2018-05-02: Treacherous and Trying Trials
- Log: Treacherous, Trying Trials
- Cast: Riesenlied, Jacqueline Barber, Ethius Hesiod, Elhaym van Houten, Fei Fong Wong, Shalune Amira
- Where: Vane - Trial Cave
- Date: May 2nd, 2018
- Summary: At Miria's behest, Riesenlied gathers some friends to head into the Trial Cave to investigate the failing machines(and pick up some more toys). They find...far more than they bargained for.
===========================<* Vane - Trial Cave *>============================ Once the testing grounds for prospective students of the Magic City of Vane, the Trial Cave is now a twisted ruin. Apprentice magicians used to regularly travel through the cave, slaying minor monsters with their sorceries, but after nearly a millennia of misuse, the population has swelled to bursting. While Vane can ill afford reward money, the prospect of recovering magical artifacts lost with the fall of the ancient city is sufficient to attract the occasional adventurer. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yawlRq0VMss
DG: A party led by Riesenlied is now entering Trial Cave of Vane. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
===========================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>=========================== =================<* CHALLENGE - Transmission Machine Broke *>================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Something's not quite right with the Spring of Transmission today. Stepping into the center does nothing. It does not, in fact, put you in the Trial Cave of Vane. Is it a loose stone in the teleportation circle? All the overgrowth along the sides of the elevated stone platform? Did something use up the magic for the day? Did the thing just finally break? Have fun with that. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Last time in the Trial Cave of Vane, disaster nearly struck when Janey and Mikaia struck out on their own while Riesenlied was immured in bed with a high-pitched fever... fortunately, Lemina Ausa herself and Big Shal, as well as Shalune, were there to take care of them so they wouldn't meet a grisly end at the hands of big, fat blobby bats.
What's curious is that they've jumped up and down at Riese to go: 'Mooom if you're going to the Trial Cave bring us more toys!!'
Thus, it is here that Riesenlied has gone on Miria's auspices, to investigate some of the failing magical devices and... bring more toys from the depths of the caverns for her children. She can't go alone, though, so she's requested a number of her friends to come investigate with her.
She's paused before the Spring of Transmission as she closes her eyes to express, "This isn't working correctly... but the magic is similar to that of the transporter back at the Pleasing Gardens. Hold on a minute..."
She holds her palms close to the Dragon's Tear and concentrates, emanating a weave of directed particles (don't worry, Ethius) towards the stone circle itself.
"Mmm... the magic flow is disrupted..."
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon's Tear toward her party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline's been to the Trial Cave, herself. Last time, though, her party wound up going around in complete circles. They found some things, at least, but all together it left them too exhausted to go any further...
This time, now that she has a better grasp of the cave's layout, Jacqueline is certain it'll go better. ...And this time, she's even an official member of the Magic Guild!
So naturally, she had a bit of an obligation to help Riesenlied out...but admittedly, she would've gone anyway. The Trial Cave was a rather curious place to her, and so many of her friends were going that she didn't need to be asked twice.
"Let's see...I think the sorcerous circuit's been broken by all this overgrowth. The energy can't flow properly like this..." Jacqueline agrees with a nod toward Riesenlied. She crouches down on the platform, drawing out a delicate brush and using it to try and sweep away some of the debris that was clogging up the Spring in hopes of getting it to work.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius happens to be along, in the usual ways in which someone like him happens in much of any context. Which is to say a lot of looming, a lot of staring, a lot of standing around while looking at things through a softly glowing sorcery-imbued eyeglass, a lot of standing a generous distance from Riesenlied as though being anywhere near the proximity of those particles were DEADLY POISON (they might really be!!!)...
"There is a possibility that there is an interfering obstruction courtesy of another active device present," Ethius comments.
Moments later, he looks at the Spectral Lens itself, contemplates it, and hides it back away.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
WHAT HAS ELLY BEEN DOING?
Field surveys. She has made a cogent argument why she shouldn't tote around her tablet, at least when in social spaces. She also twisted her ankle for no god damn reason at all. But she's OK; for the most part.
And she's now at
THE TRIAL CAVE OF VANE
with FEI FONG WONG
and EVERYONE ELSE!
