2018-03-31: The Pursuit of Knowledge
- Log: The Pursuit of Knowledge
- Cast: Matilda Whitehead, Riesenlied, Noeline, Ambrosius, Emma Hetfield, Dean Stark, Ethius Hesiod
- Where: Gaferis Ruins
- Date: 31st March 2018
- Summary: A team of Drifters enters the Gaferis Ruins. But why do we take artifacts out from the ruins?
DG:: A party led by Matilda Whitehead is now entering Gaferis Ruins.
DG:: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==============================<* Gaferis Ruins *>===============================
===========================<* CHALLENGE - Doorjam *>============================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Doors from the ancient age just aren't all they're cracked up to be. Why,
some of them just don't make a lick of sense in understanding when they work
and when they don't. This case seems to be the latter: time has rusted metal
and distorted stone in a way that makes this vertically-opening entranceway
just kind of stuck, partially-open, with a sliver of space between it and
the weed-swept floor. You can try to break it down, or force it up -- but
fortunately, there's a number of helpful tools and items here to take with
you before you do, probably left behind by intrepid explorers who failed to
wedge the door open. Hurray!
... Best not to wonder what happened to those intrepid explorers. You'll
probably be fine.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
The good news: Your brave expedition leader has been here before!
The bad news: She remembers about 40% of the trip.
Matilda's put the call out to a wide range of her friends, knowing full well that most will be busy -- she distinctly remembers the claw marks and the fact that something was... 'up' with these ruins, at least, and wants to get a big crew together to explore the interior as a result.
It's early in the evening as they arrive at the stone halls of the mausoleum -- or, well, arrive right outside it, in what appears to be the abandoned camp of a previous failed expedition, with hammers and chisels strewn everywhere. The door being stuck halfway-open... /feels/ like an improvement since last time? Perhaps the previous group accomplished that.
"... I'm actually inclined," Matilda remarks to her assembled compatriots, "to just break this..." She reaches into her satchel, pulling out a sky-blue vial of some kind. She very carefully applies it to the door's top, hoping to sever it neatly with the corrosive material. Even if it doesn't outright carve it, it'll at least make it /much/ weaker for everyone else.
DG:: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Bubble Lotion toward her party's challenge, Doorjam. You paged Fei Fong Wong with 's-scary...'
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied is perched in a somewhat more classical place for her -- on an outcropping higher above the abandoned camp as she closes her eyes and holds her hands to the Tear, overlooking the mausoleum.
"Here, as well... what is it that you are trying to tell me?"
She has little understanding of whether these Ruins are connected or not... but after what she'd discovered in Tintagel, it was paramount that she continues to investigate.
"Oh... Matilda..." Riesenlied speaks as she hovers down, careful to not strain her wings too much. She laces her hands together. "You look better... I'm glad. Is Kaguya with us as well?" She looks around, but then looks towards the door as--
Something rumbles from the /other/ side, trying to unstick the door. There's a desperate noise of 'wark!' as yellow feathers fluff up from the other side.
"Oh, Loccy... are you here as well?"
The big feathered creature that's definitely a cucco and not a certain other winged horsebird passing off as one squawks in desperation.
"Do your best..."
DG:: You use your Tool Flute of the Cucco Queen against your party's Challenge, Doorjam!
DG:: Riesenlied has used her Tool Flute of the Cucco Queen toward her party's challenge, Doorjam.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius has /not/ been here before. He had an interest in it, however. He could hardly call himself a man with an interest in history if he did not take the opportunity to explore the various ruins of this planet while they were available to him.
The differences between Filgaian and Lunarian ruins were fascinating, but expected. After all, the cultures involved were quite different. And yet, they still had a puzzling disposition toward puzzles and doors that were difficult to open.
He supposed that particular interest was something that was simply universal.
He arrives to the ruins alongside Matilda, and is interested to see a familiar face here. Kaguya is not present, but another Veruni is.
"Miss Riiiesenlied..." Ambrosius greets with a polite bow of his head. After their previous chat, he seems much less nervous around her. That's an improvement, at least.
But, of course, before long his attention turns to the obstruction before them. Matilda decides to just break it, and Ambrosius nods. Truthfully he would prefer an opportunity to study it...but there was no telling how long that would take.
He moves in, grabbing the door from underneath. It's a big, heavy slab. If they simply break it, it might fall down and hurt someone or damage the ruins. He aims to support it, so that he can be ready to move it out of the way when necessary.
This may also mean that he is unable to see certain members present, for the time being.
DG:: Ambrosius has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Doorjam.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
Emma Hetfield has also also not been here before.
IMPORTANT EDITOR NOTE: Emma is still dressed like Byakuren. This means black/white travelling clothes with a lacy strapping habit and a pretty free and loose chest.
"My dear woman," Emma says to Matilda, "You don't have to just break it down like some kind of peasant or - you know, I can't even muster a sassy word about Shakahn now. Good Guardians; if I'm stuck here long enough, will Shakhan become... nostalgiac...?"
Her eyes turn towards the manifestation of the Stout Cucco, even as she approaches the door. Bending over, her hips wiggle as she hums and leaves splatted pieces of white paste here and there where she estimates hinges might be. "You keep doing you," Emma tells Ambrosius, stepping back and announcing, "Hit that paste, and see the truth. We'll foul the fields of paradise beyond repair, Matilda!"
A pause. "That's a metaphor," she says, "for doorbusting. Don't actually foul the fields of paradise, even if it means the stock price goes up."
DG:: Emma Hetfield has used her Tool The Anti-Door Equation toward her party's challenge, Doorjam.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean's never been here before! There are lots of places in Lunar and especially Glenwood that he's never been before. That just means there's more things to explore and discover! And while exploration isn't his *main* goal, it'll only help him reach what *are* his main goals. Thus, when Matilda had sent out word that she'd wanted help exploring this particular dungeon again, he'd been more than happy to respond to his friend's call.
"Huh," he utters as he peers at the half-stuck ruin door. "I feel like... I've seen this door before..." He scratches his head, befuddled. "I could swear I've never been here before though... Huh?"
Regardless, Matilda's applying a corrosive liquid on the door, and Riesenlied is having her Legally Distinct From A Chocobo friend shove at it, and Ambrosius, who Dean doesn't know and so certainly doesn't know is a Veruni but he gives a friendly wave to anyway, moves to support the door. "Here, let me help you out with that," he says to the Veruni, walking up next to/behind him. Dean then takes out his shovel and moves to use it as a swivel to help push the door upwards. Maybe it'd be easier to destroy it as Matilda says, but Emma apparently doesn't want it broken, so... well, if they do have to break it, there'll always be time for that later!
DG:: Dean Stark has used his Tool The Trusty Shovel toward his party's challenge, Doorjam.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline picks her way down the outcropping, though a little faster than Riesenlied does; she has no way to hover under her own power, after all, so instead she simply skids down the slope, her spear tearing a line behind her as she uses it for balance and to moderate her speed. A few jogged steps draw her to a halt, eyebrows raised up at the sight of the rusted-shut gates.
Noeline hasn't had the chance to catch up with Ambrosius just yet - and for just a moment, she hesitates at the sight of the Veruni, even if her smile becomes an amused and slightly playful grin. A moment later, she nods in greeting, accepting Riesenlied's stance on the whole matter. "It's been a while, hm?"
"Ah, speaking of which - I believe she mentioned she had a work contact to go and see," the twintailed spy-turned-knight-of-sorts notes towards her partner and Matilda both, shrugging one shoulder as she steps up to the gate to lay a gauntleted hand against it.
