23)--> 41                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tethelle Cirdian                    13 --(23)--> 36                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sephilia Lampbright                 13 --(8)--> 21                 Pass
Digging Claws                       3   Brute   Effects: Rally                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lemina Ausa                         13 --(8)--> 21                 Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Talise Gianfair             40 --(25)--> 65                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Tire(1)|Treasure(1)
Effects: 
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair 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> Layna Manydays has posed.

The party gets to work. Layna's drill has freed a good portion of the chest's lid, but there's still plenty on the inside to be concerned about, too. Talise and Chauncey get on opposite sides, both attempting to pry the thing open.

Meanwhile, Lemina elects to lower the room's temperature. It becomes quite cold, in an attempt to cause the snake to sleep deeper. Tethelle gets to work on a constructing a barrier of stones. It's a lot of work that turns out not to be necessary, but it does give the party some peace of mind.

This may become incredibly important when Lanval leeeans in close to the snake, studying it. And then... it shifts, and for a brief moment, appears to be staring right at him. Or at least it would, if it had eyes.

Fortunately, however, it does not lunge for them. Instead it just kind of curls up a little tighter on itself before going back to snoozing peacefully.

This might give the party a bit of a scare, but from there Talise and Chauncey will be able to continue opening the chest, revealing the contents.

Some of it has become worn down and unsalvageable over time, but there's still plenty of here that could fetch at least some coin.

DG: Tethelle Cirdian has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Flooded Cavern *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Steadfast Door *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The natural cave walls are suddenly interrupted by sturdy old masonry,        
 framing an enormous, heavy door with an emblem on it shaped like a crystal    
 centred by three arrows pointing left, right and up. The door is firmly       
 lodged in the wall and seems to have no handle, no mechanism for opening it,  
 nor even an obnoxious unlocking puzzle. Part of the chamber has collapsed;    
 if there was a puzzle, it's probably buried under tons of rubble.             
                                                                               
 This leaves you with one option: Somehow you're going to have to physically   
 power through this massive stone door.                                        
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle Cirdian spent a lot of work on that little wall. Maybe it will confuse the snake when it wakes up later. Well, at least it keeps her warm?

"Ugh," Tethelle half-says, half-sighs, as they finish opening the chest. Not because she's annoyed they opened it (she's not) but because she did just pick up a whole lot of rocks and move them around and it didn't end up mattering. At least this'll pay for the rowboats. You know. If they don't manage to get back to them, because of all the rocks in the way.

She waits until they're moving on before she actually speaks: "This place is kind of unstable, isn't it? I think we should be a little more careful about bringing things down, given how many loose rocks and columns we've seen... kind of like those..."

Tethelle trails off as they walk towards a large, large door that menaces with arrows of crystal. Tethelle walks toward it and pokes one of the arrows, which does nothing; then she pokes the central segment, which does nothing; then she mashes her palm against all of it at once, which also does nothing.

"So much for that. I think it's broken." Tethelle looks from person to person - no, none of them have explosives, unless Lemina counts... "Can you blow it up?" she asks, hopefully. "Or - perhaps Layna and Sephilia and Chauncey can dig at it, and then we can shift one edge in enough to squeeze by..."

She's reaching. But hey, she's willing to work to get it open - just not alone.

DG: Tethelle Cirdian has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Steadfast Door.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise is really beginning to regret leaving behind her gauntlets.

"Yeah. I think the water's ground it down a little," she admits, her voice low as she moves along with Tethelle. Soon enough, though, the immense stone door blocks their path.

The swordswoman frowns. Moving forward, she rests her hand on the surface of it, then looks towards the heap of rubble, biting down firmly to her lower lip. "...I bet there's a switch under there, too," she mutters with a slow shake of her head. "Damn...." For a moment longer, she peers at the door.

"That emblem," she murmurs. "Why do I feel like...." Her voice trails off as she knits her brows in thought.

The more pressing matter is that door. Talise plants her palms firmly and grunts with effort, pushing against it and attempting to rattle it in its frame. She squares her shoulders and pulls to one side, then the other, trying to get a sense of how the door would slide were the mechanisms it sits on activated.

"Okay. I think it slides up," she guesses, before crouching and planting her hands to try and worm them under the door. It's not really that easy and she ends up growling and pulling out a small knife to try to chip away a handhold.

"Should've brought my damn gloves," she mutters acidly.

DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Steadfast Door.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy beams. "I'm always happy to help! Chauncey's good at this kind of thing, after all! This is why he's super to have around!" She pauses. "Among other stuff. He's my buddy, after all!" Chauncey, yet again, lumbers around, doing his thing!

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Steadfast Door.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval falls back onto his seat when that snake stirs. There might still be a laugh dancing on that cat-like smile, but there's something about the way he holds up that gourd when it looks as though it's about to strike... and then it just curls back up and naps some more.
     Huh.
     He staggers along behind the group as they move onward to the immense stone door with a neat-looking emblem on it. As Tethelle struggles to figure out how to make it 'go,' or work out some kind of means in which to squeak by, Lanval does what he does best.
     Drink? That's kind of already happening. What else does he do that he does best?
     Park his tookus against it, rather than directly move to help... remove it. He sits down as Talise seems to struggle about something or another.
     "You okay there, Taliiiishe?" He hiccups. "Mmmmmm. Looksh like a wall to me. Wallsh don't open!" Lanval files a misplaced Wits check to the situation.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Steadfast Door.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

Teeth chattering thanks to her own damn magic, Lemina says, "It's fine! Part of finding all these weird ruins and caves is breaking them, right?" Lemina has never once displayed something resembling care or caution.