Elly is wearing a green sundress and mysterious if low-key boots from the future. As she adjusts the garter holster for - that sure is a gun - she looks at Riesenlied for a moment, almost shyly, and then looks forwards, at the spring itself. "If it doesn't work, is there another way in?" she asks.
This is not her field.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
WHAT HAS FEI BEEN DOING?
Mostly failing at falling asleep. He's frankly pretty exhausted lately. The 'weather' of Lunar doesn't agree with him but he did manage to fall asleep for a few hours earlier so he's doing alright today. He's actually taken to drinking coffee with some frequency over alcohol to help keep himself awake. When around friends it seems to perk him up a bit and that goes double or triple when Elly is amongst said friends.
Fei is garbed in peasant wear though he has taken to not wearing a hairtie on Lunar (he hasn't found one he liked yet) because he lost them when he got buried under a bunch of snow. It seems that Fei may have been here before because he quietly draws out a stone from his bag and places it down to try and fix up the circle as his artistic sensibilities informs him.
"Maybe we could go in through the exit, I'm not sure where that is, though." Fei admits.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune has been taking some pains to turn up to Vane every so often, if only to keep tabs on the people there out of sheer good-natured concern and care. Popping in to check on the Black Wolves gives her a chance to let them know about Lunata's condition - not that she's had the courage to do that yet - while dropping in on the Hyadean Family lets her indulge a little in acting like a big sister, fussing over Mikaia and showing Janey whatever bit of technology she last recovered from an underground ruin.
Last time, her visit to the Trial Cave wasn't exactly a visit - it was more a babysitting trip and a chance to spoil the orphans, with Big Shal doing most of the work of assisting the children directly as she and others watched on. This time, with Riesenlied deciding to come along to plumb the ruin's depths, Shalune's evidently decided it would probably be best for her to be there in person. Besides, she's kind of made a promise to herself not to leave Jay alone, with Lunata out of commission.
She's changed her look a little, trying out a light summery dress rather than her usual heavy clothes; the work is fine enough that anyone who's encountered the mysterious tailoress Katherine can probably recognize it as hers. Every so often she fidgets with it, not being entirely used to the style, and wonders how long it'll take before she rips it.
"--um, I think the circle's a little out of alignment?" she wonders as she carefully kneels down next to it to poke some of the stone. "This thing really needs reinforcing, bits of it keep gettin' chipped. It's kind of like--" she pauses, and winces to herself. It's kind of like a golem stepped on it recently!
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke.
===========================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>=========================== =================<* CHALLENGE - Transmission Machine Broke *>================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Something's not quite right with the Spring of Transmission today. Stepping into the center does nothing. It does not, in fact, put you in the Trial Cave of Vane. Is it a loose stone in the teleportation circle? All the overgrowth along the sides of the elevated stone platform? Did something use up the magic for the day? Did the thing just finally break? Have fun with that. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
======================<* Trial Cave of Vane - Round 1 *>====================== ===================< Results - Transmission Machine Broke >=================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Dragon's Tear 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Riesenlied 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Conditions: Stupify(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Riesenlied has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Jacqueline gets to work with the sorcerous circuits and brushes some of the debris; at her touch, the circuitry begin to shine and ebb with a subtle flow of magic. Ethius surmises that another device may be interfering and -- indeed, finds a device that interferes with the flow with his Spectral Lens and shuts it off. The pulse reverberates even stronger.
"Hmm... I believe there is a longer way in," Riesenlied speaks to Elly, and smiles at Fei as she looks towards his work to clean the circle up. "The exit... I think this acts as both an enter and an exit?"
Shalune keeps chipping at the stone and it... hums, and it would seem that they've fixed the circle!!
"Ah, there we go...! Good job, Shalune," Riesenlied smiles. If the group step through it -- and there's no particular reason to think it's not working correctly -- they'll end up... perhaps not where they expect, which is...?!
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
================================================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>================================================
=====================================<* CHALLENGE - Potentially Toxic Overgrowth *>=====================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
This stretch is blocked by a complex rat's-nest of overgrown vines, plants,
fungus, and herbs. Unfortunately, the plants include just about anything
that could grow in this awful cave, which means just burning or tearing it
away might lead to a poisoning or at least an unfortunate, complex
experience. You'll need to pick through the plants, hopefully identifying
which ones are toxic, which ones are useful, and which ones are essentially
inert. If you indeed know, though, this could be a very profitable moment
indeed -- some of these don't grow in most locations on Lunar's surface...