"This place has been closed for a while," she huffs, frowning as she waves her free hand forwards. Even here on Lunar, her pods appear to be whole and intact, though Strife appears to have taken some pains to disguise itself as, uh, as a spooky ghost? Covered in a couple of white handkerchiefs, there's a crudely drawn face on the front. Trouble, meanwhile, it still in the throes of cuccodom - and when there's an answering call from behind the door, the little pod emits an electronic squawk and begins flustering and banging at the door out of a mixture of eager excitement and apparent worry.
Noeline watches the ARM get to work with a rather put-upon sigh; she glances aside towards Emma and Dean, shrugging her shoulders. "I suppose I could simply tear the door down, if we absolutely need to. It would not exactly be subtle, though, nor particularly stealthy," she admits with a lopsided grin. "From what I've heard of the inhabitants, perhaps best not to wake them just yet."
DG:: Noeline has used her Tool Trouble toward her party's challenge, Doorjam.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
There is another present among the eager to explore. Whether they are actually eager to do much of anything is kind of questionable, at best. He might not have actually been directly asked for by Matilda when she put out the call, but here he is, anyway. Why isn't he just back making things difficult for Jacqueline and the rest of the Caravan Kinship? Good question. Ethius, dressed with a hood and looking more like a local ruffian on Lunar rather than on Filgaia (desc pending) is a bit further off from most of the rest, taking in the number of people who have arrived. He catches sight of Riesenlied atop the outcropping, taking most important mental note of her proximity to him as she hovers down to join Matilda. He knows that voice by ear. Ambrosius. He watches as they move to lift the door up from underneath. He watches the eccentric, brilliant genius that is Emma bring her wisdom and personality full-bore with a casual air in the face of so much uncertainty for their present environs. He watches as the excitable young man Dean joins Ambrosius side-by-side in opening the door. He watches as Noeline follows suit from where Riesenlied once stood, eyes falling upon the two pods as she makes light conversation. He stands there, watching. Maybe if he stares hard enough, the door will get anxious and buckle under the... disapproval? Or at least open in gratitude that the man doesn't just try to melt the thing to slag like he seems to do just about /anything/. That's actually an even better question! Why isn't he just out and out melting the thing?!
DG:: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Doorjam.
==============================<* Gaferis Ruins *>=============================== ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Doorjam *>============================ |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Doors from the ancient age just aren't all they're cracked up to be. Why, some of them just don't make a lick of sense in understanding when they work and when they don't. This case seems to be the latter: time has rusted metal and distorted stone in a way that makes this vertically-opening entranceway just kind of stuck, partially-open, with a sliver of space between it and the weed-swept floor. You can try to break it down, or force it up -- but fortunately, there's a number of helpful tools and items here to take with you before you do, probably left behind by intrepid explorers who failed to we
DG:e the door open. Hurray!
... Best not to wonder what happened to those intrepid explorers. You'll probably be fine. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure================================================= =========================<* Gaferis Ruins - Round 1 *>========================== =============================< Results - Doorjam >============================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matilda Whitehead 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Bubble Lotion 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ambrosius 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Riesenlied 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Flute of the Cucco Queen 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Noeline 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Trouble 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass The Trusty Shovel 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emma Hetfield 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass The Anti-Door Equation 4 Brute Effects: Efficient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Matilda Whitehead 0 --(25)--> 25 Pass Conditions: Treasure(1) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG:: The party led by Matilda Whitehead 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> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
"Not today, sadly," Matilda says, with a shake of her head at Riesenlied. "She's been quite busy, yes." She gives Riesenlied a small smile at that, at least. -- and a moment later, her gaze turns to Noeline, who she gives a small wave. It's good to see the both of them, she thinks.
Emma's words of magnificent wisdom get Matilda a little startled; she raises an eyebrow at Emma, saying, "Ah -- right. I... see?" She moves up toward Dean, instead, letting him take point on banging on the door, with Trouble supporting.
Ethius... Matilda was actually hoping for someone /else/ from the Carakin when she put out that call, but hey -- it's not as though she can afford to be picky in this situation. She doesn't ask him for help.
Emma and Matilda's concoctions, together, helpfully allow everyone to snap the door off, and Ambrosius to subsequently remove it without incident. Progress!
DG:: Riesenlied has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Gaferis Ruins *>============================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - King of the Hill *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Gaferis is very far from a pristine and untouched place. Columns and pillars of rusty reds and browns have long since fallen into disrepair. Ceilings have crumbled and collapsed. Walls have been broken, either purposefully or as a natural course of weather or time or any other number of reasons. And sometimes, entire passageways have become clogged with this rubble. Such is the case here; too much debris chokes this long, wide hall to be cleared -- but it can be climbed over, if one is nimble enough, adept enough to avoid the weak points liable to give out from underneath them, and avoid the jagged edges of ruin that scatter across this space. Sounds like a fun time, right? Right! Lucky you! =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied's speech is cut short when she whips around and sees Ambrosius. "Mister Ambrosius..." she nods slowly, thinking back to their conversation last time. Though they couldn't work together directly, given how awkward it would be... there could still be times like this. And she wouldn't have to worry about him. He's resourceful.
Emma and Dean appear next, and there's a heartwarmed expression as she says, "Miss Hetfield, Dean! Rebecca told me she hadn't caught up with you... have you seen her at Vane?" She tilts her head towards Noeline as she follows her down, and looks towards the pods.
"Strife and Trouble have been making really nice decorations for themselves..." as Trouble bonks against the door and helps Loccy get unstuck, and Ambrosius finishes the way, whew!
There is a look of nervousness at Ethius for a moment, as she brushes her hand to the Tear for a moment. She sighs and steps forward--
And even though they were careful, time has clearly gotten the better of this mausoleum. There's simply too much rubble and debris to clear here...
"It's rather dangerous to climb over, given how jagged it all is, but I don't see another option."
She looks towards Strife and quietly sits down on it, smiling as the ARM pod quietly pulls her up. "Thank you..."
DG:: Riesenlied has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, King of the Hill.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"...You have my graaatitude..." Ambrosius offers with a nod toward Dean. His focus is still on the door, even when Noeline addresses him.
"Iiindeed...I hope you are well..." He replies.
Through the combination of some rather fascinating mixtures and good ol' hard work, the way is open and they're allowed to proceed. It is around this time that Ambrosius spots Ethius. Ambrosius watches him back, but only for a moment. No, to Ambrosius, the more important thing was that he continue forward to study this ruin properly, as it deserved.
As such, even though the way forward has clearly seen better days, he proceeds at somewhat of a leisurely pace. Not that there's much left here for him to see, but he's doing his best.
He appears to be murmuring something quietly to himself. It's probably better if you don't listen too closely, lest you fall victim to Ruin Nerdery.
DG:: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, King of the Hill.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"... you haven't even caught up with her?" Noeline asks out of the blue, echoing Riesenlied's own question - and then she sighs in abject disbelief, a hand at her forehead as the gates are forced open. "Honestly... really, you should have some sense of priorities for this sort of thing, you realize. It's rude to keep a young lady waiting on an unfamiliar planet," she lectures with a finger out and a frown, though her eyes are positively grinning.
She's quick to nod to the others, at least, especially Emma - who appears to get a nod of actual significant respect. After all, getting the Fereshte moving - let alone when they needed it the most - was something far beyond her own capabilities, and more or less the only reason she's still standing today.
"If only I knew where they actually /get/ those decorations /from/," she huffs in return to Riesenlied, taking her partner's hand to help her onto the pod's back in a familiar fashion. "I'm starting to wonder whether an upset shop owner will come knocking on my door one of these days."
She takes the pile of rubble with aplomb. Even if she tends to rely on her pods far too much, she's still a very nimble sort, hopping up a few feet at a time from outcropping to outcropping. You might wonder how a being made of metal doesn't instantly collapse some of the weaker parts of the structure, but somehow it just seems to work out.