Speaking of which, Lemina stares at that emblem for a while, her brow furrowing slightly. "Ugh, Althena I know I've seen that symbol somewhere... but I can't think of it, my head's all full of Church of Althena iconography lately. Uggghh."

She does two things. The first is pull out a pencil and pad and actually draw the symbol in a notebook, because she's not going to have it to refer to for too much longer. The second, which is the one we've all been waiting for, is to give Tethelle a nod. "I can definitely blow it up," she says, without any sense of its thickness.

Then she actually attempts to blow it up, without any sense of its thickness.

DG: Lemina Ausa has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Steadfast Door.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Lanval, just because you can't lift all that good doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a go," Talise chides him with a dip of her lashes.

Then she ducks out of the way of Lemina's... Lemina-ing.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "I... I cooooould," Lanval considers, as he is chided, "but thish looksh like a--"
     He is sent rolling forward in an explosion. (He's laughing, so it's probably okay.)

<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

Lemina bursts out laughing, because Lemina loves physical comedy. She needs a second.

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

"...Aye, this place has seen better days, at that." Layna agrees with a nod toward Talise, looking the place over. Indeed, the next area they come to is also partially buried in rubble. This seems to leave them with nothing but a door in the way which will probably take some effort to open. She studies it appraisingly for a moment...but as she does so, she finds herself glancing toward Talise as she murmurs to herself.

"...Haven't read about this place before, have you?" She asks. She doesn't wait for an answer, instead nodding toward Tethelle.

"Aye. Don't blunt your knife there, Talise, let me handle this."

She moves forward is about to bring out her drill again, when Lemina promptly makes the door(and Lanval) explode.

"...Or that could happen, aye." She says.

DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Steadfast Door.
==============================<* Flooded Cavern *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Steadfast Door *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The natural cave walls are suddenly interrupted by sturdy old masonry,        
 framing an enormous, heavy door with an emblem on it shaped like a crystal    
 centred by three arrows pointing left, right and up. The door is firmly       
 lodged in the wall and seems to have no handle, no mechanism for opening it,  
 nor even an obnoxious unlocking puzzle. Part of the chamber has collapsed;    
 if there was a puzzle, it's probably buried under tons of rubble.             
                                                                               
 This leaves you with one option: Somehow you're going to have to physically   
 power through this massive stone door.                                        
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
=========================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 4 *>=========================
==========================< Results - Steadfast Door >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     36 --(20)--> 56                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      26 --(20)--> 46                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       41 --(20)--> 61                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tethelle Cirdian                    36 --(20)--> 56                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sephilia Lampbright                 21 --(20)--> 41                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lemina Ausa                         21 --(20)--> 41                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Talise Gianfair             65 --(10)--> 75                Fail
Conditions: Weaken(2)
Effects: 
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair 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> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

"This - " shove " - is not a wall, it is a closed door - " shove " - and you should start pulling your weight, spiritual being or not."

Tethelle might be getting a little testy.

The door may have originally slid up, but Tethelle is unsure they can move it the 'proper' way at all, and honestly breaking it is probably the easiest way; Chauncey and Layna on the hinges, Lemina with the explosives, Talise helping left and Tethelle shoving.

It absolutely refuses to move. Even after explosions, which Tethelle wisely avoided sticking her hands in; she still got sprayed with smoke and rock dust.

Tethelle steps back and wipes sweat and rock dust off her face and her bare arms, and she's getting an itch from being showered with it. There's grit everywhere. "Ugh," she groans. "Can we find another entrance? With all the damage and fallen walls, hopefully there is a different door that's open." Because this one really, really does not want to open.

It might not go to exactly the same place, and it definitely involves a longer walk, but it's okay if it gets you where you're going... right?

DG: Talise Gianfair has drawn a new Challenge.
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Dragon of the Deep *>=======================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 4          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Water has collected in the deepest part of the cavern, a vast gallery into    
 which several waterfalls stream into a deep pool that seems to go down        
 forever. Several little rocky islets poke out of the water. At the far end    
 of the cavern, a ledge can be seen with a couple of ancient, crumbling        
 pillars framing a doorway.                                                    
                                                                               
 However, you're not alone - as you cross, a massive creature hurtles out of   
 the water and attempts to close its immense, komodo dragon-like jaws around   
 you! The creature is at least ten times as long as a man is tall, with a      
 body structure like some sort of vast reptilian whale, but with vicious hook  
 teeth capable of tearing you asunder, and it swats at you with its broad      
 tail, kicking up waves and striking with its body and fins to try and knock   
 you into the water - where it has every advantage.                            
                                                                               
 The Cave Dragon - let's be honest, it's a mosasaur - isn't about to let a     
 delicious meal get away. That means you.                                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Stupify===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Yeah," Talise pants, wiping her forehead. "I don't think even my gauntlets could put a dent in that thing." She scowls at the door and the symbol set into it, then continues on.

The high ground is out of the question; all that's left is to take the wetter route. The caves descend, water cascading past over damp rocks. It's a treacherous path downward, and it opens up into a vast gallery into which several waterfalls stream, lit only by a subtle phosphorescence of some sort - and from a faint light from the far end of the cavern, where a couple of decaying pillars can be seen.

Talise strikes up a torch. The flame of it flickers off the still water, the reflection dancing as the fire moves. It illuminates the rocky hummocks rising from the water ahead. "I think we might be able to get over there," she says quietly. Even at a low volume, her voice echoes off the water and through the enormous, flooded gallery.

With care, Talise jumps onto one of the rocks, then measures the distance, hopping to the next. Before long, the group's near the middle of the underground lake.