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure, Madness========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Great news! They got the teleporter working.
Ambivalent news! The teleporter can indeed teleport the lot of them somewhere all at once, intact!
Not so great news! One would like to say they all got sent into the Trial Cave of Vane, but if they did, they have done so into a completely entangled and surrounded by a plethora of overgrown plants. There may not be a 'ground' or a 'ceiling' or even 'walls' right now, because that is just how comprehensively swarmed and surrounded they are by the very element of gardening neglect.
Let's scratch that bit about 'not be a 'ground part, some solid stone footing finds itself available after some initial flailing, which gives way to caution and concern as something goes 'hiss' and ruptures a smoky purple foul-smelling cloud - not at a quantity in which to affect much other than to be a fair warning.
"I know not what we are surrounded by." Ethius remarks as he comes to a kneel. There's no ambulatory vines or biting flowers, so that's good? "I have no heading on where, exactly, we are presently located."
He does remember the basic 'shapes' of some of the devices from the previous visit, in so much as seeing what lines connected to what through that lens he gets out and enchants anew with another Symbological spell - but until then, they're going to have to figure out what's what with these plans, if any of them are save to remove or what have you.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Potentially Toxic Overgrowth.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline does appreciate having Shalune around. It's easy to guess that she probably feels responsible for Lunata's current condition, however little truth there may be to those feelings. It's probably a good idea to keep in eye on her, just in case she starts getting sad about it again.
This time, though, that's not on Jacqueline's mind. No, the most pressing issue for her now was...wherever they've happened to end up.
"Oh...oh dear..." She murmurs, folding her arms in front of her and taking a look around. ...This...was not the Trial Cave, or at least a part of it she recognized.
"Hold on just a second...here, be sure to wear these. I'm not sure what we might find here..." Jacqueline says, rummaging through her bags to produce a set of filtration cloths for everyone. She didn't like the looks of that purple smoke.
With that done she wraps her own cloth around her nose and mouth before getting to work. She turns her eye on the plants littered around them, drawing her knife and looking to carefully remove some of them.
She's been studying Lunarian flora, but some of these seem a little obscure...
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Potentially Toxic Overgrowth.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
It works! I hope this isn't dangerous, Elly thinks as she steps on the teleporter.
BWIP!
After returning, she looks to Fei and says with a slight smile, "Do you think I should tie up my hair more often?" After all, his is down. You have to keep -Balance-.
Then she looks around at the scenic garden. "Oh!" she says.
"... Thank you," she says to Jay. "I have no idea what to do here," she then admits more generally. "I suppose it'd be rude to just burn it down."
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Potentially Toxic Overgrowth.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied finds herself winked across and-- immediately loses her footing with a yelp as the ground she's standing on are highly slippery and uneven vines, tumbling onto her knees. "Oh, goodness..."
She hears Ethius, and-- lets out a little cough as some of the foul-smelling cloud begins to affect her. She doesn't look very well. There's a quiet frown as she expresses, "W-we'd best leave here immediately..." as she haphazardly tries to pull herself to her feet. She accepts the cloth from Jay and wraps it around her own nose and mouth, before she concentrates upon the Tear once more--
--this time, providing light towards the plants in an attempt to coax them to move. It is said that certain species of underground plants are rather sensitive to it, after all...
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon's Tear toward her party's challenge, Potentially Toxic Overgrowth.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
The pink-haired girl hops into the teleporter without any qualms or visible fear - and when she reappears it's with an audible yelp of surprise, her world turned upside-down by the way one of her feet gets caught in a loop of vines. For a moment, she instictively scrabbles for purchase, trying to right herself or slip free, before the problem of wearing a light dress in a dungeon makes itself known and she's forced to plant her hands on her legs.
"Bawww..." she whines, her focus rather scattered as she tries to twist her ankle free. "Y-y'know, I kind of feel like Miss Katherine didn't know a whole lot about Diggin'..." she adds, as if that much weren't patently clear already.
