2018-04-10: Workshop Cat-astrophe
- Log: Workshop Cat-astrophe
- Cast: Jacqueline Barber, Catenna, Carina Wynne, Ethius Hesiod, Cyre H. Lorentz, Lydia Seren, Tesni Inoue
- Where: East Nota
- Date: April 10th, 2018
- Summary: The Caravan Kinship follows rumors of the Artificer of Moor Anys to a workshop in eastern Meribia. There, they have quite the adventure, with many small surprises in store...
===============================<* East Nota *>================================ Once two towns on opposite banks of a large river, East and West Nota are now a single city bound by a large bridge spanning both banks. Both halves of the city are laid out on sprawling terraces carved out of a large hill (some suggest by the Goddess herself). Stone stairs link the terraces to each other; the average Notan spends a good deal of her day climbing. East Nota marks the border separating the heart of the Meribus continent from the more lawless lands to the east. It serves as a large commercial hub where residents of the eastlands can still experience a taste of what some would call civilization. Althena's Guard maintains a significant detachment here, ostensibly to discourage banditry, but local rumours suggest the Goddess is preparing to extend her reach and call her recalcitrant children home.
DG: A party led by Jacqueline Barber is now entering The Artificer's Workshop. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
========================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>======================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - One Small Step *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The door relents to the merest push, but all that does is let the Artificier's shrink ray fire freely. Now you're mere inches tall, and several feet in the air. Well, you were several feet in the air. That number is dwindling fast as you plummet towards the floor. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
An important part of being merchants was keeping your ear on every little rumor that passed through the land. One of these rumors that the Caravan Kinship had caught wind of was the workshop of the Artificer of Moor Anys. Jacqueline had read stories of this figure in her studies of Lunarian folklore, and so her interest was piqued.
Jacqueline knows her friends. She got everything ready to go before telling them about it, because she knew that at least one of them would want to drag everyone up there to check it out.
And so, here they arrive. It's an interesting little place. Not...quite as big as she expected it to be, honestly. It's a quaint little construction, and Jacqueline approaches the front door carefully before...
...Knocking on the door.
There's no answer, of course.
"This feels...a little like breaking and entering, admittedly..." Jacqueline comments sheepishly, as she reaches for the door handle. She opens it very carefully, listening to it creak slowly open. This creak also conveniently masks the 'click' of something being activated, though those in the party with more sensitive ears(or sensitivity to other forms of technology) might be able to hear it, as something within the workshop comes to life...and fires at them.
Jacqueline quickly tries to bring up an earth pillar as a beam fires in their direction, before remembering that she still doesn't have that Crest on her. It spreads over all of them...and suddenly, the party will find the workshop becoming much, much larger than it was before.
Or...perhaps they were the ones becoming smaller...?
"N-not this again!" Jacqueline cries out. They're all now hanging in the air...but this won't last long, before gravity reasserts itself once more and they begin to plummet. Jacqueline very quickly begins rummaging through her bags, hoping she has something that can counteract...whatever it is that just happened!
Or at the very least patch them up after they fall.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, One Small Step.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
The cold Catenna was suffering from is, blessedly, a thing of the past. She's put her dancer's outfit back on - such as it is - and tailed the group to this mysterious workshop. "I wonder what it is that goes on in such a place," she murmurs, leaning in a little to try and get a better look. She's drawn her weapon as a preemptive measure.
Catenna's last sword having gone to its end along with Berserk's gains, bruh, she's got a slender, longer one this time, more of a spada; it's silver. She painstakingly enameled a discreet emblem of Celesdue on one side of the hilt and an emblem of Fengalon on the other.
One doesn't forget gifts from loved ones. Least of all Catenna.
"I am not sure anyone even lives here anymore," she admits to Catenna, but she does keep her voice down, almost as if for fear of getting caught. Easing forward, she presses her lips together. "It did not... seem so large from outside, Jay...."
Then she goes to take a step and realizes what happened.
"Oh no!" she yelps, her legs pinwheeling madly in the air. She reaches out and grasps madly for the nearest person.
She ends up throwing her arms around Cyre's waist. "Don't let me fall~!"
DG: Catenna has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, One Small Step.
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.
Locus is here! At this point it seems like the CaraKin's favorite superhero will accompany them whenever a group outing seems liable to be even slightly dangerous. It never sucks to be prepared, as Carina always says.
Not that she could be prepared for a SHRINK RAY.
What?
CRIMSON KNIGHT LOCUS is shrinking!
Congratulations! CRIMSON KNIGHT LOCUS has become CRIMSON KNIGHT LOCUS ACTION FIGURE (w/ Kung-Fu Grip)!!
Oh guardians, Carina thinks as she plummets, I WISH THIS CAPE LET ME FLY. But for once it seems unlikely she's going to manifest a new, exciting power even she was unaware of, since she installed her cape herself. Therefore, it's a piece of quality cloth, as opposed to something super-mysterious!
She screams for a bit, and is freaking the frick out to tell the truth, but that doesn't mean she's giving up! She grabs onto the ends of her cape, trying to use it as a makeshift parachute.
"LOCUS DIVE!"
The Crimson Knight Locus action figure can't fly, no...
But she can fall with style.
DG: Carina Wynne has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, One Small Step.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is along. Blah, blah, blah, concerns and reservations, blah, blah, blah.
As they approach, gets out that lens as Jay knocks on the door. He heard the place being described as a 'workshop.' He has certain expectations of what might be involved as he brings the Symbologically empowered lens to one of his eyes as Jay starts to test the door.
...He walks a bit closer to be sure, putting him very close to Jay as she starts to open the door.
Something clicks to him immediately. He has no time to say - only time to act - in an elaborate ACTION DIVE that, were the ray just something that worked on direct contact, would have spared him.
Ethius is caught in the residual energy of its impact regardless, finding himself not only finding the environs growing larger - his pre-existing momentum ensures he is quickly going to get himself separated from the rest.
He acts with enough presence of mind to get the harness of the Hot Air Sack tied around a wrist and then the respective spell cast from the hand within the sack itself (risky due to concerns of scalding temperatures possibly interfering with any subsequent casts) that might yet slow the fall from doing real damage - but it won't do much to help him reverse his current momentum.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, One Small Step.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
'Again?' When was the first time Jay was shrunk by a mysterious device in a strange inventor's sketchy abandoned workshop? Does this kind of thing happen a lot? Is it her fate to be shrunk in continuously more absurd situations that call for sequel after franchise-milking sequel until her miniaturized adventures are immortalized as a 'virtual reality' experience at some far-flung amusement park?
There are so many questions.
Cyre has no answer for any of them.
He does, however, have an answer for this particular situation. The shaman, as prepared as he always is with a perfect and elegant solution to his problems, takes this whole situation in-stride and wraps his arms around Catenna's shoulders. They begin to fall.
And then they stop.
Or rather, they start falling very, very slowly.
"Don't worry," Cyre says as his mini-parachute catches a tiny burst of wind. "I gotcha. Gonna have to be careful, though. Pretty sure a stiff breeze would send us... Elsewhere."
Beat.
"You know, maybe we should take that thing on the way out. I have an idea for... applications."
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Reverse Parachute toward his party's challenge, One Small Step.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Yeah but we need to rob them blind," Lydia says to Jay. "...I mean, uh. You know. Figure out...the deal with, uh... the stuff here. It might be useful. For getting back to Filgaia." She pauses. "If they didn't want their workshop broken into they shouldn't have made it too so tantalizing! If anything, I bet it's a trap--" Her voice starts becoming more mouselike because she's already shrinking. "--And that we're about to oh I see it's already happenining."