And then something enormous erupts out of the water.

A set of monstrous jaws suddenly swing open with a roar. Something thrusts its upper body out of the water and attempts to swallow Sephilia. The girl will be able to duck away, and the thing submerges again. "Sephy!" Talise gasps, whirling and drawing Rastaban with a silvery hiss. "Damn it, where'd it go," she growls.

The water surges. With a snarl, the huge creature surfaces again. It's ten times as long as a man is tall, with a structure like a vast reptilian whale and jaws that could splinter one of those columns back there like nothing. It hurtles out of the water, lashing out with fins and jaws and tail, trying to drag the party into the water.

Into the water, where it'll have lunch.

Talise slashes at the Cave Dragon a few times before growling and swinging her seldom-used shotgun into play. She fires a round of buckshot into the water, trying to score a hit, then fires again as the monster surfaces. "Don't let it pull you under!" she shouts. "Get to the other side, quick!"

DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Trench Sweeper Shotgun toward her party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

The smoke clears, and...the door is still there. Seeing the state the rest of the ruins are in, she supposes it's no wonder that they were unable to make it budge - if the passage of time couldn't break it, why shoould they.

"...Aye." Layna agrees with a nod, and then follows Talise as she leads them into a different direction. This part of the ruin appears to be filled with water, with a few stones offering a pathway through.

As they're crossing, though, something massive emerges. Something massive and hungry. Layna curses and begins quickly reciting an incantation.

They can't fight this.

The wind begins howling around Layna and she starts rushing forward to the other side, moving at high speeds. She barely even seems to be touching the stones, if she is at all. Her primary hope is to just outpace it, while trying to avoid sweeps of its tail and fins.

DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval takes the scolding on a few fronts in light-hearted stride, seemingly intoxicated by an atmosphere he perceives to be more friendly and light-hearted than it really is. (This is normal, for him.) He has himself another drink as they start to take the route that leads further into the water, taking in the caverns ahead in stride and awe...
     But his eyes stop to open, the aquamarine colors contrasting the drab cavern walls as he brings a hand up to his chin. "Hrrrrm~"
     If there's something he has to say, it gets stopped when something big surfaces. For a person whose default form of locomotion seems to be 'teetering' and 'stumbling,' he doesn't seem to really lose balance nor stride when the lake violently breaks to every surface or action of the huge creature. A tail sails just above him, and he has himself another drink as chaos and panic besets the team.
     He gets out a white vial - a Holy Bottle.
     Lanval has a sip of the Holy Bottle before stopping himself. He gulps down a vague quantity of however much is actually within that gourd of his that may or may not contain more within than first appears, then instead pours all the Holy Bottle's contents in there. Taking the rope it is attached to, he starts to spin it round, round, and round. Droplets of Holy Water disperse and accumulate about the surface of the water. It looks... brighter. Cleaner. Water of a fountain of a clear midsummer day, rather than the eerie, dank, still water of a buried world that seems closed off from the world outside of it.
     Despite being a man-sized, rotund, disheveled wastrel, Lanval keeps that mirthful smile on his face as he dares to approach the snarling, hungry beast as it flails, strikes, and looks ready to drag any one of them into a watery grave.
     He laughs when it surfaces again. The laughter echoes more clearly around the cave - booming, even. It would not drown out the sound it makes when he swings the gourd at the end of the rope down upon the snout of the Cave Dragon, whether it seems capable of comprehending his presence or not.
     There would be a great explosion of bright, crystal-clear sparkling water from the cacophonous impact, followed by more laughter from the load of a hitchhiker the lot of them have managed to attract in recent times.
     "Be on your way in good health."

DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle is not happy they had to find a different route, but at least there is a different route. She spends much of the time walking trying to unkink her arms, though once she ducks back for a couple moments to try to get the rock dust off her. When she catches back up afterwards, she looks a lot less irritated.

"Let's get through quickly, then," Tethelle says. "I don't really want to swim it, but if we can hop across we might be in luck." She is preparing to follow Talise across.

And then a monstrous beast appears.

Tethelle leaps back an entire stepping stone - hopefully nobody was following her too closely - and lands on a relatively flat one, though there's still not much more room beyond enough to plant her feet for the moment. The gigantic dragon snaps, missing her as she ducks low, though she's still showered with water as it sweeps a fin above her head. She grins, broad.

"You say I can't fight it?" Tethelle's voice is joyous. "Just watch me!"

Tethelle draws her sword and sweeps it in a broad cut all in the same motion, the sword knot adorned with the icon of Equites sweeping behind the hilt. She adopts an unusual stance - not quite on one foot, but close, with almost all of her weight on her back leg and her other one only touching at the toes for balance. She looks like she's skipping as she revolves on her more-or-less flat rock, the sword almost dancing in her hands as she whirls it through a series of blindingly fast arcs that look like mere glimmers as they reflect torchlight in the dark.

"Keep moving!" she yells, as she breaks her high stance to bound to another rock, and then another, adopting a slightly different position on each as her feet brace against the uneven stones. Tethelle knows she can't win single-handedly, but that isn't going to stop her from trying.

DG: Tethelle Cirdian has used her Tool Icon of Equites toward her party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

"That symbol seems so familliar..." Lemina murmurs, turning her attention to her notebook again. She seems to get an idea, and starts to draw something next to it --

-- and gets exactly one line into it before that creature pops up from the water, massive and powerful, and the exercise is temporarily forgotten. She swaps notebook for staff in the span of a heartbeat, giving it a quick twirl and moving backward behind Tethelle.