Fortunately, she's still got her wiry strength to fall back upon, and after puffing in and out a breath in preparation she hoists herself upwards, grabbing for the rest of the vine to prop and balance herself up. With that done, it's a fairly simple matter to tug a knife out of a pocket in her pack, cutting enough of the vine away that she can yank her foot free and slide downwards to the ground.
For a moment, there's a look of pleased triumph. And then she counts how many more vines are around them, and deflates slightly.
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Potentially Toxic Overgrowth.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
BWIP!
"That obvious huh?" Fei reaches back and pulls his hair back as if he were using his hand as a tie. He laughs a little and then lets it drop. "I think you could pull it off. You'd look great." Of course Fei would say that Elly would look great as a general rule because he's afflicted with the 'head over heels' ailment, but judging from how he steps a bit closer to Elly here. That might be for reasons more than just basking in her presence because they're now surrounded by overgrown vines, plants, and so on.
Luckily Fei does have some sketches of plants that he looks through to judge the ones he sees to decide which are poisonous and which can be walked through. "Stay close together," He advises. "Some plants can cause a lot of trouble just by making skin contact."
He looks over to Jay for a moment and then adds, "Wouldn't it be funny if we just ran into Hammer here?"
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Potentially Toxic Overgrowth.
================================================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>================================================
=====================================<* CHALLENGE - Potentially Toxic Overgrowth *>=====================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
This stretch is blocked by a complex rat's-nest of overgrown vines, plants,
fungus, and herbs. Unfortunately, the plants include just about anything
that could grow in this awful cave, which means just burning or tearing it
away might lead to a poisoning or at least an unfortunate, complex
experience. You'll need to pick through the plants, hopefully identifying
which ones are toxic, which ones are useful, and which ones are essentially
inert. If you indeed know, though, this could be a very profitable moment
indeed -- some of these don't grow in most locations on Lunar's surface...
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure, Madness========================================
===========================================<* Trial Cave of Vane - Round 2 *>=========================================== =======================================< Results - Potentially Toxic Overgrowth >======================================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Dragon's Tear 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 15 --(15)--> 30 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 20 --(20)--> 40 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 20 --(20)--> 40 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 15 --(15)--> 30 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Riesenlied 10 --(10)--> 20 Fail Conditions: Madness|Treasure(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) DG: The party led by Riesenlied has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. [OOC] Ethius Hesiod says, "oof." [OOC] Riesenlied explode [OOC] Riesenlied says, "i'm imagining hammer trying to break out of nall's prison and his only tool is muni who can turn into a file and a length of tied bedsheets and also a cake with a gun in it" [OOC] Riesenlied says, "(except muni ate the cake and the gun so it's not very useful)" [OOC] Shalune Amira says, "side note: what the heck happened to the formatting there" [OOC] Shalune Amira says, "CSYS we are not suddenly using 120 width lines" [OOC] Ethius Hesiod says, "I set it real wide on my part, I think that's what messes this up" [OOC] Ethius Hesiod says, "so I should set it back later" [OOC] Ethius Hesiod says, "but for now typin'" [OOC] Jacqueline Barber says, "Yeah, it adjusts it based on the options of whoever is drawing. So if you have a custom system text color, for instance, it'll be that for everyone." [OOC] Elhaym van Houten says, "I think it's also the long title" [OOC] Shalune Amira says, "ohhh huh"
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Jay, being the best expert in the field around - and maybe even beyond - gets hard at work on trying to make sense of what these are. She can see a few warning signs and likenesses about some plants she does know to be poisonous... enough that maybe, just maybe, she can come to grips with the worst case scenario that they're going to have to cut through here and quick.
Riesenlied's communication with the plants reveal that they're mostly hungry. A whole lot of 'feed me.' They seem to think she's someone else, but are hoping this someone else does feed them. Maybe this someone else needs a stern talking to about how they let the overgrowth get so overgrown that the very word 'over' is over.
Fei, as he guides them through his own experiences, muses how funny it'd be to run into hammer. Someone does indeed run into a maul that got snagged and caught into the vines. Said maul falls off, pops a mushroom cap, filling the air full of irritating spores... and from there...
There's too much poison and pollen coming in. They have no choice but to slash and burn and risk other kinds of interesting poisons and ccontagions but they have no other option. With Jacqueline's protective hand-outs, the group can minimize taking in too much of the... averse products made by the forceful removal of these plants, but eyes will water. Skin will itch. Some will have cute decorative mushrooms they should remove from their scalps post-haste no matter how adorbs, but this next details is the most important one for later interviews on the whole incident.