DG:: Noeline has used her Tool Strife toward her party's challenge, King of the Hill.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
That is an open door. Dean tucks his shovel away, takes a few steps back to give Ambrosius some space, and dusts off his hands with a look of satisfaction. "No problem! We're all in this together, after all," he tells the Veruni. To Noeline, he says, "Looks like you didn't have to tear it down, huh?"
He brightens as Riese calls to him, though it changes to a puzzled look at her and Noeline's questions before he shakes his head. "Rebecca, at Vane? No, but we met up with Avril at Meribia not too long ago. We'll probably try heading to Vane at some point, but we got caught up in some other things first!" Like an avalanche. That's probably better left unmentioned.
Inside, the Gaferis Ruins are... a mess, as ruins often are. This passageway is *particularly* messy, with tons of debris stacked up all over. Dean isn't too put out by it, though; he's young and limber, and he's quick to climb over and offer a hand to anyone who needs it. Of course, in his enthusiasm, he might end up tripping on some loose rock or something, but there's no point in worrying about things before they happen. That's the Dean creed! (That's not actually the Dean creed. It may as well be, though.)
DG:: Dean Stark has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, King of the Hill.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Riesenlied, when she looks Ethius' way, will find that stare of his is unyielding. He is also standing too far away to let the Tear get much of an emotional read on him - this much has become standard since the Haunted Library. He's here, in some capacity. Did he catch wind of lost technology being found within the ancient tomb? Ambrosius gets that same stare. Really, who doesn't... He follows the rest inside. He doesn't bother to say 'hello' or 'I am glad that you survived and are alive' or 'I am a perfectly normal human being in the company of other perfectly normal life forms in a perfectly ordinary situation' or much of anything of the sort as he looks to the pile of rubble in the way. He's content to let as many try and go ahead of him as they can. When he finds an adequate outcropping to climb for the best starting height, he gets the Hot Air Sack's harness wrapped around one wrist and goes about the process of casting the necessary yield of heat spell for the initial lift to try and carry him over it... very slowly. Slow enough that if they move fast enough, they could conceivably leave him behind.
DG:: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, King of the Hill.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Matilda scoots closer to Ambrosius, clearly interested in Ruin Nerdery.
Like Dean, however, she's ultimately fairly enthusiastic about climbing; it's always been one of her best forms of exploration, really. ... when you live on a farm, have a massive sweet tooth, and want to eat just a /little/ more than is prepared, you learn how to climb in a big way. Well, that or you don't get fresh apples and oranges, but, you know, that's the path of a sucker.
"I'm surprised how many groups are using Vane as a base of operations," Matilda reflects, making conversation. "I've been there, of course, but it's a little..." She's unsure how to phrase the thing she's thinking, so instead, she does not. At all.
Noeline gets a smile as Matilda continues her climb, as Matilda notes, "If they're decorating themselves so tastefully, well -- that's its own impressive sort of trick, isn't it? Surely they can get out of any trouble they cause..."
DG:: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, King of the Hill.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
As the door is splatooned open, Emma walks through. Struts, almost. Maybe she's enjoying not living in a desert. "I don't know who that is!" she answers Riesenlied gaily, before beaming at Dean. There is little time for introduction.
Actually there's a ton of time for introduction.
Emma starts unlimbering the Punchy Gun Mk 2 (it's a crossbow) from her hip bag, as the rubble appears before them. "At least we didn't cause this, probably," Emma muses. "But then, who did?" As she raises the weapon and takes aim, with a TWHIP! she takes off the inevitable reel on top and starts to use it as a power assist. Pulling herself forwards, assisting jumps... She'll probably toss it down to someone else to use afterwards.
This is the power of the one Emma Motor on Lunar...!! (Except for all the others.) (There is like one other.)
"I imagine," she answers Matilda, "it's for a range of factors... one of which is a lack of deep local heat! Which is slang for 'a strong force of posted Guardsmen.'"
DG:: Emma Hetfield has used her Tool Punchy Gun toward her party's challenge, King of the Hill.
=============================<* Gaferis Ruins *>============================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - King of the Hill *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Gaferis is very far from a pristine and untouched place. Columns and pillars of rusty reds and browns have long since fallen into disrepair. Ceilings have crumbled and collapsed. Walls have been broken, either purposefully or as a natural course of weather or time or any other number of reasons. And sometimes, entire passageways have become clogged with this rubble. Such is the case here; too much debris chokes this long, wide hall to be cleared -- but it can be climbed over, if one is nimble enough, adept enough to avoid the weak points liable to give out from underneath them, and avoid the jagged edges of ruin that scatter across this space. Sounds like a fun time, right? Right! Lucky you! =Dungeon Conditions: Injure=================================================== ========================<* Gaferis Ruins - Round 2 *>========================= ========================< Results - King of the Hill >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matilda Whitehead 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 5 --(10)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 5 --(10)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 5 --(10)--> 15 Fail Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Strife 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dean Stark 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Emma Hetfield 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Punchy Gun 3 Agility Effects: Rally ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Matilda Whitehead 25 --(20)--> 45 Pass Conditions: Injure(2) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG:: The party led by Matilda Whitehead 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> Riesenlied has posed.
"I admit, when I came across Vane... I was struck at how similar to Wayside it is," Riesenlied speaks frankly. "Miss Miria has helped me get back on my feet, and I want to repay the favour anyway I can." Her eyes widen as Strife starts to wobble, though, and there's a yelp as she goes 'bonk' and drops onto the debris with a groan. "Sorry, Strife..."
Ambrosius continues to proceed, and his footing isn't amazingly stable -- he and Ethius find it a little difficult to catch up with the group, who proceed through with more ease, whether it's Noeline's dance-like (no dancing!!) strutting through the ruin, or the Punchy Gun springing Emma across.
Riesenlied takes the Punchy Gun as Emma tosses it to her, and helps herself across with a yelp. "W-woow..." she looks somewhat amazed at the versatility of the tool.
They get to the end in short order, and that's a good thing. Because the moment someone opens the door on the other end, aaaaah?!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Also, to Dean: "Oh... I'm glad you caught up with Miss Avril," Riesenlied nods. "Rebecca said she was looking for you -- we'll get you all reunited again," she smiles, setting up a scene like, two days later. [OOC] Riesenlied forgot something [OOC] Emma Hetfield says, "who got next" [OOC] Emma Hetfield says, "i guess i said it so it's meeee"
DG:: Emma Hetfield has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Gaferis Ruins *>=========================
================<* CHALLENGE - The Unrestful Dead *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Heroes and nobles of some standing were once enshrined in Gaferis before it
was abandoned to the wages of history. Heroes some of these souls might have
been, but that does not mean they had no regrets in their passing. Those who
died saturated with Malevolence have carried on their sorrows and woes into
the life after the next, their decomposed bodies brought back to life as the
Hellionized skeletons that now rise from several stone sarcophagi situated
in this chamber. The chattering skulls might be intimidating, but let's be
honest, they're basically just skeletons. They don't even have any armor,
like a respectable Spartoi! Just. Try to beat them up respectably. They're
heroes, you know. Maybe.
Dungeon Conditions: Tire====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"Oh, I'm glad you like it," Emma tells Riesenlied. "Be a little careful." By mischance or treachery, or simple tool assistance, she is the first one to the door.
Emma opens the door.
The sarcophagi disgorge their residence. Black and violet malevolence surges within the room. Bones rattle; chattering skeletons rise; crude weapons, rusted swords, are raised with an eerie unity of undead purpose...!
Emma closes the door.
"So," Emma says, looking at everyone, "We have to go through this and I think we should take a moment to plan out our strategy. If we all synchronize our capacities and our special talents, I think we're going to make like the legendary three-way arrows that came to move from mere reinforced strength to the complete encompassing of space itself."