She launches a couple portals out to break her fall. Like a boss.
"I hope there's a uh. Enlarging. Ray." She says.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Portal Pistols toward her party's challenge, One Small Step.
<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.
One always needed to keep one's ears open, she also wants to help earn her keep. She would be joinign up with Jacqueline and company, while this dungeon was out of the way she didn't bring her arm with her, she's got a cheap bow and honestly needs to find something bette,r for now though she's got a few other things packed in her tunic and various pouches to help. She is just a bit behind Jacqueline and muses for a moment.
"You know it kinda of is...ait what just?!"
She's hit by the ray and everything is becoming bigger or are they becoming smaller?
Tess falls and she moves to act using her natural agility also some of her own symboly to try and slow her allies falls though it's putting a lot of strain on hee to attempt this.
DG: Tesni Inoue has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, One Small Step.
========================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>======================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - One Small Step *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The door relents to the merest push, but all that does is let the Artificier's shrink ray fire freely. Now you're mere inches tall, and several feet in the air. Well, you were several feet in the air. That number is dwindling fast as you plummet towards the floor. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
===================<* The Artificer's Workshop - Round 1 *>=================== =========================< Results - One Small Step >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rapid Remedy 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Carina Wynne 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Portal Pistols 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tesni Inoue 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Reverse Parachute 1 Agility Effects: Rally and Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Injure(2) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Fortunately, the Caravan Kinship is a group prepared for all sort of bizarre occurrences. There are weirder things than suddenly finding oneself hanging in mid-air.
...Like finding one-self hanging in mid-air while shrunk to a fraction of their size, but that's just getting overly technical now, isn't it?
Catenna latches onto Cyre immediately, who of course usually always has a plan for situations like this in the form of his parachute. The two of them make their way slowly down to the floor.
Ethius, similarly, has his Hot Air Sack, which will allow him to float gently down to the floor. He may find a Jacqueline latched onto his legs, which will undoubtedly increase the rate of his descent somewhat.
Lydia launches out some portals, which help in breaking her fall. Carina, meanwhile, falls with style.
...This doesn't succeed in doing much, but it does look really cool, especially when Tesni fires up her Symbology to reduce the rate she's falling, making it looks like she's doing so in slow-motion.
And so, gradually, in one way or another the party will find themselves safely on the workshop's floor.
"I hoped that tower would be the last time something like this happened..." Jacqueline murmurs to herself, and then glances around.
"But I hope so too, Lydia...well, the only thing for it is to look around, I suppose. Hopefully there's something in here..." She comments.
DG: Carina Wynne has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>========================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - A Very Big Rat *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Sometimes, a threat makes itself incredibly apparent. In this case, the threat is a rat. A very big rat, with very sharp teeth, worryingly large claws, and an unpleasant case of mange. And it looks some mix of hungry and angry. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.
Locus' cape trick doesn't really do all that much because she is not named Mario. And yet, by the time she's touching the ground, her fall has slowed down considerably, to the point where she could almost be described as 'gently floating'. She doesn't remark on this, not sweating the small details as usual.
"That happened before? You've been in some kinda shrinkin' tower?" Locus poses! "Well then, Miss Jay, looks like we'll need all of your experience to guide us out of this jam! Locus away!"
And even though she implied that Jay should probably lead the way, she... leaps forward, with the proportional strength and agility of a grasshopper. In other words, she leaps EXACTLY like a grasshopper, vanishing behind a dusty pile of books, and...
It is at this very moment that Cyre smells a rat.
The reason becomes apparent a moment later.
"GANG I WAS GOING TO SURPRISE YOU BY INTRODUCING MY NEW JUSTICE STEED BUT-- MISTAKES WERE MADE!!"
Locus is holding on for dear life to a giant rat (or, well, appropriately-sized rat)'s neck. And now it's barreling straight for them and looking super pissed!!!
"HOLD ON, TIME TO TRY MY NEW TECHNIQUE, [LOCUS ICE TRAP]!!"
Cut to the ice and fire Element Marbles rolling on the wooden floor in the distance, larger than Carina currently is.
"ACTUALLY," she concludes, "I THINK I'LL PLAY THIS ONE BY EAR!!"
DG: Carina Wynne has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Very Big Rat.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius Hesiod returns.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna's legs kick under her for a moment longer before she feels her fall start to slow. She looks up at Cyre with a blush, her eyes a bit wide.
"...Yes," she murmurs. "This is going to be... a little awkward...."
She's not used to being tiny. It's an uncomfortable feeling. She keeps finding herself looking up anxiously at things, even with her feet on solid ground now.
Things like a large rat.
The Shaman bites down to her bottom lip briefly, but her eyes harden up as she whirls back and away from the huge monster -- no, wait, is it a huge monster? It's about normal-sized, isn't it?
Catenna does not like being tiny.
Locus plays it by ear. Catenna, meanwhile, plays it by the book - namely, the holy book. Slipping her Medium from her belt, she holds it over her head and recites a few words, hoping Celesdue can actually hear her when she's the size of a toy soldier and her voice feels like it doesn't carry very far.
Evidently someone hears her, though. As the rat bears down, it'll suddenly stop, at least for a moment - Catenna lets her spell off and attempts to anchor the thing to the floor.
"How uncouth," she mutters with a shake of her head. "You would think the homeowner would have done something about this infestation."
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, A Very Big Rat.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"I'm just glad pretty much everything else shrunk, too," Cyre smirks roguishly at the thought. "Yeah, guess we're lucky like that, huh? Ah well, maybe next ti--"
Sniff.
Sniff-sniff. That smell...!
That smell, it can only be...!
"Oh no," Cyre says with mounting dread. "My luck can't be that bad, can it? Is this really going to happen?" Is it?
Yes.
Yes it is.
That... is Carina. Attached to a large, angry rat.
Time slows down. Cyre's eyes widen at the enormous (??) creature barrelling down at him. His brow twitches as a confusing cavalcade of neurons fire in his brain. Fight or flight? Maybe just a little bit. Maybe just a little of something a little bit... different.
This is a rat.
And, no matter how he might protest sometimes, Cyre is ultimately at least part cat.
Some things just cannot be compromised upon-- the fetters to which lives and personalities are anchored. And for Cyre, it seems that one of them is...
Cat-ness.
Or rather, it seems to be that way, judging by how he's currently charging right at the enormous rodent all ablaze with tooth and claw.
Is this... Feline pride!?
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Very Big Rat.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius Hesiod returns to the ground, anchored from going too far away from the rest by Jacqueline holding onto him tightly. He touches down on the wavy, textured, and now precarious floor because the way the grooves are, he is now in prime 'trip, fall, and hit one's head again' territory.
He doesn't voice his concerns about waiting for him to be certain of a trap's presence or not before entering the workshop of an unknown artisan, but this is mostly because Locus is yelling over most anything he can or would say, and also because the giant (...regular-sized?) rat getting rowdy their way would cut any such discussions short.
There are two large satchels filled with specialized dust contents on the ground. They are too big for him to carry and throw.
He takes off in a dead sprint over to one of them anyway, mindful of the rampaging rat's path. Flitting his fingers in the appropriate fashion as he presses his hand up against one of the fallen satchels, he goes through with the incantation in hope that the difference in scale won't matter too much.