The team got smoked... but they did not inhale.
Where exactly they ended up, they'll have to figure out as some of the last of the psychoactive effects fade.
[OOC] Ethius Hesiod says, "I have made a Clinton joke. I feel I have fulfilled a thematic obligation."
[OOC] Jacqueline Barber says, "I'll draw the next, unless someone else wants it!"
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge. ===========================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>===========================
===========================================<* Trial Cave of Vane - Round 2 *>===========================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Sudden Slide *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
What seemed like a perfectly reasonable slightly downward-pointing slope
rapidly becomes treacherous as it floods with magically-created water.
Trying to stay standing is a fool's errand at best, and a recipe for
disaster at worst; you'll have to simultaneously go with the flow and arrest
your momentum if you want to stay safe and not smash face-first into a wall
at the bottom of the slope!
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Injure=========================================
[OOC] Fei Fong Wong says, "dang i do'nt remember trial cave being so brutal"
[OOC] Riesenlied says, "yeah it's actually pretty savage which made janey and mikaia adventuring here kind of funny"
[OOC] Jacqueline Barber says, "I thought it was just a Ruin, but apparently it is in fact a Labyrinth."
[OOC] Riesenlied says, "cause I thought a training wheels dungeon would be perfect"
[OOC] Elhaym van Houten return with food
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Yeah, just a little..." Jacqueline agrees with a nod toward Fei.
And then, things get worse. Jacqueline desperately holds her breath as things start to get terrible. She's not sure where it started, but it soon becomes clear that the only possible way they're getting out of here is by doing what would usually be the worst possible thing - just charging straight through.
It's...exceedingly pleasant, but fortunately, Jacqueline came prepared.
"Here...this should help alleviate the worst of the effects..." She says, drawing out some potions. She downs one and passes out the rest to the others.
Unfortunately, at some point in their scramble to escape the grievous garden, somebody tripped something. The ramifications of this do not become immediately apparent until the sound of rushing water can be heard behind them. This is the only warning they get before a powerful torrent crashes down, sweeping them off their feet and down a nearby slope.
"A-ah!" Jacqueline cries out in surprise. With a gesture of her left hand, she attempts to cast a spell to freeze some of the water into a block that'll alter the water's flow...but with the flow being as treacherous as it is, that may be difficult.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, Sudden Slide.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
MOMENTS AGO
Riesenlied closes her eyes and expresses, "Feed you...? I understand... I'll-- try to--" cough "--see what I can do." She wobbles uncomfortably as she tries to make her way out of the tangle of vines and trips on something.
NOW
The ramifications of what she does is now apparent when the sound of rushing water comes! "T-this isn't the kind of 'feed me' I was thinking of...!"
She tries to fly again, but finds it painful and difficult as she gasps and likely gets dragged underneath the flow of water at some point. "Wah!"
DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sudden Slide. [OOC] Riesenlied says, "'ammy doesn't know a thing about digging' is likely the most true statement shalune's stated in a while" [OOC] Shalune Amira god bless miss katherine and her very spurious ideas [OOC] Jacqueline Barber says, "Hahah." [OOC] Fei Fong Wong says, "rofl" [OOC] Fei Fong Wong says, "also lol ethius i asked for that"
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius has to pull the bandanna off his face - some of all that got inside of it. As per usual, he makes sure he's facing away from all of them as he coughs, sputters, gags, and humanizes himself just by that much. For all the stilted, awkward, stiff ways he speaks or simply doesn't move, when the chips are down (in his lungs), he coughs and gags much the same as anyone else. Jay's remedy is splashed about his face.
Then comes a water torrent before he can get his bearings. He can't even get his bandanna back on his face in time as he tumbles and turns through the torrent. Wrapping the harness for the Hot Air Sack around his wrist is a feat of dexterity unto itself, as he uses that same hand to fulfill the gesticulations to go with the chanting component - a brief one - to get in a lower-yield burst of hot air to try and stabilize himself.
This is repeated a few times with a stronger-yield spell as he steadies himself, but he has yet to get that bandanna back around his face.