A beat passes. "Nobody else knows that one? That's fair."
Emma herself draws out her Emulator and taps at it. She will probably contribute but doesn't seem to be walking her pre-game talk very well. Well, she's a scientist, not a generalist.
DG:: Emma Hetfield has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Unrestful Dead.
Ethius Hesiod has disconnected.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied doesn't look like she understands what Emma is talking about. But synchronising capacities and talents is something she knows well about, and thankfully to Ethius...
It's not the Tear that comes forth, but a guqin -- a zither-like plank of gnarled wood upon which enchanted strings are bound on a bri DG:e. She floats gently as she closes her eyes, the emanation of her photons now carrying music as she plays for the heroes of the past, placing the instrument on her lap as she plucks at the strings gently.
"Your time is past... now is your chance for repose, gentle hero..."
DG:: You use your Tool Bella Aeterna against your party's Challenge, The Unrestful Dead!
DG:: Riesenlied has used her Tool Bella Aeterna toward her party's challenge, The Unrestful Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius continues with the Ruin Nerdery. It's fairly basic, making comparisons between this structure and others he'd encountered on Lunar, as well as hypothesizing on various uses for bits of architecture. He kind of gets a little into it, so much so that he finds himself slowing down.
As such, he's the last one to the door. He doesn't see what's beyond the door just yet, but a part of him feels he doesn't need to.
"If Miss Riiiesenlied's atteeempt to...calm them doesn't work...then I shall crush them..." Ambrosius comments with a glance toward Emma, walking into the room. He doesn't bother drawing any weapons. He has a feeling he won't need to, with opponents like this.
It might be a little alarming how easily he can break bones with just his bare hands, even as aged as these ones are.
DG:: Ambrosius has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Unrestful Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"... ramshackle?" Noeline finishes Matilda's sentence for her, with an amused half-smile as she navigates the last overhang of rubble by simply hopping up it without a care. "You should know by now that's simply more likely to attract Filgaians than it is to keep them away. It's a useful place to lie low when you aren't quite sure what's going on in the world, after all, and do not want to risk falling afoul of Althena's latest whim."
If she sounds a little put-out, it's because she is - not a day after she extracted a promise from Riese that they'd try to dance a little more, she learned that dance was apparently forbidden. Then she learnt that Riese danced with a bunch of ghosts in a ruin! Hmph!
Strife does at least nudge Riesenlied lightly in the back, offering the woman another lift as they go onwards; it turns out to be particularly useful when Riesenlied begins to float, the little pod bobbling its way into position ready to catch her on the way down.
For Noeline's part, she sighs quietly, holding a hand out to the open air - from out of the gauntlet on her arm, a long and slim spear seems to simply extrude out of nothingness, formed from her own living metal. "Not exactly the most suited of styles to a place like this, but I suppose I'll make do," she notes lightly. She's not quick to join the battle, apparently preferring to see if Riesenlied's aura can convince some proportion of enemies to stand down.
... ... she does at least pause at Emma's rather tall tale, and squints for a moment in uncertainty. "... aren't those also the arrows that will always approach their target, but never reach it?" she ventures, and then her frown intensifies. "... or perhaps I'm confusing my scientific treaties."
DG:: Noeline has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Unrestful Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"Oh, Rebecca's a close friend of mine! We're both from Filgaia, but we got caught up in that white light thing in the Elw ruins and ended up here," Dean explains to Emma, helpfully, when she expresses ignorance. If she was trying to imply that he ought to introduce himself first, it flew over his head like a crossbow bolt from a deadly trap.
But then the group moves onwards, and beyond is a room of sarcophagi expelling skeletons. They aren't even friendly skeletons, like Skeleton. Dean is more than willing to charge into battle, except then Emma shuts the door and starts talking synchronization and three-way arrows and encompassing space and "Do we really need to do all that??" he asks. "There's a lot of us, and they're just a bunch of bones! Let's just take 'em out!"
Note: Dean can't see or sense Malevolence.
And so, while Riesenlied plays a soothing melody, Dean just strides into the next room with Ambrosius, his paired ARMs Twin Fenrir flashing into existence in his hands. If Riesenlied's melody doesn't put them to sleep, with a shout, he'll then charge towards the nearest hostile skeleton Hellion (Skellion), combat rods flashing as he smashes into them. Yes, as opposed to shooting them, as one might usually use a pair of super-advanced pistol ARMs to do. Dean does as Dean will. At least he waits a *little* bit at first?
DG:: Dean Stark has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Unrestful Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
As Emma opens and then immediately closes the door, Matilda says, "I think that's wise," with a nod -- though she seems pretty baffled at these legendary three-way arrows. That one prompts a head-scratch.
Matilda gets out her shield first, then her sword; she understands that skeletons tend to be a little on the 'difficult to cut' side of things, and as a result the sword feels almost vestigial. "I'm with Dean here," she admits. "Let's not overcomplicate this."
Noeline gets a nod before they advance, though that's /all/ she gets -- the question of Althena's whims and edicts... puts her a little off-kilter.
When she at last steps into the room, she focuses on playing defense -- she watches the skeletons, and focuses on bashing them back when they advance so everyone else, with markedly better-suited weapons, can focus on attacking.
DG:: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Unrestful Dead.
DG:: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Unrestful Dead.
=========================<* Gaferis Ruins - Round 3 *>========================== ========================< Results - The Unrestful Dead >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matilda Whitehead 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ambrosius 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Riesenlied 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Bella Aeterna 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 15 --(5)--> 20 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Noeline 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emma Hetfield 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Matilda Whitehead 45 --(20)--> 65 Pass Conditions: Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG:: The party led by Matilda Whitehead has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG:: Ethius Hesiod has left your party.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"Oh, that's a different analogy entirely, and it's meant to show a flaw in absolutism in philosophy," Emma tells Noeline, chattily. "Because in that analogy, you see, the arrow would never actually behave that way; it would either hit the target, or it would have so little energy that it would fall to the ground. You see?"
She holds the door open then as Dean advances in and begins to give the skeletons a taste of Filgaian justice, the guns speaking with shivering force even as she sidles inwards. Riesenlied's song has...
Well it's not entirely clear but they seem to be pretty calm before they get shot. The hullabaloo and Ambroisus's proud fists get them woke but not in time, and soon enough the room is full of bone chips and lingering, spent post-malevolence. Emma concludes matters on her end with a splashing SKWASH! of the Hydro Launcher, which at least stifles some of the dust of the grave.
"Prior Planning Prevents Posterior Perforation, Mr. -- Dean, yes?" Emma says to Dean. "It never hurts to do a little thinking!"
Perhaps we've all learned something here today. (no)
DG:: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Gaferis Ruins *>==============================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Someone Get Some Butter *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Here you are, minding your own business, trying to plumb the forgotten
depths of an ancient ruin in peace, when someone tries to go and harsh your
vibe. Someone, in this case, being a troll in the adjacent passageway that
notices you, immediately attempts to bumrush you -- and then gets lodged
RIGHT in the entry way, struggling and roaring in impotent anger as it just
kind of wedges into cracking stone. Probably good for a laugh, right? Look
at that dumb Troll, being so dumb!
Except... it's stuck in the one way forward deeper into Gaferis. Oops.
Who's laughing now?
... Probably not the Troll, still, because it's stuck. And it's probably
going to get beat on, shortly. But... you know.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
As it turns out, the party has ended up making quite a bit of noise in their fight with the skeletons. They've attracted the attention of one of the ruin's still-living residents - a massive, dangerous looking troll.
It peers into the room at the party, and with a roar, attempts to charge at them...at which point it promptly gets stuck in the doorway, having misjudged how much clearance there actually was.
Ambrosius stares at it.
It stares back.