"Yeah I'm actually with her on this one, let's do this!" Lemina declares -- though part of her kind of wishes she'd brought her allocation of crests and seals... oh well -- she'll just have to make do with the immensity of her own natural magic.

Lemina twirls her rod around again, starting a somewhat more involved chant than anything she's brought to bear just yet in here, shortly before raining tiny flaming balls of death on the Cave Dragon from essentially every angle.

She takes a moment, once she's done, to stare dully at Lanval. She says nothing.

DG: Lemina Ausa has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy luckily is able to throw herself out of the way with a surprised cry. "Whoah! Why me?!" she yelps, then embiggens the boldest Chauncey. "Chauncey, that thing tried to EAT me, let's smash it!" She waves her thanks to Talise for helping defend her and warn her, then directs the great big fox to go smashing.

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep.
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Dragon of the Deep *>=======================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 4          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Water has collected in the deepest part of the cavern, a vast gallery into    
 which several waterfalls stream into a deep pool that seems to go down        
 forever. Several little rocky islets poke out of the water. At the far end    
 of the cavern, a ledge can be seen with a couple of ancient, crumbling        
 pillars framing a doorway.                                                    
                                                                               
 However, you're not alone - as you cross, a massive creature hurtles out of   
 the water and attempts to close its immense, komodo dragon-like jaws around   
 you! The creature is at least ten times as long as a man is tall, with a      
 body structure like some sort of vast reptilian whale, but with vicious hook  
 teeth capable of tearing you asunder, and it swats at you with its broad      
 tail, kicking up waves and striking with its body and fins to try and knock   
 you into the water - where it has every advantage.                            
                                                                               
 The Cave Dragon - let's be honest, it's a mosasaur - isn't about to let a     
 delicious meal get away. That means you.                                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Stupify===========================================
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Dragon of the Deep *>=======================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 4          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Water has collected in the deepest part of the cavern, a vast gallery into    
 which several waterfalls stream into a deep pool that seems to go down        
 forever. Several little rocky islets poke out of the water. At the far end    
 of the cavern, a ledge can be seen with a couple of ancient, crumbling        
 pillars framing a doorway.                                                    
                                                                               
 However, you're not alone - as you cross, a massive creature hurtles out of   
 the water and attempts to close its immense, komodo dragon-like jaws around   
 you! The creature is at least ten times as long as a man is tall, with a      
 body structure like some sort of vast reptilian whale, but with vicious hook  
 teeth capable of tearing you asunder, and it swats at you with its broad      
 tail, kicking up waves and striking with its body and fins to try and knock   
 you into the water - where it has every advantage.                            
                                                                               
 The Cave Dragon - let's be honest, it's a mosasaur - isn't about to let a     
 delicious meal get away. That means you.                                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Stupify===========================================
==========================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 5 *>==========================
=========================< Results - Dragon of the Deep >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     56 --(20)--> 76                Fail
Trench Sweeper Shotgun              1   Combat  Effects: Embolden and Fanfare 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      46 --(20)--> 66                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       61 --(15)--> 76                Pass
Holy Bottle                         2   Combat  Effects: Cleanse and Liability
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tethelle Cirdian                    56 --(20)--> 76                Fail
Icon of Equites                     1   Combat  Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sephilia Lampbright                 41 --(20)--> 61                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lemina Ausa                         41 --(20)--> 61                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Talise Gianfair             75 --(0)--> 75                 Fail
Conditions: Stupify(2)|Weaken(1)|Wound(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair has failed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Talise Gianfair has drawn a new Challenge.
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Door of Songs *>==========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 At the far end of the Cave Dragon's cavern, the natural rock gives way to     
 something else: Walls of ancient, weathered masonry, with the remains of      
 angled buttresses pushing out of the wall face. Between two of those          
 buttresses, the masonry forms an arch, framing a stone slab - a door. A       
 crystal centres the door, three dark arrows around it pointing left, right    
 and up; the crystal itself is set in an ancient gold frame. It's dark right   
 now.                                                                          
                                                                               
 When touched, the gem lights up to a pale blue hue and produces a soft        
 sequence of notes - a short, uplifting song, brief, yet with a little spark   
 of something reverent clinging to those faint, crystalline sounds from a      
 time long past. When the music ends, the gem remains lit up for a short       
 time, as if waiting for you to do something.                                  
                                                                               
 Perhaps it's expecting you to sing along... to a song you don't know the      
 words to. Or do the words matter?                                             
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Vault, Suffer==================================
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

The muzzle flash of Talise's shotgun lights blistering reflections across the water's surface. Buckshot smashes into the monstrous lake beast; it just roars and slams its tail across the island Talise is standing on. The swordswoman runs out of ammo quickly and falls back on her sword. She ends up sharing an islet with Tethelle; she puts her friend at her back, and the two of them swing out together, the Icon of Equites lending Tethelle its power, Talise falling back on Rastaban's unnatural sharpness.

Both blades cut into the beast - but though stung, it keeps on coming. It hurls itself at the pair of swordswomen and forces them to either jump to the next islet or fall into the drink.

Layna sets the wind to blowing. The wind pushes the monster down below the surface for a moment - but it's not enough. It dives, then comes up rapidly on the other side of Layna, swinging that monstrous tail at her.

She'll be hard-pressed to avoid it - but she can. She'll be able to bound onward.

Lemina rains down flaming death upon the creature. A fireball hits it; it roars and submerges to douse the flames. Steam pours off the surface of the water as the monsters opts to avoid a fight with the daughter of the House of Ausa.

Lemina won't be able to kill it. But she can buy time.

It surfaces again; it hurtles at soft, fluffy, embiggened Chauncey. The fox is able to hold those huge jaws open for a moment, but it looks for all the world like it's about to bite down and rip the stuffing out of Sephilia's fluffy friend.