It would be much easier if it didn't slip out of his hands entirely and decide to go on a magical water slide ride underneath him.
His other hand covers the lower half of his face as his eyes widen.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Sudden Slide.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly laughs lightly at what Fei says, but then she gets far more sober in a hurry. Oh right, her face may say: Hammer. Where is Hammer now...
Fortunately she has the cloth over her mouth. As such, she does not inhale, although her eyes narrow against the fog and the smoke and the spores. She moves forwards, thankfully ignorant of whatever Riesenlied is encountering - and thankfully, she, and the others, don't feed the plants (tm, c).
But then the water comes down.
As it surges over Elly she-- does NOT fall over, though she staggers. The soles of those boots seem to grip surfaces very well, even if they're also probably waterlogged now. Someone sweeps near her and Elly reaches out without hesitation - "Hold on!" she says, unto... RIESENLIED.
Did she place a tracking device with that save?? (no)
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Expedition Boots toward her party's challenge, Sudden Slide. [OOC] Riesenlied says, "i feel like at this point a tracking device on riese is pointless because riese is like a tracking beacon all on her own" [OOC] Riesenlied says, "'did a horned and winged woman go through here--' 'yes and she sparkled all over and told us her name and where she was going next after helping us!'"
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Already, poor Shalune's new garb is looking rather in need of a whole new Happy Boost, or at least a good wash; the mechanic is hardy enough that a pell-mell dash through underground brush isn't about to cause her too much in the way of ill-effects bar some coughing and a collection of scratches, but the same can't quite be said of her dress. Robust as it is, it can't really hold a candle to several layers of wool and a thick jacket.
In that quiet moment before the next obstacle crashes down on them, she picks at herself as she descends the slope, and fatefully whines: "Baw, I wish I had a little water to get some of this out--"
The first blast of water nearly knocks her aside - it's a testament to her instinctive reflexes that it doesn't, and a testament to her instinctive reactions that her hand is already stealing for the Little Dipper long before the next plume of water threatens to take her off her feet. In the end, she lets herself skid for just enough time to flick the flat shape of the Little Dipper outwards, letting the scooter assemble itself in midair before she launches herself onto it in a rather wild jump.
She lands heavily, but the odd gravity of the craft is uninterrupted, and its stability lets her get her hands on the handlebars in the space of an instant, banking the scooter around to clasp for the nearest hand. "--hang on!" she blurts, and guns the craft forwards and out of the spray, following the slope down.
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Little Dipper toward her party's challenge, Sudden Slide. DG: You've already acted for this round. Please wait for the round GM to push +act/complete.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Yeah that's a pretty horrible experience. Fei has a mace shaped indentation (comical flavored) in his forehead and is sneezing with some ferocity, eyes watering.
Fei stumbles along but freezes when he hears rushing water crashing down towards everybody.
Fei is caught by the water and is swept away. He struggles against the waves which, at least, wash away some of that itchy senssation but unfortunately rapidly chill him and are fast enough waters that he can't readily arrest his movement or control his tumble along.
Fei tries to grab onto something. His eyes are watering still, if a bit more literally than before, and he can't quite see what he's lashing out at but--
--it turns out that he's grabbing for Ethius's arm.
Fei quietly blinks at him in the moment he is able to hold onto it, though that moment may not be a long one.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Sudden Slide. ===========================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>===========================
===========================================<* Trial Cave of Vane - Round 2 *>===========================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Sudden Slide *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
What seemed like a perfectly reasonable slightly downward-pointing slope
rapidly becomes treacherous as it floods with magically-created water.
Trying to stay standing is a fool's errand at best, and a recipe for
disaster at worst; you'll have to simultaneously go with the flow and arrest
your momentum if you want to stay safe and not smash face-first into a wall
at the bottom of the slope!
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Injure=========================================
======================<* Trial Cave of Vane - Round 3 *>======================
===========================================<* Trial Cave of Vane - Round 2 *>=========================================== ==========================< Results - Sudden Slide >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 35 --(15)--> 50 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 35 --(10)--> 45 Pass Rapid Remedy 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 30 --(15)--> 45 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 40 --(10)--> 50 Pass Little Dipper 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 40 --(10)--> 50 Pass Expedition Boots 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 30 --(10)--> 40 Pass Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Riesenlied 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Injure(2) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Riesenlied has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Through various methods, the party manages to largely control themselves on the impromptu waterslide. There are a few...incidents, but overall, they manage to avoid crashing into the wall at the very end of the ride.