Unfortunately for the troll, it happens to be blocking the only path forward through the rest of the ruins. Ambrosius reaches into his poncho, and draws out a device. When he channels his power into it, a dangerously-whirrling blade of water forms at the end, looking not unlike a water-based chainsaw.
...The troll, understandably, starts to look a little concerned.
DG:: Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, Someone Get Some Butter.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Strife helps her as she plays, and there's a smile as she seats herself when her performance finishes. "You're so kind, Strife..." she pats her on the side of the head, as Noeline joins the battle with the others.
Dean comments on how they're just skeletons, which prompts a warning of, "Careful, Dean, Malevolence has taken them... but-- perhaps that is so..."
Matilda and Dean's suggestion does have merit, and she looks towards Emma as the skeleton collapses... then...
Riesenlied looks, perhaps, understandably surprised and terrified when the troll comes to emerge from a nearby hallway. She pulls the guqin close to her chest as she attempts to manuever away from the sudden charging creature coming at her--
And it gets stuck.
"Oh no..."
Riese don't pity those that're about to squish you against a wall
did you learn nothing from berserk
(you learnt nothing from berserk)
"Mister Ambrosius..." Riesenlied speaks with some anxiety, though the Troll would suddenly hear a 'thump' coming from its posterior, speaking of Posterior Perforation.
A certain rotund yellow bird is trying to bash its way through the temple troll, with a 'wark' that sounds vaguely annoyed.
DG:: You use your Tool Flute of the Cucco Queen against your party's Challenge, Someone Get Some Butter!
DG:: Riesenlied has used her Tool Flute of the Cucco Queen toward her party's challenge, Someone Get Some Butter.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
Emma produces a wrapped package of her explosive compound as her glasses gleam, gazing at the troll!
She pauses.
"I'm a little dubious here," she says. "I know if my dear little Lunies were here I wouldn't want them to see this. What do you think? Too much?" Emma glances around, perhaps hoping to build consensus.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
There's a lot of problems that can crop up at any time, and have, but somewhere in the ensuing melee involving the restless dead, Ethius appears to have disappeared. (He sure took his sweet time getting through the piles of rubble... maybe he wasn't done while they were dealing with less persistent skeletons.)
Fast forward, there is a troll here. This seems like an easy answer for Ethius to fulfill the question to as to what the hell he intends to do to it. But...
...
He refrains from casting. Considering the historical precedent of particlarly bad interactions some of his more infamous spells have had alongside other destructive forces, this might be for the best - but if they don't get past the troll, they can't get further inside, can they.
He offers no advice, no borrowed power, just... well, maybe he's lending his staring, but unless he's been holding out on them, he doesn't seem to possess amazing telekinetic eyebeams.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
As they head forward, Matilda... peers at the troll that so immediately gets stuck before them. She looks at it with a totally flat expression for a few moments, considering the creature carefully. She looks to Emma, pulling out a bottle of her own compound with a shake of her head.
"I'd say too much," Matilda says, with a nod as she begins to apply her own compound to her weapon. The bright silver blade doesn't get eroded in the least. "Did you know," she offers conversationally, "that while my primary use for this is against fortifications and barricades, that this was originally developed as an anti-monster weapon?"
Then she stabs a troll. The troll, unlike her weapon, /does/ bubble. Yikes.
DG:: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Bubble Lotion toward her party's challenge, Someone Get Some Butter.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Thanks to Riese lulling the Skellions into a torpor, the group makes quick work of them. Dean grins at Matilda when she agrees with him about not making this more complicated than it has to be, but they're in the middle of a fight now, so he leaves it at that. Dean doesn't register the Hyadean's warning until after the battle is over, at which point he breathes a loud, "whew!" and wipes his brow, ARMs vanishing from his hands. Then he blinks over at Riese. "Wait, those were Hellions? Really? I mean, I guess that makes sense, but..." Then Emma weighs in. "Prior... prevents... huh?" Dean gives her a blank look, though it clears when she follows up. "Well, that's true, but that was more than a little you had going on there! And it all worked out in the end." He looks around at the room. "Right?" A pause. "...Hey, is it just me or are we missing someone? ...Oh wait, there he is. Hey Ethius!"
Poor Ethius. Dean barely even noticed him up until now.
At that moment, a troll roars and attempts to charge in from the next room, only--WHUMP--to get itself stuck in the doorway. Dean at first tenses himself for another battle, then stares, then... looks keenly embarrassed on behalf of this troll. "Wow, that's... really lame..." he comments. Then Ambrosius approaches the troll with a water chainsaw and Emma preps to blow the monster up, and Dean looks alarmed. "Blowing up a monster seems kind of extreme!" he says. So, mark him down for 'too much.' "We're gonna have to defeat it anyway, though, so..."
He looks torn for a moment; then he gets out his shovel. "Well--first things first, let's get that guy out of the way!" Then he moves to attempt to dig the doorway wider.
DG:: Dean Stark has used his Tool The Trusty Shovel toward his party's challenge, Someone Get Some Butter.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"--well, that much is evident. It's a thought experiment, and nothing more, of course. But I would suggest that the idea of an arrow encompassing all of space itself is also a thought experiment, if only for the reason that we are not all made of the elemental essence of arrows /just/ yet," she grumbles. "If the day comes that I feel wooden and pointy and it isn't because I got out the wrong side of bed, I'll let you know."
The demon gives Dean a glance, because let's face it she knows the trio at least well enough to have a grasp of the dynamic behind them all, and she can't help but feel ever so slightly sorry for Rebecca. "This would be Dean, by the by, she introduces chattily for Emma's sake, and anyone else who might be unsure. "The trio were around Wayside reasonably often, though I'm uncertain if that's just because we tended to have a lot of Gears and the occasional golem on hand."
Somewhere, Big Shal rests in a comfortable coccon of snow, children clambering over the golem's form. Live on, Big Shal...
Meanwhile: "--Riese!" Noeline calls sharply, about a half-second before the troll roars; she darts forwards to try to intercept the creature's path - except it turns out the creature has already dealt with that itself, impotently trapped in the doorway as it is. Still, it doesn't stop her from skidding in front of Riesenlied anyway, thanks to her pent-up momentum - just that she looks a little lame afterwards, her shoulders dropping slightly at the sight. "... well, really," she grumbles after a moment, and decides to simply leave it at that.
Trouble, of course, has other plans - as loyal as it's currently being, of course it would be rooting atop the Giant Cucco's head, perhaps lending its strength(?) via familial(?) bonds.
DG:: Noeline has used her Tool Trouble toward her party's challenge, Someone Get Some Butter.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
Consensus reached, Emma puts her bomb paste away. "It's a pleasure to meet you again for the very first time," she says to Dean, which probably covers the situation. "Sadly, I didn't bring any lubricant with me, but I'll be cheering everybody on."
DG:: Emma Hetfield has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Someone Get Some Butter.
========================<* Gaferis Ruins - Round 4 *>========================= ====================< Results - Someone Get Some Butter >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Emma Hetfield 15 --(5)--> 20 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dean Stark 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass The Trusty Shovel 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 20 --(5)--> 25 Fail Flute of the Cucco Queen 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matilda Whitehead 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Bubble Lotion 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Trouble 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Aqua Cutter 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Matilda Whitehead 65 --(20)--> 85 Pass Conditions: Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG:: The party led by Matilda Whitehead has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG:: Noeline has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Gaferis Ruins *>==============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - The Troll King *>=======================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Trolls, large as they are, generally don't act alone, depending on what
they've been Hellionized from. More often than not, though, they take orders
from whoever amongst them is the strongest. And the strongest is exactly
what you face at the end of this long hallway of ancient stone graves and
murals of old, past kings of Rolance. Tremendous and mighty, soaked in
Malevolence and full of a scarcely contained savagery only enhanced by the
possessive, territorial way it stalks this hall as if it owns it, the Troll
King pounds on its chest, unleashes a drool-splattering roar, hefts its club
up high -- and then it is upon you, the very ground quaking beneath its
massive feet as it charges. So. That'll be fun.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
This is not going anything like the troll intended. It mostly just wanted to jump in, roar a bit, break some stuff, maybe snack on some of the smaller members of the party...but now it finds itself thoroughly trapped in the doorway, with two people approaching it from front with dangerous looking weapons, and a pair of birds(one slightly more metallic than the other) bashing into it from behind.