The lights that appear on a successful Symbological cast appears. Taking his (thankfully, also shrunk) quarterstaff in both hands...
"I will attempt to provide a smoke cover." He says. "I must place emphasis on 'attempt.'"
...he stabs the tip into the fabric, hoping to rupture it enough that a big cloud of dust and smoke will burst forth from it in the general direction of the giant rat.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, A Very Big Rat.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Th-thanks, Ethius." Jacqueline says as they set down and brushes herself off before looking toward Carina.
"It was...just a singular room, actually... The situation seemed to fix itself after we left. ...I think? I don't really understand how that tower works..." Jacqueline replies, thinking back. Just trying to comprehend it here and now was giving her a headache, so she decides her energy would probably be better directed to the problem at hand.
That being, that Locus is currently holding to a giant(from her point of view) rat that is barreling straight for them.
"M-Miss Locus, what did you do??" Jacqueline asks, diving out of the way. She actually has to be a little careful here, because things that she wouldn't even notice at full height are potentially dangerous now that she is incredibly tiny. She has to ensure she doesn't fall into any cracks in the floorboards...
"I don't think the home owner has been around in quite some time, Catenna...or, at least I hope they haven't, because otherwise this may be difficult to explain..." Jacqueline comments.
...And now Cyre is chasing after the rat with tooth and claw. She...decides she should probably help him.
Carina might not be able to use her ice, but Jacqueline still can. Which a quick gesture and an incantation(which she technically doesn't need since she's among friends, but it wouldn't do to get complacent), she begins to rapidly freeze the ground in front of the rat.
...Or, at least that's the idea, but she doesn't actually have any idea how her sorcery will function at this size... For all she knew, it would be just as if she was at normal size, which would be...problematic.
But at least she wasn't casting something more destructive.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"I had a feeling we were going to run into something like this." Lydia admits as she sees the giant rat. "I mean, once we shrunk down I figured it was inevitable." What if they can never be returned to normal size?! The horror! The humanity!!
Rather than advance directly, Lydia claps her hands once and says, "Come on Schrodinger! We could really use your help here!"
And, as usual, Schrodinger does appear. The cat does seem to be normal size, in fact, as it looks down at tinyLydia as if to say 'really? Again?'. The cat licks its paw and meows at Lydia.
The strength of the meow knocks Lydia over.
And then Schrodinger walks right by the rat. Is it going to fight for justice?! Is it going to chase a rat?!
No it promptly drops itself down into a sunbeam and lies down there, tail swishing.
Lydia stands up, places her hands at her hips, and stares at Schrodinger.
Schrodinger exposes their belly.
Lydia sighs and walks up on top of Schrodinger's belly and rolls around in it.
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Very Big Rat.
<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.
Good news for Tess is she doesn't end up a pile of goo on the floor from the impact, she does manage to land on the floor.
"How in the ... hades did someone develop something like this?!" Tess has no freaking idea here but it seme everyone is okay.
"Well we will have to make due, Jacqueline!" She makes a look to everyone else and they seem to be all right.
"Wait this has happene dbefore Carina?!"
Okay she just will have to think on that, then comes a rat? Rats on lunar That leaves some interesyting thoughts in Tess' mind about the planet's history then, the rational thought of she's small enough to be dinner. 5R
she draws her bow and takes a shot, trying to go for the eye.
"Rats...it had to be rats!"
DG: Tesni Inoue has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Very Big Rat. DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Very Big Rat.
=========================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>========================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - A Very Big Rat *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Sometimes, a threat makes itself incredibly apparent. In this case, the threat is a rat. A very big rat, with very sharp teeth, worryingly large claws, and an unpleasant case of mange. And it looks some mix of hungry and angry. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
====================<* The Artificer's Workshop - Round 2 *>==================== ==========================< Results - A Very Big Rat >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Celesdue Medium 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carina Wynne 5 --(5)--> 10 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 5 --(5)--> 10 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tesni Inoue 5 --(5)--> 10 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Jacqueline Barber 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Wound(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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: Lydia Seren has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>======================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - The Marvelous Toy *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- It goes "zip" when it moves and "bop" when it stops and "whirr" when it stands still. You're not quite sure just what it is but it's you it wants to kill. Sure, it may be wondrous and colourful, and have two big green buttons that look like eyes, but right now it's trying to run you down and needs to be stopped. =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous==============================================
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.
"I JUST SAT ON ITS BACK AND IT FREAKED OUT!" Locus explains to Jay. It's really all one needs to know.
Catenna halts the rat for a moment, just as it seems about to tear into everyone at once. Locus is jostled off her mount and sent rolling past everyone. The good news is that the way she skids to a halt looks very cool. The bad news is that she's too disoriented to do much of anything.
Ethius provides smoke cover, which seems enhanced somewhat by the ambient presence of giant dust. This has the unfortunate side-effect of causing Tesni's shot to whizz by the beast, but at least the rat's vision is clouded. When it can move again, it charges in a direction that is, luckily, occupied by no one.
Lydia attempts to summon Schrodinger and succeeds, but gets too distracted to contribute meaningfully to the fight! But the good news is, Schrodinger is getting a tiny tummyrub.
Cyre meets the rat head-on, despite the size differential. Some habits are hard to break. He actually manages to latch on to the rat's fur, despite its attempts to shake him off. This takes its attention away from...
[MISS JAY'S ICE TRAP!]
It doesn't take much more than an inconvenient patch of ice to send the rat skidding and tumbling. (Cyre may want to let go at this point.) It isn't dead, but it knows when to get back into the crawlspace, and this time is NOW. The creature vanishes under a bookcase and doesn't come out... for now.
"Whew," Locus gets up, making a brow-wiping gesture on her metal helmet. "Haha, sorry gang?? I really goofed this one up!" She slumps forward.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Okay," Lydia says to Schrodinger. "Are you okay to go now?"
Schrodinger Meows at Lydia.
Lydia sighs and tosses a little fish shaped cracker into Schrodinger's mouth.
Schrodinger promptly rolls back onto its feet, dislodging Lydia and it starts to pad around before it splits into several Schrodingers so that people can double up each on a Schrodinger back if they so wish. Lydia grumbles, climbs up, and flops on top of a Schrodinger. "I don't know why I spoil you," She complains to herself before looking over to Locus. "Don't sit on the back of strange animals!"
Schrodinger meows.
"You're not strange," Lydia says. "We've already sat on you before."
Of course the group doesn't get on too far when suddenly something ZIPS into the way of the group.
Is it some kind of ... toy ... wagon? It has buttons on its head though that kind of makes it look like it has a big smile as it's stsaring you down. It whirrs briefly and then lunges for the group.
Lydia's Schrodinger immediately rushes off to try and pounce it!!
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Marvelous Toy.
<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.
Things don't go as well as Tess had hoped for herself against the rat, nope it does not go very well at all. The shot does not do anything, she's forced to end up to take a hard dive that's fairly painful to avoid getting chomped. She's staggering back to her feet when the most marvelous toy she's ever seen. However even as it goes making interesting noises? It's trying to kill them, part of her souls dies for having to do this but she will move to load another arrow and take aim tyring to go for the wheel like things on the bottom hopefully she can do some good there to help hinder it....
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna, ever one to be privately charmed by cute things, lays a hand at her cheek, smiling mildly as she watches Lydia feed Schrodinger.
What? She likes cats. She'd spoil him too.