Until the most useless member of the Fox Company makes his love.

The creature is not magical. It scarcely seems to comprehend that Lanval exists - and as that shimmer dances across the water, it turns back, whirling in confusion. The Seraph winds up. The bottle swings.

Holy water explodes like godlight. The beast recoils with a screech and dives back beneath the water, driven below by whatever it is the spiritual drunk just did.

Talise blinks once, then again, before boosting her way over the rest of the islands. "Lanval, you are a peach!" she shouts at him with utter relief. Soon enough, they're at the other side; the monster does not strike them throughout the rest of the trip.

Waiting for them there is another door with that odd symbol on it - a crystal with three arrows. "Shit," Talise breathes, out of gas already. She reaches into her cloak for the box of Mrs. Mumford's she'd brought from Filgaia, passing out chocolate biscuits wearily.

Everyone could use one right now as far as she's concerned - even herself. She bites into one as she steps up to the door and rests a hand on it. "I hope I don't have to--"

She's cut off as the crystal centering the door alights with a gentle blue light - and a soft, shimmering sequence of notes begins to play from somewhere. There's something... reverential about them. Not so much a hymn as a simple, pure, uplifting note.

The music fades... but the crystal remains lit. Waiting.

Talise's heartbeat has quickened a bit and she's not sure why. "That... song...."

DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Chocolate Biscuits toward her party's challenge, Door of Songs.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle throws herself away from the 'dragon', preferring the defensive strategy of 'do not get eaten' to trying to take it down. She hits the water rather than a stone, pulls herself out of the water and literally vaults over one stone, landing on another.

She does not get a chance to strike again, because Lanval already has, as the light from Lemina's fire fades.

"Damn," Tethelle says, impressed. She can't think of a better word to use. She shades her eyes against the light, and she actually gives Lanval a salute with her sword; for that, he deserves it. She keeps the blade out, though - just in case.

And up here there is another door. Tethelle looks at this door, accepting one of Talise's biscuits and chewing on it thoughtfully while she stares at it as if daring it to open. It doesn't, but Talise's touches wakes something, a shimmering sound -

"I know that song," Tethelle blurts out, suddenly and almost certainly surprisingly; how would Tethelle know a song locking a door on Lunar? And yet she does. She's so sure, and she sounds it when she continues: "Talise, that's the song the spirits sing when I speak to them. The one I wanted you to sing back to them - well, try it here instead! Sing it for the door!"

Tethelle doesn't know the words either because the little wind spirit she got to sing it at her didn't use any. But she knows the melody, and she begins to hum it for Talise; her pitch is acceptable if not great, and she makes a mistake, forcing her to stop entirely, start over, and get it right the second time. But it is, she hopes, enough to guide an actual musician into doing it properly.

DG: Tethelle Cirdian has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Door of Songs.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy is relieved when Chauncey is saved by Lanval's...whatever he did that made the thing go away. "Thanks," she says, breathing hard in fear. "I thought we were a goner."

After the music plays, Sephilia does her best to recall the tune. Her musical training consists of what Talise has taught her about singing and such, and little more, so she's not very good at naming notes or intervals or any such musical theory. Chauncey, too, is little help.

"I think I remember Dad noting something useful about musical stuff somewhere in here, maybe," she says. She then starts paging through, and not being noisy or anything as a result.

DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Dad's Journal toward her party's challenge, Door of Songs.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

Well, now Lemina feels dumb for staring at Lanval like he was an idiot. Her cheeks puff out before she eventually collapses her whole face in a big stupid frown. "I could totally have taken that thing!" she insists. "It just would've mega-magic sucked."

As they move on to the door, Lemina joins Talise in taking a breather to eat. She is starting to get a little run down, and she's going to have to make a big, actually-walkable surface on their way back... best to get started now, right?

Popping her reading glasses on, Lemina takes a good, close look at the door, taking a second look at that symbol. "That... wwwwaiiiit a second," Lemina says, as she sees the full shape of the walls -- the buttresses, the archway, the symbol in the center...

She starts scribbling in her notebook, letting the rest of the party start the singing. She joins in eventually, but for her it's more of a hum as she works something out on the paper. "... I think I know what the deal is with that symbol," she notes, before joining in with the rest. ... as backing humming again, but still, better than nothing... probably?

DG: Lemina Ausa has used her Tool Reading Glasses toward her party's challenge, Door of Songs.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

It's a narrow escape. The creature doesn't even need to make contact to inflict damage, and Layna finds herself having to rapidly adjust her course to avoid getting blown into water by the shockwave from its swing.

It's not very graceful when she makes it to the other side. She doesn't exactly land on her feet, and has to sort of roll into standing. She's starting to feel a little tired out, herself...but one more obstacle stands before them.

Another door, bearing the symbol they saw before. This time, the crystal lights up and makes music. Layna stares, somewhat awestruck.

Her eyes turn to Talise for a moment...and then she looks back to the door and shrugs.

"Music ain't really my specialty." Layna comments with a shrug. "I mean, unless it wants a proper sea chanty, but..."

Instead she turns around, drawing out her telescope and keeping an eye on the water. She'll let the others do the thinking and the singing - for now, she'll just keep an eye out so she can warn them just in case the Cave Dragon(or anything else, for that matter) gets it in its head to attack them again.

DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Captain's Telescope toward her party's challenge, Door of Songs.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval's laughter softens as the creature turns tail and leaves, in concert with the various thanks and respects he's given for whatever the hey it is he just did. His eyes close back down to that droopy default he's known for, the gourd coming to a rest over his shoulder behind him. He wipes his mouth with his other arm, flicking off more droplets of clear, sparkling water into the lake surrounding him. He teeters about the rest of the path, accepting Talise's cookie offering with a quiet 'thanks' with a bit less slurring at the end than usual. It's a tasty cookie. He takes his time chewing it, as Talise takes point on the door ahead.
     Just as he's about to point out that this is a door and that other thing was a wall, it comes to life in light and sound. There's talk all around about the song - Tethelle weighs in about her familiarity with it. It doesn't strike Lanval how interesting that fact would be - but he does seem to react at the idea that one should sing for the very door.
     He takes a step back from the crowd, hand stroking at that long silvery beard. It obscures the shape of his mouth as he sizes up the door, and all those gathered around him. He presents himself as but a humble servant of the Goddess. The same Goddess who has banned song, dance, and drink from Her faithful. (One of these three, he does not appear to be adhering to in the least.)
     He has said in the past he is more than all right with them drinking as long as he's there. How does he feel about song and dance? He's never commented aloud on that front. He's been strangely silent on a few fronts throughout - was it simply because he seemed too drunk to participate in conversation surrounding it?
     He remembers being in the company of Talise's frustration and sadness about having all she loved in life taken away by Her decrees... and also her unease about this place, on anything she's had a chance to give closer examination to. He stops stroking his beard.
     "Sho... Talishe. Why don't ya take the lead on it?" He says. "Bet ya thish one was waitin' for you to come by."
     He doesn't participate, beyond putting a hand up on her broad shoulder in an encouraging pat with that dumb cat smile on his face.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Door of Songs.
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Door of Songs *>==========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 At the far end of the Cave Dragon's cavern, the natural rock gives way to     
 something else: Walls of ancient, weathered masonry, with the remains of      
 angled buttresses pushing out of the wall face. Between two of those          
 buttresses, the masonry forms an arch, framing a stone slab - a door. A       
 crystal centres the door, three dark arrows around it pointing left, right    
 and up; the crystal itself is set in an ancient gold frame. It's dark right   
 now.                                                                          
                                                                               
 When touched, the gem lights up to a pale blue hue and produces a soft        
 sequence of notes - a short, uplifting song, brief, yet with a little spark   
 of something reverent clinging to those faint, crystalline sounds from a      
 time long past. When the music ends, the gem remains lit up for a short       
 time, as if waiting for you to do something.                                  
                                                                               
 Perhaps it's expecting you to sing along... to a song you don't know the      
 words to. Or do the words matter?                                             
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Vault, Suffer==================================
==========================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 6 *>==========================
===========================< Results - Door of Songs >============================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     76 --(5)--> 81                 Pass
Chocolate Biscuits                  1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      66 --(5)--> 71                 Pass
Captain's Telescope                 3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       76 --(5)--> 81                 Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tethelle Cirdian                    76 --(10)--> 86                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sephilia Lampbright                 61 --(5)--> 66                 Pass
Dad's Journal                       2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lemina Ausa                         61 --(5)--> 66                 Pass
Reading Glasses                     2   Wits    Effects: Resilient            
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Talise Gianfair             75 --(35)--> 110               Pass
Conditions: Reckless(2)|Suffer(1)|Vault(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair has successfully explored Flooded Cavern!
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Ancient Murals *>=========================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Beyond the light lock, a long chamber, perhaps once some sort of gallery,     
 awaits. Most of it has caved in beneath what must be thousands of years of    
 rock piling up atop ancient brick and stone; a few smashed columns lie        
 strewn beneath irregular heaps of natural rock as testament to this.          
 However, a few things are intact: There seems to have once been a sunken      
 area in the centre of the room, almost like a now-dry pool. Part of a         
 pedestal can be seen within.                                                  
                                                                               
 More visible, however, is a series of murals running along the only           
 mostly-intact wall. Much of the colour and linework has been worn away, but   
 a few faded and discoloured shapes can be seen - what looks like the bottom   
 half of a woman flanked by bits and pieces of reptilian shapes, and a few     
 remnants of what might be people.                                             
                                                                               
 Only two figures can be made out almost fully. One is the top half of a man   
 in what looks like a conical red helmet, depicted with a crescent moon just   
 above and behind his head. Fragments of a couple of other figures can be      
 seen with him, but the only other figure largely intact is that of a man      
 holding a two-handed sword with prominent green gems at the crosspiece and    
 pommel.                                                                       
                                                                               
 The mural's faded a bit, but the sword depicted on the wall is very           
 obviously Rastaban.                                                           
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy wipes away a tear. "It's such a pretty song..."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise starts as Tethelle speaks up with such urgency. When she looks back to stare at her friend, her eyes are wide with surprise and her mouth open a bit. "You do?"

She closes her hand near her chest. Her eyes lower, sadness momentarily overcoming her expression. "...They can't sing this song," she murmurs with disbelief. "My mother used to sing this to me when I was a baby...." Looking up to the door again, she swallows a lump in her throat. "...I don't think there are words. I mean... if there are, I don't know them. But it's a...."

She steps forward, laying a hand at the door. For a long moment, she doesn't say anything, just lifting her eyes towards a point high on the door. The crystal continues to wait for her as she lingers, alone, with her thoughts. Or perhaps her prayers.

    I don't know why you've forsaken me, Althena.
    Maybe I am unworthy of your love.
    But that doesn't matter.
    You still have mine.

Talise closes her eyes to stop a couple of tears from rolling down her cheeks. She draws in a breath, lets it out, steadies herself in her mind - and sings.