Unfortunately, that's where their good fortune ends. The water does not stop pouring down even when they reach the end. It pours and pours and pours, until something gives out.
That something is the floor below them. The stone shifts to the side in order to let the water drain out into a reservoir beneath them...and unfortunately, it lets the party drain out into it, too - it might be a good idea to latch onto the nearest flight capable party member to avoid what would likely be a painful fall.
It doesn't look like going the way they came will be an option. They'll need to look for another way around...
DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>===========================
=============<* CHALLENGE - I Can't Believe It's Not Sinkholes *>=============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Strictly speaking, these aren't sinkholes -- but only because sand and silt
and water have crept in to fill the gaps, leaving a thick, sticky,
not-quite-quicksand substance to fill these pits. There are safe zones,
places where the cave floor hasn't collapsed, but getting through will still
require careful steps or clever tools.
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong latches onto Ethius to avoid going SPLAT onto the floor below. Unfortunately, thanks to Fei hanging onto Ethius, they need to touch down on solid ground!
"Whew," Fei says. "That was a close one. At least this time we can take our time."
He pauses for a moment, looking over to Ethius. "...Are you getting taller?" He looks over to Elly, then back to the others. "Wait..." He looks down.
He swallows faintly. "Q...quick sand!?" Well sort of quick sand anyway. Fei manages to pry himself out this time but the sandy, mucky ground before them is ready to try and devour any unsuspecting adventurer! Fei moves gingerly but he ends up getting stuck a few times anyway.
"Is it weird that I still think this is a step up from before?" He murmurs, looking over to Elly for a moment, then Riese.
There's sand in his boots.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, I Can't Believe It's Not Sinkholes.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied lets out a soft yelp and holds onto Elly's hand as she catches her, expressing, "Miss Elly!" Fortunately, with the agent's quick thinking and firm grasp, she's prevented from getting swept away...
... which... isn't exactly the best thing, given that she's now stuck in the quicksand that's starting to consume her. Slowly. Riesenlied's sputtering with a cough from pollen, wet and sinking now. She's not having a very good idea!
"M-maybe I'm not fit for this at present..." Riesenlied expresses, sounding kind of down-hearted. Aww. She does struggle though, trying to use her wings again even though it's painful for her.
DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, I Can't Believe It's Not Sinkholes.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
glorp
glurp
plorp
Elly stares numbly down in confusion at the ground beneath her, the yearning, grasping nature of quicksand - one of those terrors whose specific frisson comes and goes, but whose nature is itself independent of what anyone thinks or feels about it - coming to her, to her recent charge. "Wait - no! Hold still!" she tells Riesenlied.
blorp: up to the knees.
"I'm sorry about this," she tells Riesenlied. Her eyes close...
Has Elly accepted her f-- no there it is. There is the subtle motion of Ether, and the water table... shifts a little. Flowing away from Elly and Riesenlied's legs, flowing elsewhere. Either way it's not fun, but the careful colloidal balance that creates 'quicksand' is disrupted in the immediate area, creating 'mud' or potentially 'really gross and turbulent water,' but neither of them are quicksand, so hurray! Right?
"Do you think you can pull your legs up? Here, let's move together," Elly tells Riesenlied. Then, well, she does that, though one boot nearly comes off in the process. Yes, DESPITE the laces.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Expedition Boots toward her party's challenge, I Can't Believe It's Not Sinkholes.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Somewhere, a part of Jacqueline wonders if maybe, just maybe, she shouldn't have gotten out of bed today. But she knows that this is just how it goes sometimes - sometimes you have to just fight your way back up. And this time is no different!
"Here...this should pep everyone back up a bit..." Jacqueline says, rummaging through her bags for yet more potions. They're probably cold from all the water, so it should hopefully provide some much-needed warmth.
With that out of the way, she can turn her attention to the current problem...
The quicksand.
"Hm...I believe I might be able to..." Jacqueline gestures with her left hand again. This time, rather than creating a block of ice, she aims to simply chill the ground that's trying to suck them down. With any luck, it'll make the ground too solid to continue dragging them down.