"You spoil him because he is absolutely adorable," she assures Lydia with a gentle smile, moving forward with her sword in hand. She checks past where the rat was --
And then, with a zip, in comes the toy wagon, with buttons on it for some reason. Catenna frowns slightly as she watches it move. "Why does it have eyes but look like a wagon," she asks, ever the pedant.
She doesn't get an answer. She gets... a lunge! Catenna gasps as Schrodinger jumps the wagonthing, but leaps to the side, hitting the ground and rolling away before she can be run down. Tucking her Medium back into her skirt, she twirls her sword and scowls. "Very well!" she huffs.
Catenna doesn't take the magical approach this time. She leaps forward with a long-legged bound. One heel clicks against the ground before she lunges, aiming to flip through the air. Her legs come up above her head.
She twirls in midair. It is a surprisingly graceful twirl, but then, she does moonlight as a dancer.
And then she descends - aiming to come down in the wagon, swinging her sword in a couple of deft strokes aimed to carve through it!
DG: Catenna has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Marvelous Toy. DG: Tesni Inoue has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Marvelous Toy.
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.
"Rats ain't strange!" Locus declares, with a raised finger. What? They really aren't, compared to Filgaia and Lunar's overall VERY STRANGE fauna.
Schrodingers are offered up as mounts, which is probably a safer option for all involved. "Hot dog!" Locus declares with a pumped fist. Her cat shoots her a dirty look. "I mean... hot cat?"
Only a beat after she's mounted (meownted?) the feline, here comes a new challenge. "I swear it wasn't me this time! Okay, hold still, Schro, I wanna try something..."
And she leaps right off the cat's back, flying towards the most dangerous toy with a foot extended! "BASELINE LOCUS KICK!" she calls out, aiming for one of those button eyes. Hey, who knows, maybe one of those will turn it off! And if not, well, her foot is a LITTLE electric right now.
DG: Carina Wynne has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Marvelous Toy.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline winces slightly as the rat goes skidding and tumbling.
"A-are you okay, Cyre?" Jacqueline calls out, and then offers Carina a smile. "It's okay, really...these things happen!"
It probably would've attacked them anyway, right? Right. Unfortunately, though, it looks like their quarrel has attracted something else to them, as well.
It's...a toy wagon? It's brightly colored with buttons that look like big green eyes.
"...Oh, that's...kind of cute, actually." Jacqueline comments. It matched her aesthetic quite well, with all it's bright colors. ...And then it starts to charge for them. "O-okay, that's less cute!"
With that she leaps onto the back of the nearest Schrodinger, who moves out of the way before it can collide with her. For the cat's trouble, Jacqueline gives her Schrodinger mount a thankful scratch behind the ears.
She's somewhat on Tesni's wavelength in that she'd rather not fight something like this, even if it was trying to hurt them...but, they had to do something about it. With another gesture, Jacqueline aims to bring a bolt of lightning down on the wagon.
Whether it'll be an adorable but pointless spark or a dangerously huge blast remains to be seen.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Marvelous Toy.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre disengages from the CRAVEN RAT who had been foolish enough to challenge his catty dominion. He lands without even so much of a sound, and looks on in triumph as the rodent flees into the darkness. He roars victory to the sky! Because he is tiny, it comes out as an adorable meow.
...
The less is said of this, the better.
"It's true," Cyre says of Lydia's terrible, kitty-spoiling ways. "Cats are meant to be spoilt, and you've done one hell of a job. Now, come, Schrodinger!" Cyre! Leaps! Onto the scruff of one Schro's neck. There's a distant flash of lightning and a delightfully metallic sound effect-- is this what it means to cattai!?
...
Schrodinger does not appreciate this joke. This is why he bolts suddenly after a toy. Cyre yelps, then collects himself. He has a plan for this, too! It's something he was saving to deal with Rosaline sometime later, but...
As he holds on for dear life, a strange, candy-apple red circle appears over Cyre's head. It flashes, suddenly unleashing a torrent of brilliant red light that--
Oh, it's... It's leaving a shiny red dot on the floor.
Cyre wiggles it left and right, and then sends it careening into the distance! Go Schro, chase the red dot!!
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Marvelous Toy.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius also gets himself comprehensively covered in giant dust. This is someone who oft carries the scent of dust, soot, and decay. Now he is comprehensively covered in rustic powder, and may or may not have been given some sort of latent enlightenment about how awful it is to cover people in dust in that certain awful way he's capable of inflicting.
Or not. His eyes are irritated as all get out, though. Idly, the group is guarded towards a number of Schrodingers to ride, and Ethius just sort of seems to take the backseat on the matter.
A marvelous toy comes their way. This is the sort of thing Ethius likes to do awful things to, right? This is the man who seems to see it fit to melt almost anything that comes between him and whatever his ultimate goal must be.
...
There is no motion to cast any destructive spells. From the back of a Schrodinger, he balances with quarterstaff in one hand and seems to see fit to stand there and watch as it adorably and preciously tries to run everyone and everything over it can with those silly childish eyes on it.
...
Why isn't he helping?
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Marvelous Toy.
========================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>======================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - The Marvelous Toy *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- It goes "zip" when it moves and "bop" when it stops and "whirr" when it stands still. You're not quite sure just what it is but it's you it wants to kill. Sure, it may be wondrous and colourful, and have two big green buttons that look like eyes, but right now it's trying to run you down and needs to be stopped. =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous==============================================
===================<* The Artificer's Workshop - Round 3 *>=================== =======================< Results - The Marvelous Toy >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Carina Wynne 10 --(10)--> 20 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 10 --(10)--> 20 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tesni Inoue 10 --(10)--> 20 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(2)|Wound(1) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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> Lydia Seren has posed.
"YEAH I GUESS HE IS ADORAAAHHH!!"
Lydia's Schrodinger fails to catch up to the car and instead stops suddenly and looks at that red light that Cyre summoned. It promptly starts also chasing after the light alongside Cyre's Schrodinger who bats the toy car away. Unfortunately, Lydia's Schrodinger ends up sliding along the ground and crashes into Cyre's Schrodinger and Lydia's Schrodinger vanishes in a flash of time nonsense and sends Lydia crashing to the ground.
Carina tries to jump kick into the car but it's faster than she is! It zips out of the way and ends up flying off screen to the next challenge room, probably. Tesni tries to launch an arrow at out but it merely gets caught in the wheel and sent flying right back at her albeit slowly enough that she can readily avoid it.
Catenna and Jay have better luck. Catenna manages to land inside the car. The blade strikes rip deep gashes into the car's hide but she now is riding around in a car that's resisting her attempts to turn it away--though she is able to maneuver it to a certain extent albeit it's a struggle the whole way through.
That manages to give Jay enough time to launch a lightning bolt at it (Catenna probably gets the heck out of dodge at this point) and obliterates the toy with her expertly aimed magic!
Ethius watches all of this happen, alongside a few other wildly chaotic and ridiculous moments and doesn't get involved which, really, was probably the correct choice.
Lydia groans on the floor.
DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>========================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Cogs in a Machine *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Your path has led you into the insides of one of the Artificer's creations, long rusted over. Once moving parts are now rusted over, and the way forward isn't clear. A little effort reveals that the cogs can still be turned, and a light at the end of the tunnel, if you can work out which gears to turn. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Don't look now, but Catenna's gotten a little better with her sword in recent months.
She is, admittedly, less good at riding car. She gasps as she sees Jay lining up her spell; her damage done, she backflips neatly out of the toy, coming down to a landing with a sharp click of heels.