Her voice is not loud. It's much gentler than the bawdy and upbeat songs she's sung in bars. It's simple, clean, with a purity of heart that seems out of place for someone who has made her way here through loss, pain, violence, crime, sex and despair. There are no words - she lets the notes slowly slip past her lips, rising and falling on cue as though her heart has committed them to memory.

And the crystal... begins to shine a little brighter. That shimmering blue light takes on a silvery shimmer as the door sings along with a lilting note, not unlike an ocarina.

Others join in, even if it's just humming. Tethelle makes a mistake; the crystal still shimmers a little brighter. And then Sephilia comes in, sweet and bright. The Seraph adds his encouragement.

The crystal brightens. Its light peaks. It shines like a little star in the center of the door. The song fades on the last note.

And there is a brilliant, crystalline chime from somewhere within.

The door slides upwards, retracting into the wall - to reveal a gallery beyond.

Talise steps through, her mouth hanging open a bit. Tears stream openly down her face.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia's already pulled out her journal and started sketching what she sees, wide-eyed and reverent.

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Truth be told, Tethelle was not sure, until she started, that it was the correct song. But by the time it begins, she is pretty sure it cannot be anything else. Even her mistake didn't clash with it too badly, forming a (completely accidental) one-note harmony.

As the sound dies away, Tethelle steps forward - but not until Talise does, letting her enter first. She looks around in the gallery, eyes wide as she tries to take it all in at once. It's old. She can feel it - as old as the stuff outside, but given it was sealed away, it feels older.

"Talise," she says, breaking the sudden silence. "Look forward."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval follows along inside as everyone sings their hearts out in their own way. His right eye half-opens as he turns his head to see the character of the chamber walls. The murals - what of them survive, or are otherwise not obscured by toppled architecture - seem to get some quiet notice as he has himself another sip of whatever may still be left in that gourd of his.
     He mouths something to himself that doesn't get heard. He follows Tethelle's directions, maybe confusing his name as Talise in the heat of the moment as he takes note of the most intact artwork of all the surviving murals. The man in the red helmet with the crescent moon behind his head, or the other figure of one holding a two-handed sword with...
     "Shaaaaaaay." Lanval's voice trails off as he points a finger. His hand shakes for emphasis as he waves that finger. "That looksh like... ha ha! Wooooow!"
     He doesn't need to complete that sentence.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy flips back the pages in her journal to where she drew Rastaban, holds it up and compares it.

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna looks toward Talise as she speaks. Her mother used to sing this song? Interesting. She turns her attention to the water again, but as everyone starts singing...

There's something about the song that's...compelling. Simple and beautiful, yet filled with much emotion. Even Layna finds herself humming along to it and, eventually, the door slides open.

She finds herself a bit sad that it's all over, but she doesn't voice these thoughts. Instead she stows the telescope away once more and turns to follow the others inside.

The murals inside are enough to leave one awestricken. She observes everything closely, then looks toward Talise...and claps one hand on her back. A bit rough, but gentle at the same time.

Lanval doesn't need to complete his sentence. She'd recognize that sword anywhere, from how often she'd seen it in the hands of the beastwoman near her.

<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

Lemina lets her own humming fall away as Talise sings; it's hard for her to hear the emotion in that voice and not feel a little... weird, about it. It feels so much more -- sincere, than anything she could muster.

She just listens, then -- she takes a few moments to really let that song in, let it sort of wash over her. It's a long while before she moves forward, slowly getting back to her feet, slowly putting one in front of the other.

Her eyes track over the mural -- but unlike everyone else, she doesn't recognize it as clearly. She has her own moment of recognition about something else, of course -- but she elects to sit on it for now. It feels like the wrong time.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

More than anything, Talise needs a hug right now. She lowers her head, looking away and brushing her thumb across her cheeks in the hopes of sweeping the tears away before anyone can see and draw conclusions, though she's fairly sure that's in vain at this point.

It keeps her attention off of what's in front of her. At least, until Layna pats her on the back and jars her out of dwelling on the swirling cyclone of emotions storming through her heart. Talise throws her friend a rough smile, as if to assure her it's alright.

Tethelle tells her to look forward, and Talise does. Her eyes widen. "I've never seen a mural that old," she gasps, starting forward. A wave of relief hits her - she's got something to focus on that doesn't involve her crying. She begins to reach out, but remembers the lessons learned from Lyn and Ida and stops herself, just staring at the half-complete figures and the still-complete ones with wonder. "That's Dragonmaster Louie -- it has to be. The first Dragonmaster! Look -- he's got the crescent behind him. He's always depicted like that! And look -- you can see pieces of the Dragons, and--"

Lanval points her to the other intact figure. "What's it look like," Talise begins, before cutting herself off.

With a rapid blink, she reaches over her shoulder, fumbling for Rastaban. She hastily unravels the battered strip of cloth she traditionally winds around the hilt for the sake of a better grip, revealing the green and black enameling and the curiously-shaped emerald set in silver, matching the one at the crosspiece. She draws it to expose the silvery finish of whatever kind of incredibly resilient steel the sword is made out of that allows it to cut things that should not be cuttable.

She holds the sword up to the mural, measuring distance until they look about the same size to her perspective. She compares it to Sephilia's sketchbook for good measure.

"How can that even be," she blurts out. "But I found it in--" She trails off, mouth moving wordlessly for a couple of seconds.

Then she clears her throat. "...Lemina. You said you recognized the symbol...?"

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia's eyes are wide as plates. "Wow, Talise...If that's...a Dragonmaster, then..."

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle does not provide Talise a hug, but does rest her hand on her shoulder for a moment, so that sort of counts.