Thankfully for the troll, though, Dean does succeed in widening the doorway a bit for it. This offers it just enough room to stand up to its full height.
As such, Matilda and Ambrosius don't succeed in fatally wounding it, but they've certain given it some discouragement - and in Matilda's condition a very painful something that it'll feel for days to come. It turns and runs away as quickly as possible.
The aquatic blade of Ambrosius's tool vanishes, and he returns it to the depths of his poncho before glancing back at Riesenlied. He doesn't say anything, but the fact that he isn't pursuing it to finish the job seems to be in accordance with her wishes.
In any other situation, he probably totally would.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
There's a few minutes of peaceful, blissful silence after the troll departs, the creature sent packing to lick its wounds and its pride both. It's a good chance for everyone to catch their breath for a bit - to begin exploring the interior of the ruins in earnest, now that they've uncovered a likely-looking sequence of corridors and pathways that begin to interconnect more and more. The only problem is, there isn't exactly a great deal to see, and no real indication of where to go--
--until a roar echoes through the structure, causing Noeline's eyebrows to shoot upwards. "Should we go towards that or away, do you think?" she asks calmly and with a quiet chuckle, then answers her own question by sliding in that direction to peek her head around the nearest corner.
Then, she immediately jerks backwards - because the masonry that makes up the turn in the passage has had an enormous club slammed straight through it, showering the demon with stone dust and chunks of brick. It's all she can do to instictively pull her spear up, catching the massive heft of the creature's weapon across its shaft.
"--look, you realize we helped your friend get /un/stuck--" is what Noeline in her infinite wisdom decides to lead with - but it doesn't exactly look like the massive troll is particularly willing to listen to any cute arguments or light teases, simply roaring again as it lumbers forwards to press the attack.
For another couple of seconds she's pressed back - but then sets her boots against the floor as her spear shifts in her hands, twisting and widening until it's a familiar slab of metal masquerading as a sword, about the size of her, more like a wall than a weapon. Planting it against the ground, she uses it as leverage to catch the monster's attack, calling back over her shoulder. "--I'll take it on! Flank it!"
DG:: Noeline has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Troll King.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Dean asks where Ethius has gone, and Riesenlied just now realises as well as she glances around in tandem. "Oh goodness... I hope he--"
Oh, there he is!
She nods and smiles as she says, "Are you all right, Mister Ethius? We got somewhat separated..." there's a look at Matilda as she readies her silver blade, with a quiet wince at the thought of an 'anti-monster' weapon. Necessary, perhaps, but the thought is rather bothersome...
There's a sigh of relief as she nods at Ambrosius, but then... a roar fills the room, as she gasps at Noeline as she gets debris showered around her. "Noeline!"
She looks towards the larger troll, and closes her eyes once more as she resumes the familiar floating stance as her guqin comes out once more. Maybe she's gotten herself into a melodic approach to combat rather thoroughly by now...
"... look deep into the stain that has touched your soul. Realise this..."
She plays a sombre melody in a flat key, the aura emanating from her wings and her light a soft blue to reduce the creature's will to fight and look to introspection.
DG:: You use your Tool Bella Aeterna against your party's Challenge, The Troll King!
DG:: Riesenlied has used her Tool Bella Aeterna toward her party's challenge, The Troll King.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"Yup, that's me! ...Hey, it wasn't *just* because of the Golems!" Dean protests to Noeline. A pause. "...But the Golems really were cool!!" Meanwhile, Emma's sarcasm finally manages to bite through Dean's obliviousness. He blinks at her and her comment about them meeting again. The words 'Wait, have we met before?' are on his lips before talk of Golems recontextualizes things, and realization dawns.
"Oh wait!! I remember you now!! You're Dr. Hetfield!! You knew a bunch about Golems, Avril introduced us!" He at least has the grace to look *tremendously* embarrassed about having forgotten her. "Wow, I'm so sorry, it's been a while and we're on a whole new planet--I didn't recognize you at first!" A pause, and he adds, "I'll be sure not to tell Rebecca you forgot her, too. It's been a long time for all of us, huh?"
This comment is 100% sincere.
The stuck troll, once un-stuck, decides to run away. That helps avoid a lot of really unpleasant things that might've happened otherwise, and Dean breathes another sigh of relief as he puts his shovel away. "How *are* the Lunies doing?" he asks, partly of Emma since she's the one who brought them up, but also to anyone who'd know. "It feels like it's been ages since I saw them last. I hope they're okay."
But they, the group, might not be okay for much longer, because after that troll runs away, a roar resounds through the ruins, and then whole bunch of its buddies return, along with their King, looking mad enough to beat them all up. Rude?? And after they let that troll escape, too! "Yeah, you tell 'em, Noeline!" Dean calls to the Crimson Noble, re-summoning Twin Fenrir, then moving to flank the Troll King as instructed and attack with his ARMs's combat rods. "On it! I got your back!"
DG:: Dean Stark has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Troll King.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
When Dean addresses him with a friendly 'hey' call-out, and Riese asks about his well-being, he sums it up succinctly as he can with the usual neutral inflection and steady tempo he speaks at, unnatural and distant as it often is: "I am fine."
Ethius stands his ground with remarkable composure for the roaring... and even so when the masonry gives way to the attacking troll king - so much so that he has yet to even draw his proper weapon or make any sort of gesture that shows he's preparing a spell.
...
Matilda might remember the urgency in which Ethius previously dispatched of wraiths in the catacombs of Krosse. He was willing and able - and did not even hesitate - to annihilate Krossian history. Ancient Krosse history, priceless and now forever lost, sacrificed in the process of discouraging those ghostly Hellions. Here in the present, they have been beset upon by Hellions - first the skeletons, then the troll that got stuck, and now a troll whom decidedly isn't stuck and exponentially more deadly and has Noeline in a deadlock.
Ethius has been particularly hands-off this entire expedition, hardly interacting with anyone... hardly assisting with anything... he hasn't melted away obstructions, he hasn't moved to subject the skeletons nor the troll to some horrible untimely (new) end. He's just... been there, watching.
Why is that?
It seems this approach will largely remain as he walks careful, wide circles off to his right as he sizes up everyone's movements. Where they're going, what they're doing, as he nudges some of the resulting rubble from the emerging troll out of the way. He seems so... unconcerned? No, that's not the right word for it.
That troll king could break away, swing their club, and cleanly separate the man's head from his shoulders, and yet, that does not seem to register as a worry for him as he steps around everyone else's combat efforts.
He does not contribute, specifically, aside from one event: if it seems like they cannot overpower the Troll King, that is when he makes use of one of the satchels at his belt. The satchel that, with the respective Symbological priming, will provide a smoke cover to assist their escape.
He has never been known to hesitate to strike down an enemy or destroy almost anything in front of him. Why does he hold back now?
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
There's part of Matilda that feels almost guilty as she watches the troll run off -- the part of her that was raised on a farm considers it a duty to non-sapient-ish creatures (which non-human Hellions still register as, to her) that if you're gonna wound 'em, you gotta go all the way.
She manages to stop herself from dwelling on it as she proceeds, though, as they advance -- not that she has /long/ to do that, given the circumstances. She glances back to Ethius for a moment, but doesn't press the Symbologist about his total lack of intervention -- truthfully, it's almost a relief.