Immediately she whirls towards Lydia, dropping down next to her and biting down to her bottom lip. She touches a hand to her heart for a moment, reaching out to rest her other hand on Lydia's shoulder, as she calls upon the other Guardian whose Medium she carries.
There is a soft, shimmering blue light and a subtle sound like the tide gently rolling in as Catenna's healing spell trickles out to wash across Lydia. She is not normally the party's healer... but the magic helps, at least, to lessen the hurt girl's pain.
She smiles wanly, offering Lydia a hand of support. "Hang in there," she urges. "You did your best...!"
Onward they move, ducking through an arched opening of some kind. Immediately, Catenna crinkles her nose as the smell of old rust hits it. "Goodness," she cringes as she looks up into the guts of the machine above. There's a clear path forward for those able to clamber up the various cogs and gears.
The bad news is, several have rusted so badly that they're blocking the opening higher up within the mess of oxidized clockwork. "I can... see light streaming through there," Catenna says with a pensive frown. "I think if we move the right gears...."
Frowning, Catenna lays out a few sticks of incense and lights them in the hopes that the little ritual will deliver the group the clarity of mind needed to think this through. If nothing else, the scent is relaxing!
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Ritual Incense toward her party's challenge, Cogs in a Machine.
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa," Locus lets out as she flies past her target... and into the opening the rest of the group makes its way into a moment later.
"Well, I didn't expect to find Gears on Lunar, that's for sure." Locus' hands are on her hips as she gazes upwards. She looks back at the gang, probably winking behind her mask.
"Well, figuring this mess out looks like a job for the Matrix Eye," she says, tapping the side of her helmet to bring up the X-ray function. "Lemme just see what connects to what... Hmmm, maybe if I move this one?"
She climbs onto one of the most promising gears she sees, and starts running to turn it! It may not be very useful, but it's sort of fun, y'know?
DG: Carina Wynne has used her Tool Matrix Eye toward her party's challenge, Cogs in a Machine.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline was certain that Catenna would get out of the way in time, but she had to admit she was worried for a second. Still, she's glad that her estimation was on the mark. But seeing where Carina would ended up...
"We should probably follow her..." She says. Her Schrodinger gets a friendly pat on the back before she dismounts and ducks into the insides of the machine Carina flew into.
"Ah...being among all of these gears...it reminds of the time I used to spend in Adlehyde's clocktower when I was younger..." She comments with a nostalgic look on her face. Of course, she wasn't actually trying to climb over the gears back then...this situation is a bit different than she's used to.
"Let's see...I think if we turn...this, this...and maybe this...it might help...?" She considers, looking over the gears with her arms folded in front of her and a pensive look on her face.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Cogs in a Machine.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Why didn't Ethius help them with the marvelous toy? From all observances of how he conducts himself in the face of things of that nature, that sort of thing should normally be slag or otherwise rendered inoperable almost as fast as anyone could snap their fingers. Instead, he elects to watch and consider for... some reason... while several risked their lives trying to stop it from running them down.
Ethius disembarks from his present Schrodinger to momentary check upon Lydia, but otherwise says nothing as he follows Catenna into the rusted innards of some device or another. His hand goes under the fabric that makes up the hood he wears...
Out comes the Spectral Lens, which appears to have shrunk with him maybe on virtue of having been in one of his hands when he tried to avoid the shrink ray.
Bringing a hand to his forehead, he looks up into the machines that Catenna helpfully gives a bit better sight to thanks to the lit incense. One Symbological spell cast later, the Spectral Lens gives him a dress-down.
...
This time, he doesn't need to, he thinks, even as he gives everything a look. Somehow, in this circumstance, he seems to know exactly what he's looking at. Have I been here before, he wonders? ...No, that would be unlikely, but...
"Miss Catenna's observation is correct," he says as he climbs atop one gear. He puts on that Hot Air Sack to let himself drift to some other part of the rusted clockworks, until as such he's a bit further up than the rest, "I will require assistance to make the mechanisms move. At my present level of visibility..."
Ethius gives a reasonably good dress-down of how the whole thing seems to be put together, but is he picking the best place to focus one's efforts? They are all rusted to some degree, and no longer capable of moving unassisted.
"I implore that one exercise care in the operation of the device." Ethius remarks as he rests a hand on something that was probably not meant to be a grip by its original design. There might be a better place to work with in getting this thing turning, but from this point... he starts putting his back into it, trying to get the thing moving.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Cogs in a Machine.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Oh no! Cyre didn't predict that all the Schrodingers would start running off! What a cat-astrophy this plan turned out to be! Fortunately everyone seems to have made it out relatively uns-cat-hed. Cyre sticks his own dismount, landing with a deft flourish in front of...
...A vast array of clockwork...?
Uhhhh. Hm.
Catenna seems to have the right idea.
"Careful, though. I'm not sure what moves what in here," Cyre cautions, maneuvering around the vast array of gears, sprockets and cogs. He tries very hard not to get anything stuck in a set of brass teeth or anywhere near a potentially whirling piston. "Don't want to end up getting your clock cleaned because you were looking the wrong way."
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Cogs in a Machine.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia is healed by Catenna. Her cheeks redden and she stubbornly doesn't look back at Catenna out of pure embarrassment. She's still a little awkward it seems but she doesn't bite Catenna or anything. She does mumbles an awkward thank you or something like that, but it's hard to hear as she nervously shakes about. It's an improvement.
SOME TIME LATER
'I implore that one exercise care in the operation of this device'
Lydia, now riding a new Schrodinger, pauses from her position near the cogs. In her hands is a large crowbar. She slowly lowers it down. She looks at Ethius for a long moment, and then back at the gears, then back at Etihus. Then back at the gears. Then she looks at Jay. Then she looks back at the gears.
She takes in a deep breath and gives the gears a good smack with her crowbar anyway.
But it's an AIMED smack okay? One of precision not of for--
--Lydia smacks the gears a few more times with her crowbar in an attempt to get them moving. Or maybe rip one out for her own purposes. It's a mystery.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Schrodinger the Cat toward her party's challenge, Cogs in a Machine.
<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.
Tesni Inoue is just having a bad day here, a very bad day but the toy is stopped. She's alive a bit more banged up but she's doing all right she looks to Catenna for a moment nodding in agreement.
"I ser the light too."
She notes for a moment, she listens to the rest of the plan, nods a little bit. She pulls out that padd of her's for a moment checking her explorer notes and then taking an image of the thing to get a better idea of how they can move the gears properly.
"I think I have an idea."
She goes to put her theroy to the test it. She'll use her crowbar for the heavy lifting part of this.
"So think anyone will think we're telling the truth about being this small, later?"
DG: Tesni Inoue has used her Tool Datapad toward her party's challenge, Cogs in a Machine.
==========================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>========================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Cogs in a Machine *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Your path has led you into the insides of one of the Artificer's creations, long rusted over. Once moving parts are now rusted over, and the way forward isn't clear. A little effort reveals that the cogs can still be turned, and a light at the end of the tunnel, if you can work out which gears to turn. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
=====================<* The Artificer's Workshop - Round 4 *>===================== =========================< Results - Cogs in a Machine >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Ritual Incense 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carina Wynne 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Matrix Eye 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Schrodinger the Cat 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tesni Inoue 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Datapad 3 Wits Effects: Rally ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(1)|Secret(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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> Catenna has posed.
Come now, come now - Metal Digger Locus is always useful! Gears turn as the world's smartest superhero prods and pokes at them. Catenna looks on as she does so.