"Louie," she repeats. "I think you mentioned him once, but I don't know much about him. I'll get the whole story from you later, but - " Yes. Her sword. She saw it, too; Tethelle has a remarkable eye for swords, for some reason, and recognized it immediately.

She says, "I won't insult you by saying it was merely the same design, though that's a possibility, I suppose. You told me Rastaban was very old, so perhaps it's only a little older than you realized." Tethelle steps forward and flicks her fingernail against Rastaban's flat, causing it to ring faintly (it's another trick she's very good at).

<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

"Yeah," Lemina says, snapping out of it. She gets a good look at Rastaban now, then says, "Lemme just clean up a couple of these lines..."

She continues on, noting, "It was kinda... like it was stuck in my head, at first, until I got a good look at it the second time. Having it framed by the arches and the buttresses helped in a big way, since that's kinda like... where I've seen it before." One last bit of fussing, and then:

"Here, take a look."

Lemina turns her notebook around, displaying the drawing she's intermittently worked on since a few rooms ago. It's certainly got... character, to it, if nothing else.

https:'cdn.discordapp.comattachments313540557311967242427649782929162261unknown.png

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna offers Talise a nod and a grin in response to that smile, then turns her attention back to the mural. She's not really the hugging type, so she leaves that to someone else.

She listens as Talise explains what she knows about the mural. She frowns slightly as she considers the possibility...and also as she considers Talise's sword.

"That's...huh. I wonder what it means...?" She murmurs to herself. "I always knew Rastaban was a damn fine sword, though."

She glances toward Lemina, then, as she shows off her drawing. Layna stares at it for a moment with a frown.

"...'S that a hat?" She asks, considering it. "...Where'd you see it?"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval, outside of that last 'wooooow' outburst, goes quieter as the more somber mood seems to overtake Talise - the recognition that the blade she's carrying right now may well be one that was wielded by one of the legendary Dragonmasters of long, long, long ago. That might be four 'longs.' Possibly five.
     The matter of the figure shown in Lemina's sketches doesn't seem to get any additional word out of Lanval either. He is also neglecting to have another drink.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"It's not... it's not a Dragonmaster holding it," Talise murmurs, looking up at the figure. "I don't know what he is... I don't recognize that kind of clothing. But if he's someone who lived at the same time as the first Dragonmaster...."

Talise looks at the sword in her hand again, holding it up, then lowering it for Tethelle to play with. She flicks the sword and a faint ring does indeed emerge - though higher and more clear than she might expect, almost like a silver bell being struck.

Talise furrows her brows a little. "I knew it was something old. I found it buried in this big crystal pedestal in this old cave in the desert. I had to duel a knight ghost just to get to it."

Talise holds Rastaban out again, looking down the blade and running a finger along the fuller toward a spot just above the hilt. A few characters have been discreetly etched there. "I couldn't even read the inscription on it, to be honest."

Lemina shows off her fancy artwork. Talise leans in with a blink, then bites her bottom lip as she realizes whose head Lemina just drew. "That is Lucia's hat symbol, isn't it," she murmurs. "I didn't even realize...."

Talise's brows come up. "...Then this place must be really old. Maybe... maybe even from before recorded history," she murmurs with a touch of awe in her voice. "Maybe from when Althena first brought us here...."

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy's eyes widen even further. "Dad's gonna be sooooooo impressed when I tell him about this."

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle Cirdian certainly hadn't recognized it, but she's seen Lucia only a handful of times, so that's not very surprising. She almost laughs at Lemina's art, but decides not to. She's not cruel. She can't help herself from a smile, though.

"That old..." Tethelle stops poking at Rastaban to put her hand behind her back, walking to look at the mural from different ages. "That might mean it is old enough to lead us to a teleporter, though it's probably too old to have one of its own... we should look around here more later. Not to take away from your finding," she says, "but if this is a lead..."

Tethelle gestures. "Following the ruins like this may lead us to it, as well as more information about your Rastaban."

<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

"On Lucia's head," Lemina answers Layna, with a grin. "That's right, though, it's a hat!" The mention of an inscription that's gone unread, though -- that has Lemina going, and indeed distracts her from thinking about just about anything else.

"Iiii don't think I can read that," Lemina says, lips slightly pursed. "But you should try taking it to my mom! I think out of anyone on Meribus she might know the most languages. Uh, except maybe Borgan, but my trip to the Blue Star has helpfully informed me that the thing that Borgan smells exactly like is called a rendering plant, so don't ask Borgan for help."

Mega-yikes.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy wrinkles her nose. "Ew. Gross."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"I wonder how far back the caves go," Talise muses, looking up at the mural again. "There was that other door we couldn't get through... maybe more of this building survived. Maybe even a teleporter." She moves towards Tethelle, reaching out to rest a hand on her shorter friend's shoulder. "Even if there isn't a teleporter, there might be something else useful. Something that might lead us to another ruin with a teleporter."

She grimaces. "Yyyyyeah, not gonna ask Borgan. Don't think there's enough bacon-wrapped cucco burgers in all of Lunar to win his cooperation. Your mom sounds way more helpful anyway, Lemina."

A warm smile crosses Talise's face. "I'm glad you came with us. You're pretty great to have along."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval stands off from the rest, a hand up over his mouth and chin as a few more names and things get bandied about. He seems to be lost in thought, other than the thought of 'why don't I currently have booze either inside, past, or approaching my mouth.' These thoughts may or may not include other esoteric spatial relationships regarding himself and booze that push into uncharted mathematical and philosophical territories. They may be truths the world are not ready for him to uncover.
     Whatever it is, it is enough to stop him from spoiling the moment.