She advances on the Troll King, once again the polar opposite of Riese's gentle, compassionate approach. Shield up, she moves up with a series of swift, conservative strikes, each aiming for the creature's joints.
She hops back at one point, reaching into her bag, and coats her blade in a viscous orange oil; she then hops forward again, going for another stab for the gut with her arming sword. Assuming the Troll King still has a... /physiology/ to speak of, it should feel its whole body lock up...
DG:: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Shock Oil toward her party's challenge, The Troll King.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius...well, okay, even he can't really find anything to nerd out over in the corridor beyond where they 'helped' the troll. He'd kind of already used up all his material the first time, in that run-down section of the ruin.
So for the most part he's rather quiet as he proceeds, though every so often his attention turns back to Ethius. A part of him wondered just what the man was doing here. It wasn't really any of his concern, but there was still the possibility that he might cause trouble...
But he's not about to try and provoke him. He has no reason to, especially when a bigger issue prevents itself just around the corner.
A /much/ bigger issue, in the form of what he can only assume to be the first troll's superior. It would seem they have little choice but to deal with it.
Ambrosius aims to do just that. Water swirls and converges around one of his hands, before being directed towards the troll king in the form of a powerful, high-pressure beam that could very well punch a hole right through it.
With a creature this dangerous, he can't really afford to hold back.
DG:: Ambrosius has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Troll King.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"Oh yes!!" Emma says to Dean. She beams. "No harm done! I'm totally in a different look now! Do you want a hug? I like giving hugs now. But yes! Hello! I should tell you how I got this outfit!"
It's actually pretty legit since in addition to the totally different costume, Emma is rocking the down look for her hair. Meanwhile, a troll pays the toll and escapes ahead. "It's been ridiculous!" she agrees with Dean. "I've gotten hold of a butte!"
What?
Soon enough they are presented with a majestic troll. Emma adjusts her glasses. "... I suppose that makes sense," she muses. "They would move in a group... perhaps this is the boss troll." Her eyes follow then towards Ethius as he moves - laterally? Around them? She recognizes him if dimly, but there is a much bigger problem now.
Emma keys something in and there is a sudden printtttzzzz! and a sudden curving shape of foamy yellow material appears in front of her, suitable for absorbing Troll Blows; she ducks into its shelter, confident perhaps that the others will handle it in time for her to -- do something else, no doubt!
DG:: Emma Hetfield has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Troll King.
========================<* Gaferis Ruins - Round 5 *>========================= =========================< Results - The Troll King >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Emma Hetfield 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dean Stark 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 25 --(10)--> 35 Fail Bella Aeterna 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matilda Whitehead 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Shock Oil 3 Combat Effects: Liability and Resilie ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 25 --(10)--> 35 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Matilda Whitehead 85 --(30)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG:: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG:: The party led by Matilda Whitehead has successfully explored Gaferis Ruins!
=============================<* Gaferis Ruins *>==============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Records of the Lost *>=====================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Legends are often just memories repeated and preserved over time, growing
greater and greater in their retelling. But one can oftentimes get no closer
to an accurate account of times gone by than in the written records from
those bygone eras. In this room are a number of what seem to be obituaries,
many of them old and crumbling, but some salvageable. The old Rolance
language they are written in can be vaguely understood, but it'll take
experts in Rolance to truly make heads or tails of the findings you have
uncovered here -- and whatever lost bits of history they might entail about
this old empire.
You should send in a +request about this discovery!
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"Shockingly well, actually," Emma calls to Dean. "A little down at the mouth of course, but that's to be expected!"
Is... is she just crouching behind that pad so she can talk better?
(yes)
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Gritting her teeth, Noeline faces the Boss Troll's attack head-on - or as head-on as you can get when you're hiding behind an enormous slab of metal, bracing it with your shoulder. The creature's single-mindedness seems to be working to the group's advantage, at least for the moment - so focused on her, that it doesn't even seem to particularly care about the others circling and maneuvering around it.
On the other hand, the creature doesn't seem to be particularly affected by anything, either. Riesenlied's attempts to contact it are lost in a haze of Malevolence-dulled anger, its rage too old and too far gone to be receptive to her voice. Leathery and stiff, the green-tinted skin simply seems to absorb Dean's strikes, as if the boy were just repeatedly hitting a giant sandbag.
Ambrosius' jet does at least make the creature move - it stumbles for a moment, two steps to one side, but before any of them can capitalize on it the troll manages to right itself, its girth too large to be knocked too far aside by the pressurized lance of water; the small blessing is that the fist it flails during the motion rebounds off Emma's barrier instead of her herself.
Ultimately, it's Matilda's knowledge of poisons and concoctions that get them free - a hard thrust finally manages to pierce its skin enough to bite home. Even then, it's two shattering punches on Noeline's guard later before the creature begins to slow, its attacks heavier and slower before the creature just seems to almost-- give up, and stay standing where it is, its muscles not responding.
With a heaving sigh and a deep-set wince, Noeline peeks out from behind her guard. The creature is-- clearly not /dead/. But it is unmoving. "Let's-- let us go while the going is good, hm?" she suggests, Strife nudging into Riesenlied's back to corral her and the rest of the group forwards. "Quickly, quickly, before our friend here wakes up. Last I checked, medical studies on Malevolence were shockingly poor."
The creature had evidently been making the room ahead its throne room; several pedestals are arranged around the room to give it a stately air, each of which holds a book on top of the lectern at its top.
Glancing at one, Noeline pauses dead, then her eyebrows slowly raise. When she picks up one of the books it's with a reverent air, as if she's afraid the thing might fall apart. It almost looks like a founded worry - dust and soot need to be wiped off the cover, which creaks unsteadily as she leafs through a couple of the pages. "... I do not recognize the language, but-- this appears to be a geneaology, amongst other things. The general structure reminds me of a noble's history book," she wonders, offering it to Riesenlied.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
All of a sudden, Noeline will find that Ethius hasn't just gotten maybe a bit too close to comfort - he's also putting a hand down upon the book Noeline is reading. Firm enough to suggest an Issue(tm). Gentle enough to suggest at least a baseline respect for what it is. That expression of his is unchanging, what of it is visible. That staring - from this close. "What interest do you have in these items?" He asks.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied winces with a trembling noise as she finds her attempts to contact the creature blocked by the ardent weave of Malevolence -- causing her to wilt and wince as she rasps and lowers her head as she lowers her guqin and draws it back into her inventory. She pats Strife as she hurries along with Noeline, emerging towards a small room with several books that she stares at...
At least, until Ethius interferes. She furrows her brow quietly.
"... which 'you' do you mean, Mister Ethius?" Riesenlied quietly asks, bracing the instrument a little closer against herself.
She doesn't elucidate further, but the implication seems to be intimating that much like Ethius' other attempts to understand their behaviour... it's as if she's asking if she means 'you' as a 'Metal Demon'.
Beyond the individual.
Like they're a thing to be investigated.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Slowly, Noeline raises her eyebrows; she doesn't move to do anything to the strange man as he approaches, nor does she jump back just yet as she cradles the book in her hands. Her smile could almost be called placid, were it not for the amused and almost playful light in her eyes, as if she's intensely curious as to what the man will do next.
"A general one, Mr. Hesiod. I very much enjoy learning about humans and human ways. The more you know about a culture, the better you can move through it. Besides, these sorts of things tend to be terribly juicy information, especially when there may or may not be a terribly confused history, with its status as truth or lie there for the unravelling." A beat, and her smile tugs wider. "I would have thought you would be on board with that."
For a moment, she flicks her gaze to Riesenlied's question, her eyebrows tucking up slightly - and when the Hyadean looks back towards Ethius her voice is lighter, and almost solemn. "You will not learn a great deal about the average Metal Demon from me, I'm afraid. I was born a spy, you realize, so learning about 'the enemy' comes second nature, even when my estimation of them has flipped entirely."