She caught that wink. She just blinks in return, a bit nonplussed, because she's Catenna and she does not get puns.
Ethius gets his hot air on. Floating up, he finds himself able to survey most of the mechanism, before he and Jay both begin to fiddle with it. Frowning, Catenna moves in beside Jacqueline, planting a knee against a gear and beginning to push on it as if to try and force her way through the rust.
Catenna doesn't hold anything against Lydia! In fact, the Moon Shaman flashes the Star Shaman a quiet smile, seemingly having forgiven her for whatever it is was bothering her. She even diverts to help Lydia move the gear she's hitting with her crowbar.
It gives her just a moment to lean in, lowering her voice a little. "Please do not feel bad," she murmurs. "You are my friend. That will not change."
Cyre... doesn't get his clock cleaned! As he pushes a gear, a piston does in fact swing out - but he's able to hop atop the rusty thing. It clears a way for some of the others. Catenna and Lydia are able to bound up the teeth of a gear to where Jay and Ethius have rotated a sideways gear out into a platform. At the top, Locus has rolled a smaller gear aside.
Soon enough, the group slips out through the opening at the top of the clockwork orange...!
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>============================================= ===============================================<* CHALLENGE - The Grid *>=============================================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- An important-looking device sits on the floor in front of you. Unfortunately, getting to it will not be so simple. To protect it from rats, a net of metal filaments hangs above it, and it's still sparking. It's sagged over the ages, and is now inconsistent. Some careful leaps could get you through, but the risk of electrocution is large. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius throws an arm out wide as they make it out the top of the device - some kind of clock, it indeed turns out - and for good reason. One, there is a curious-looking item on the ground that looks much like the thing that originally shrunk them. (Also, it's brightly-colored, seemingly ageless from the surrounding environs, so that must mean it is important.)
Two, there are sparks of electricity that jump every so often from a net of metal filaments that hangs from above. Years upon years of wear and tear have made it look ready to collapse at any point. There are many breaks in the netting. They are small enough that they might be able to squeeze through - if they can find a great vantage point to move from.
There's a number of makeshift platforms from the clock mechanisms onto furniture. Old tools make for narrow walkways. Also, there's a slice of spongy fruitcake that - miraculously - has not yet rotted that could be used as a trampoline.
"There is an electrical hazard present." Duh. "The power source is not within our reach at present. I am not certain we could reach said power source in our present condition." This means...
"We will have to make our way through the net. Do not all attempt to go into the same openings together at once. Contact could yet prove fatal."
With that, he gets the Hot Air Sack's harness back around a wrist, going about gesticulating with the hand out in the open as he drifts forward. He sees a potential drop point for his part - but there may be other creative solutions available among the team yet other than 'move, jump, hope one gets through the opening.'
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, The Grid.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Climbing out into the open again, Catenna immediately spots the curious-looking thing on the ground. Her eyebrows shoot up. "How intriguing," she murmurs.
The sparking filament net is... rather less intriguing. Or rather, intriguing, but significantly more dangerous. The priestess inches away from it, biting down to the inside of her cheek as she gives the decaying filament network a long, studying scan, eyes roving across it as she tries to find a hole, a tear, anything that might let her get through there without electrocuting herself.
Some of them are there. So is a fruitcake. Catenna recoils from it as if it could give her cooties.
"Cyre," she urges the catman in her life. "Please be careful. I would not want you to receive a shock."
Not unless she's doing the shocking. In a metaphorical sense. A nice, fun, metaphorical sense.
She finds what she's looking for. A couple of tools catch her eyes, and she scales one - a wrench lying at an angle against a broken screwdriver. The wrench head ascends to a spot up in the air a ways, nearing a portion of the net where one of the filaments has frayed and begun to dangle. With a tap of dancing heels, the Shaman heads up the shaft of the wrench, situating herself between the prongs of the head.
Catenna breathes in; she breathes out. She closes her eyes and prays, hands folded in front of her.
Patient Celesdue, please favour me in sufficient measure that I do not come out of this as a well-done pork chop.
She tenses - and leaps. Catenna sails through the air, swinging her legs up over her head in a smooth front-flip as she goes. It's not just for show; she's attempting to angle herself so that the descent of her jump sends her shooting through the filament net at just the right angle that she won't shock herself!
She'll probably make it. Now it's just a question of whether she can stick the landing without breaking her ankle.
DG: Catenna has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Grid.
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.
Locus listens to Ethius' assessment idly, arms crossed, as she considers the obstacle course ahead.
"Hmmm... this is gonna need some tricky acrobatics-- wuh?"
Locus is jostled as something gently headbutts her. She turns around. She is stared down by an ant larger than she is. It's unclear whether she really was smaller than an ant the whole time, or if Lunar just has very large ant, or perhaps this whole sequence is an animation error.
Locus' helmet antennae wiggle as she speaks. Is that thing trying to communicate?
"What's up, antenna buddy?" The ant headbutts her again. It clicks its mandibles at something Locus is carrying. The camera pans down to a lump of fruitcake under her arm.
"Oh, this? I was gonna keep it as a snack for when we get embiggened again... Though thinking about it, fruitcake is kinda gross, whether it's been lyin' on the floor or not... Guess there's no harm in leavin' it to you."
She tilts her head, noticing that the ant is in fact one of them winged types... What a lucky break!
"Heeeey... I got a deal for you, actually!"
BGM CHANGE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_5NwVy8L5M
A moment later, Locus is attempting to maneuver the flying ant through the net, using a small rubber band as a harness.
"ALL RIGHT, SHRINK MACHINE, HERE COMES THE BUG CAVALRY!"
Carina, this doesn't make any sense on several levels.
DG: Carina Wynne has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Grid.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre clambers on out of the clock and lays his eyes on what might just be their salvation. Or their doom. One of the two. There is a whole mess of electrical nonsense crackling all over the place in a manner suggesting either that it was intended to be some kind of horrible maze, or that whoever built this thing was sloppy enough to leave an immortal (!?) fruitcake lying around near his exposed power supply.
Cyre frowns, tapping his fingers against his chin. "I could just blow the whole thing down, but then it might cut power to whatever we need to turn back. And light the place on fire. Either or both would be bad. So."
Catenna tells him to be careful! And not to get shocked.
...'A nice, fun, metaphorical sense,' sure. Suuuure.
...
The shaman laughs as he unlimbers his parachute again, "Don't you worry. This'll be just like training back home. I'm a pretty good lightning dodger, you know?" Comes with having Leon for a brother. Cyre briefly wonders where he got off to? Maybe his brother's on the moon, too...?
Nah, that'd be too convenient.
He can worry about that later. For now, he has a breeze to control and a cage of live electrical filament to navigate! Cyre leaps, the wind picking up around him and filling his parachute like a great big sail. Hopefully he doesn't catch a spark or anything terrible like that!
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Reverse Parachute toward his party's challenge, The Grid.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline stops in her tracks as Ethius throws an arm out. It soon becomes apparent why - a rather important-looking device is present in front of them, but a net of metal filaments above causes electricity to spark downward every so often.
That...poses a problem. There are walkways through, but...even if they weren't a fraction of their size, that much electricity would be hazardous. But like this... Well, she didn't want to think about that! So instead she considers what she can do.
If she had her Earth Pillars, this would be less of a problem...but she's reminded once again that she doesn't. She's been working on that, but...she isn't quite there yet.
Ethius is right that they can't reach the power source - even if she wanted to try to chuck a Haywire Draught up there, she'd have to get it through or over the net first, and she isn't sure she can do that without making things worse. But maybe if instead...
"Watch out, everyone!" She says by way of warning, and draws a bottle of bright orange liquid from her bags. She hurls it up at the net...and then with a gesture, strikes it with a spell in mid-air and causes the bottle to shatter, raining the contents all over the net. With any luck, once the liquid sticks to and solidifies on the net, it'll stop or at the very least slow the sparking down to make it easier for everyone to get through.
...She still has to make it through herself, but that should hopefully simplify things.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, The Grid.
<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.
Tesni Inoue makes it through doing a bit to help with the gears but not as much as she thought she would. They get out and now they are making their way towards what should hopefully be the end of it. She nods to Ethius.
"I don't intend to end up turned into popcorn, no I don't want to see anyone get zapped."
she nods ot Ethius in agreement about getting zapped could be fatal, given their current size.
The plan is solid but she's going to take up a different opening.
"All right lets take this smart and careful, right?" Cartina own actions does get the very good idea, heck? Tess is likely inspired to add some things to her adventuring kit.
"You know Carina that is a good idea."
She heeds Jacquelines' warning as she makes her move across the metal which could become her death, if she's not careful, still Jacqueline's latest bit of chemistry is welcome as well, as she makes her way across.
DG: Tesni Inoue has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Grid.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia glances over to Catenna, who seems to have forgiven her. Lydia ducks her head deeper into her collar like a turtle hiding in its shell for a moment. She doesn't say anything for a while even after Catenna says that. Maybe she's being cautious, or maybe she doesn't know what to say.
There's some walking. Eventually she says, "Catenna," to her. "Sometimes it takes time." She looks to the ground and grabs at her arm. "Even if you don't want it to."
Her arm is being forcibly held still by her hand. She misses Emma. Emma seems so similar to her, but she just smiles through it all like she just gets it or maybe doesn't care if she doesn't get it. Lydia's not even sure what 'it' is but the problem for her isn't just that she upset Catenna, there's something else there, isn't there? She's always known it.
She soon is confronted by a strange platforming segment. Lydia uses her portal pistols to cheese most of it but ultimately she slaps on some rubber gloves onto her hands and leaps up to climb the rest of the way through that method. She drops down after and rubs at her head as if she has a headache.
She wishes she could just get over it the way that Catenna could. She did what people say to do but her body is still reacting.
"mehhg." She mutters to herself and slaps her face a few times before moving on. She tanks any electrocution damage. This is likely not the first time the gearmonkey had to.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Portal Pistols toward her party's challenge, The Grid.
=============================================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>============================================= ===============================================<* CHALLENGE - The Grid *>=============================================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- An important-looking device sits on the floor in front of you. Unfortunately, getting to it will not be so simple. To protect it from rats, a net of metal filaments hangs above it, and it's still sparking. It's sagged over the ages, and is now inconsistent. Some careful leaps could get you through, but the risk of electrocution is large. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
========================================<* The Artificer's Workshop - Round 5 *>======================================== =================================================< Results - The Grid >================================================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Rapid Remedy 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Carina Wynne 25 --(5)--> 30 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 25 --(5)--> 30 Pass Portal Pistols 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 20 --(5)--> 25 Fail Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tesni Inoue 25 --(5)--> 30 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has successfully explored The Artificer's Workshop! =============================================<* The Artificer's Workshop *>=============================================
========================================<* The Artificer's Workshop - Round 5 *>======================================== =======================================<* CHALLENGE - The Artificers Notebooks *>======================================= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- You find a number of notebooks, each filled with a plethora of notes, presumably the writings of the Artificer of Moor Anys. One details how to counteract the shrink rays effects. The notes are chaotic, outlining failed experiment after failed experiment: A device to suck knowledge from the brains of others; multiple attempts at a time machine; a device to swap the brain of a human with the brain of an animal. Despite the long list of failures, there are some gems in there, particularly on miniaturization techniques, that could be of use to an artificer or other worker of magic devices. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Together, all of them find their own individual ways in. Jacqueline's Haywire Drought provides a safer means of entry for many of them as its contents solidify and insulate. Many slip through the cracks there - Catenna's acrobatics, Carina's befriending of an ant that was probably interrupted from its nupital flight, Cyre's flight, Tesni's careful movements, Lydia's...
"Miss Lydia!" Ethius calls out as she just elects to tough the whole thing out. He's not sure what he can do. The current equipped quarterstaff might not be insulated enough from electrical shocks to help try and pry her off, but that proves unnecessary when she gets inside.
Ethius is the only one who doesn't make it inside, because an errant spark of electricity flicks a wire precariously close to himself. He has to settle just outside of the trap as the rest get to explore and figure out how the device works. He does not seem too pleased with the idea, but when is he ever?
...Inside...
The device in question doesn't seem to work, no matter how many buttons are pressed. Darn!! And now they're all trapped inside of an electrical net, but... wait.
There's a notebook with perfectly legible text whose pages are still intact enough that if they all join forces to turn them, the information within can be read. Lots of interesting things! Mostly strange rambling about weird ideas like taking knowledge from a mind, something about a time machine (one suspects it's not just about keeping track of time), something that swaps minds of man and beast... lots of weird things. Something about miniaturization techniques, which is... what they've all suffered, right?
...
Huh. It seems the way to counteract the shrink ray's effects - or at least this specific build of it - involves copious amounts of moisture.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Sometime before she jumped, Catenna just blinked at Lydia a couple of times.
She'd gone into the jump holding a spark of doubt close to her heart. But... but I thought we had moved past things. And yet, she still hates me.... Am I truly so vile a human being...?
When Catenna does come up from her landing, she wraps her arms around her midsection and drifts off to one side, letting the rest of the group exult in their discovery. It's technological; it's of little use to her. Instead, she closes her eyes and begins to make a few painful decisions in the confines of her thoughts.
"Please just find a way to return us to our normal size," she suggests in a slightly pained voice, looking away.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline lets out a sigh of relief once they all get inside. ...Well, most of them, anyway. Ethius is barred off from the rest of them, but he at least seems alright, which is the important thing!
Also important - the notebook near the device. Jacqueline loves books of all kinds and notebooks are no exception... Even if it happens to be huge compared to them.
And once it's open...
"I see...submerge the afflicted in dihydrogen monoxide...which will -muttermutter- and -muttermutter-, causing the afflicted to -muttermutter-, reversing the miniaturization..." She murmurs to herself.
"I never would have considered that... That's really quite simple..." She concludes, taking a step back from the notebook. "Does anyone happen to have some water on hand? Once we're...not so close to an electrical hazard, I mean..."
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia just needs some time to get comfortable again and seems unaware that they're making things harder on Catenna by requesting it. Will this lead to an emotional moment where everybody's crying and hugging one another? Does every episode of Furthest Place From The Universe have a moment where one or more moe girls cry in it?
The rubber gloves seem to have helped Lydia out tremendously. She does take a few shocks, but it doesn't seem to bother her that much. Ethius's warning makes Lydia's head sink back in again. Her own set of neurodivergances are in hyperdrive.
Nevertheless, if there's anything that gets Lydia's attention it's a tech manual. She does manage a small smile as she helps turn the page and gets to reading. Eventually she gets to the part about moisture and says, "Moisture huh?"