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"I knew it! Yeah, you look really nice! I totally thought you were a local at first!" Dean tells Emma with enthusiasm. This might sound like less of a compliment if one knew that he met someone he *did* recognize from Filgaia, and believed them when they claimed to be a local anyway. He himself looks more or less the same as usual; the main difference is that his outfit is different colors. It's like he got a palette swap or something. ...but that's just silly.
Then Emma starts talking about buttes.
"Uh, a what?" he utters blankly. Fortunately, combat breaks out before a Comedic Misunderstanding can take place, and Emma instead tells Dean that the Lunies are doing just fine, if a little gloomy. "You think so?" he calls as he fights the Troll King with the others. If it only absorbs his hits, he just has to hit harder!! Dean logic. "If you see 'em before I do, tell 'em I said hi!"
Soon the trolls are defeated, though, and for their efforts, the group moves forward past the Hellions into the treasury of Rolancian tomes. Dean's a bit interested, but unless there's Golems mentioned in them, he's not really into it--that is, until Ethius suddenly gets all up in Noeline's business. The young man blinks, looking back and forth between the two of them as well as Riesenlied. "Uhh, is everything okay?" he wonders.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
With a frown, Ambrosius backpedals and begins to reach into his poncho for something...but by the time he has that something assembled, the creature is already unconscious on the ground.
He stares at it for a moment, before removing his hands from his poncho. They emerge empty, and he sends Noeline a nod. They progress into the throne room, where they come across something that piques Ambrosius's interest.
"Faaascinating..." He whispers, approaching to get a closer look. Before he can, however, Ethius places a hand down on the documents and asks what their interest.
"Hesiiiod..." Ambrosius says. It's practically a hiss. He says no more, however, as Noeline has the situation well in hand.
Considering their previous...disagreements, over items found on expeditions like this, it's probably for the best.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
As they find the records of Rolance, Matilda turns her attention to Ethius as he asks about their interest. Unlike Ambrosius, who simply says Ethius's name as a warning, Matilda takes a half-step toward Noeline, shield still in hand, as she furrows her brow just slightly.
"Is there something /wrong/, Mr. Hesiod?" she asks, her tone just a little bit testy -- and definitely test/ing/, as she watches the Symbologist carefully. She doesn't /quite/ look ready to actually attack him, but she does seem... like she approaches the situation with an abundance of caution.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"We'll discuss this," Emma murmurs to Dean, "another time."
She adjusts her glasses as she steps forwards - but she lingers. She doesn't butt in! Perhaps the books concern her, or perhaps she is a little more adroit than she sometimes acts. She does stay near Dean, and her attention turns towards Noeline and Riesenlied, in particular.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Is everything really okay? That is a good question that Dean puts forth.
Ethius holds where he stands as Riesenlied asks for clarification, unanswering. Is that a general question for everyone?
Noeline eloquently rebukes his seemingly aggressive intent to interrogate. The air here is terribly musty - it's amazing how this man, so far, has yet to /blink/ in this boiling confrontation as he silently takes Noeline's words.
His gaze shifts very slightly throughout her explanation. Whatever movements his eyes can ever communicate - he suppresses much of his body language habitually to the point he gives very little - it seems to hold somewhere around the time Ambrosius hisses his name.
The air here is musty and thick, being an ancient tomb and all. How this man can stop himself from /blinking/ with the sheer irritation of air not meant to be enjoyed by the company of the living for long... he does not give up ground when Matilda takes a few wary steps forward with a question of her own, shield primed and ready.
He does not respond, vocally, within the next five seconds that pass. (He doesn't blink in those five seconds either.)
...
"Is that all?" He replies... and lifts his hand up. "I see."
He walks past Noeline, disengaging from her. He doesn't change his heading any. He is also still refraining from blinking, though it does seem his head turns a bit off somewhere in the directions that Dean, Ambrosius, and Emma are standing.
"Pay me no further mind."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied furrows her brow and-- lowers her head with a disappointed sounding sigh. She looks towards Dean and Emma, and then Matilda as well as she turns her head away and advises to Noeline: "... I'd like to leave now."
It's more curt and forceful than she normally is, and she looks to Dean as she lies rather poorly, "It's... it's fine."
It's not fine, though, and she has to step away as she proceeds to the exit without picking up any of the books.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline simply huffs quietly to herself in the wake of Ethius' question, and this time she snaps the book shut with a small clap that resounds around the largely still room. "My apologies for being rather benign," she adds with another of those teasing glints in her eye - though it fades quickly, as Riesenlied's spirits sink.
"But far too many people on Filgaia are far too good at repeating the past, and I'd bet Lunar too. I do not ever see anything wrong with learning from it instead." A beat, and she looks to Riese with a quick nod. "... of course. ... I suspect that Vane might be a good place to keep these, but for the time being let's get somewhere a little more pleasant."
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius watches Ethius's movements careful, ready to react just in case he tries something. He doesn't, though, which he finds himself thankful for. If they started a fight, there was no guarantee that the books would escape unscathed, and that would be a true tragedy.
He steps aside to allowed Ethius through as he disengages, then turns his attention back to their findings.
"This laaanguage...it is one I am...unfamiiiliar with... I would adviiise...finding an eeexpert...for translation..." He suggests, with a glance toward Noeline. "And if you do...please...keep me iiinformed..."
He was, after all, a man with an interest in history. And this was quite the treasure trove of that.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean looks around at Emma, Matilda, Ambrosius, Ethius, Noeline, and finally Riesenlied. She tells him it's fine, and for a moment, it's clear he wants to argue against this obvious lie.
But then Noeline points out that they ought to move somewhere more pleasant, and he just nods. "Okay. If you say so," he says.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
Emma detaches faintly from Dean's proximity to put herself in Ethius's path. The light reflects off her glasses. She is otherwise expressionless.
If he tries to go around Emma alters course. However, she doesn't say a nything -- not yet! Perhaps she's going to speak privately.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius finds Emma standing in the way. She proves a superior obstruction to his machinations. Halted in place, his expression does not change any appreciably from what can be seen. (He also cheats, because the lower half of his face is masked.)
"..."
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
Emma sort of gestures towards where the book is being given a lookie loo by Noeline and Ambrosious. She raises her eyebrows. She sweeps her hand around with an upward motion, then puts it on her hip.
"..."
"And by that I mean, what was that about?" Emma concludes aloud.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius follows Emma's gestures as she points back towards Noeline and Ambrosius. He may miss the second half of those set of gestures as if expecting there to be further elaboration upon the initial turn of his head.
The question that demands answers is asked. Will he answer? Does he care that the whole motion seems to have put Riesenlied into significant emotional distress, or that he might have stirred emotions in a way that might not be good for their collective well-being, when there's a significant build-up of Malevolence down here?
"..."
C'mon. Say something, Ethius.
"Our situation as it is, Professor," he may be trying to slyly use this break in dialogue to trail off and not say anything further, but the medium will not be foiled so easy, "I believe it imperative there is a clear understanding as to what is being taken, and why."
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
Emma seems to be accepting what Ethius says.
Except that she then answers, "Do you think that an abstract search for knowledge is a positive thing, sir? Or do you think it's negative?" Her arms fold loosely as she says this.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The man tips his hand - or rather his foot - by motioning to start trying to walk around Emma. The words that follow seem to put a stop on this in the search for more decisive answers, to fill in the Ws, the Ts, and maybe even some of the Fs.
He goes silent.
...
He doesn't seem to have an answer for this, unless it's 'close eyes, open, turn head back towards where others are enjoying ancient recrods and also not answer anything.'