She hops back down. "But where are we going to--"
SCHRODINGER IMMEDIATELY STARTS LICKING PEOPLE BACK TO NORMAL WHY DIDN'T SCHRODINGER DO THIS AT THE START OF THIS WHOLE MESS?!
Lydia eventually reverts to normal size, covered in cat slobber.
She lands on her back and looks towards Catenna who is probably the next one to get licked. Animals can tell, you know. They have a SIXTH SENSE for this sort of thing.
Lydia looks to Catenna for a long while after anyway. She is studying her expression but seems to be having trouble deciphering it.
<Pose Tracker> Tesni Inoue has posed.
one heck of a team effort they are able to get through, she quick to get her tablet out and will start taking images of the notes for later use. She'll not keepo anyone form it and she puts the pad away after a moment.
She will look over the notes, sharing it with anyone else who wants to read.
"Looks like Moisture is the fix...a whole lot of it."
Then comes Schro whos starts to lick her and soon she's back at normal sized covere dins lobber.
"We need to get Scho something really nice...later. Lydia."
<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.
The contract is complete. Having made her way through the trap, Locus waves sadly as her ant friend flies away, fruitcake in its mandibles. It's possible it's off to return to its nuptial flight, which has upsetting implications. Luckily for Carina, she has little idea how ants actually work. As far as she knows, maybe winged Lunarian ants are common. (Who knows, right?)
"Miss Jay is so smart...!" Carina says in a stage whisper, clenching her fists in triumph as Jacqueline makes sense of the technical texts. "Gosh, I wish I had access to my marbles right now... Or I had a water marble, actually. That'd be nice 'n' refreshing."
She ponders this for a moment, not really working on the problem but imagining herself getting a cool shower, because that adventure sure worked up a sweat and-- AAAAAAH SHE'S GETTING MOISTURIZED BY A CAT AAAAAAAAH
"..." She looks down and around herself, seeing what's happening. "Awww, that's a good kitty! ...Ow..." Armor or not, cat tongues are raspy, man.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Mostly Catenna just wants to distance herself from everyone and everything until she's no longer hurting anyone's feelings by her presence. Her aversion to confrontation is feeding her some ugly thoughts about herself right now.
It is hard for her to maintain a good frump when Schrodinger jumps on her and starts licking her face.
The Moon Shaman gasps, but smiles patiently nevertheless and bows her head, scritching at the nape of Schrodinger's neck and even giving the weird cat a little meow of appreciation as she finds herself once again... embiggened. Cats' tongues may be raspy, but all things considered, Catenna deals with it.
Besides - kitty's helping. Helping should be encouraged!
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
The answer is obvious, Lydia.
It's because Schrodinger is a cat, and cats only do what seems to be most amusing to them at the present moment.
But! On the other hand, it is the truth that cats only lick the things that they like! Kitty affection manifests in all manner of ways! For example, grooming.
...
Still, chances are good that Schro has sardine breath, considering who he hangs out with.
Cyre remyaterializes in a flash of anti-shrinking energies. He takes a moment to dust himself off before reaching into a pocket and offering a (1) anchovy to his cat buddy as payment for services rendered. Schrodinger is a good kitty.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is a prime target for lick-restoration, since he's outside of the net trap. One flinching recoil from the sandpapery tongue of a quantum cat later, he finds himself being restored to his normal size. From there, he can help do whatever odd step is needed to get the electric trap lifted to help allow the rest out and also be restored.
From there...
"Our business at this place appears to be concluded. Please go on ahead." He says. "I will follow you shortly."
Ethius standis at attention with his hands behind his back as he observes the workspace they all stand. Every little trap and trick that they could have run into, every square inch of the workshop his eyes follow - he takes it all in. He adjusts the fit of his gloves. He'll wait for the rest to leave - or at least until he has some sense that it's just okay to 'go' by some weird criteria.
At which point he...
Gently smooths any scuffs on the ground.
Pushes anything moved back into place.
Picks up anything broken off the floor.
Neatly and politely sweeping up accumulated dust on surfaces the exploded Powder Grenade touched, thoroughly brushing along surfaces anyone physically touched that he can still reach. Anything that was touched, he moves to clean.
This includes cat hairs.
Cat hairs that may or may not exist until observed, at which point there may be multiples in various states of quantum existence that spring from a given point of observance.
Perfectly normal Ethius behaviors.
Ethius will be here a while, but quantum cat hairs will be no match for whatever the hell it is that suddenly possesses him to be a good housekeeper of an abandoned workshop.
It'll be like they were never there.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia stands herslef up eventually and walks over to Catenna. She watches her play with the cat. Seeing Catenna chilling with kitty brings a faint reddening of her cheeks but she still doesn't say anything. She rubs her hand again as awkwardly as ever. Social anxiety is a hell of a thing but she could, at least, tell that Catenna was bugged by something. But she needs time. She needs to give Catenna the message that she is still loved too in a way that is comfortable for her, indeed in a way that is within her comfort zone.
She opens her mouth. What thing is she going to say that will smooth all this over??
She leans forward as if to whisper and--
*chomp*
Lydia lightly bites Catenna's shoulder. Despite her teeth being sharp, she doesn't press down enough to break the skin, particularly through Catenna's clothes.
"..."
She pats Catenna on the head twice.
And with that she reopens her jaw and is about to head on out with the others, barring Catenna stopping her.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Schrodinger looms over Jacqueline. Jacqueline looks up at Schrodinger with some amount of concern.
"W-wait... We can talk this out, right...?" Jacqueline says, backing away worriedly.
...There's a glint Schrodinger's eye.
...A moment later, a full-sized and rather dazed-looking Jacqueline is sprawled out on the floor, her glasses askew from having been groomed by Schrodinger.
"W-well...that happened..." She murmurs, picking herself up, dusting herself off, and...
Giving Schrodinger a pat on the head, because Schrodinger is a good cat.
At some point during all of this, the notebook may have disappeared into one of her bags. She doesn't comment on it, but will willingly show it to others later if they ask to see it.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna scritches Schrodinger a little more. She even coaxes the kitten into rolling over so she can rub his tummy a little, smiling and curling her fingers now and then to let him try and bat at her hand in that playful catch-her-in-a-trap way that cats do.
Until Lydia comes sliding awkwardly over. Catenna blinks a couple of times, tensing slightly and beginning to rise, not sure what else Lydia is going to say to her at this point. As the other Shaman leans in, the moon priestess tilts her head, all too ready to talk things out and assure Lydia she's sorry for snapping at her and sorry for attributing the worst intentions to her and --
And then Lydia bites her. Catenna's top exposes most of her shoulders, so Lydia gets bare skin.
Catenna starts a little, her cheeks immediately set afire by a furious blush. "L-Lydia," she murmurs, before quieting as the awkward girl pats her on the head.
When Lydia does slink off, Catenna stares after her, still blushing brilliantly and somehow even more confused than when she started. "...Why did you...."
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre is also staring after Lydia after Lydia does that thing that Lydia just did.
...
...
And then he leans over and chomps on Catenna's other shoulder, pats her on the head exactly twice (2 times), disengages and sets off after the others without a word.
Because reasons???
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna opens her mouth to say something to Cyre.
...Who then also bites her. She jumps a bit and gasps. She would blush harder but she's about at maximum already. Instead she just gives him a wide-eyed look, clasping her hands together and squirming a little. "...Cyre...."
She does take off after the others, at least. Cyre and Lydia in particular. "Cyre--"
At this point Catenna's not sure if she did something wrong or if this is somehow going to end in make-up sex.