This might accidentally counteract her potion, but...she was doing what she could!
"I-It's okay, Riese...this sort of thing happens sometimes! The only thing you can do is just...try to make the best of it." Jacqueline says, trying to reassure her, then looks around.
"Shalune, you alright? Let me know if you need a hand!" She calls out. ...Though, in all likelihood, she'd be the one needing it.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, I Can't Believe It's Not Sinkholes.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius' hand getting uncomfortably warm is a standard and expected result of using the Hot Air Sack. It's more of a challenge when he has to conduct the casting gestures with that hand and not the other, as Ethius finds himself having to do by necessity when Fei looks to him for support and help in staying upright.
"...Mister Fei," Ethius gets out those words. Fei's on his arm. He can't get him to let go - understandable, for that burst of mortal terror the DANGEROUS WATER SLIDE provides. He can't ask him to. But he also can't let him, or anyone...
Ethius faces away from the tortured artist. The necessity in which he seems to deem this important prevents him from having his eyes follow obstructions and other bumps along the path, and it's rough going down. He misses the last set of gesticulations thanks to a sudden downpour of water upon the balloon jolting his wrist, the Hot Air Sack deflating quietly as he touches down on solid ground(?) with Fei, of whom he's still not looking in the face.
"I am not experiencing any sudden adjustment to my personal height--" Fei's exclamation cuts that off. Ethius sees that bandanna slipping down into the sandy abyss below - another complication. He's going to have to grab another one.
The Hot Air Sack isn't reinflated just yet - he needs to swap it to the other hand. If he doesn't sink too far down to begin with, it'll be easy enough for him to maintain present altitude as he treks through the quicksand with another cast of heat into the repurposed bandit sack before moving his free hand back over his uncovered face.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, I Can't Believe It's Not Sinkholes.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
By sheer virtue of being on the Little Dipper, Shalune manages to escape most of the water's buffering and whirling power; when the final plummet arrives her descent is more controlled, banking the craft backwards to slow her fall as she grits her teeth. It's not that there's effort involved on her part, more that she's trying her best to beat back an irritated headache.
"Y'know," she mumbles, about as close to a withering tone as she can physically get, "I'm startin' to see why Vane's kind of light on students, entry fee aside."
It's more a chance to catch her breath than anything else, perched without issue on the Little Dipper; she's definitely been feeling a little more touch-and-go lately, thanks to everything that happened with John Doe, and the sequence of failures means she needs a couple of moments to herself to count to ten.
That done, she quirks a faint and amused grin, winging down to pull the craft up alongside Jacqueline. "Hmm~" she notes in response, and there's the terrifying sight of a certain sunny pink-haired blob actively looking catty for once as she kneels down on the bed of the Little Dipper, peering at Jacqueline's predicament. "Y'know, Jay, I could totally use your help right now, you're right," she notes with a touch of sarcasm - though she's already having difficulty keeping her poker expression, edging towards a warmer smile.
Nudging the craft a little lower, she's fishing at her backpack again - but rather than extract any kind of gizmo, she's simply detaching the straps, dangling them down in place of a rope. "Hold on, but don't try to climb up. Stay still - I'll lift you up nice an' slow," she adds, and tries a more reassuring grin. "Kinda run into stuff like this before, y'know?"
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Little Dipper toward her party's challenge, I Can't Believe It's Not Sinkholes.
===========================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>===========================
=============<* CHALLENGE - I Can't Believe It's Not Sinkholes *>=============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Strictly speaking, these aren't sinkholes -- but only because sand and silt
and water have crept in to fill the gaps, leaving a thick, sticky,
not-quite-quicksand substance to fill these pits. There are safe zones,
places where the cave floor hasn't collapsed, but getting through will still
require careful steps or clever tools.
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
======================<* Trial Cave of Vane - Round 4 *>====================== ===============< Results - I Can't Believe It's Not Sinkholes >=============== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 50 --(5)--> 55 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 45 --(5)--> 50 Fail Rapid Remedy 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 45 --(5)--> 50 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 50 --(5)--> 55 Pass Little Dipper 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 50 --(5)--> 55 Pass Expedition Boots 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 40 --(5)--> 45 Fail Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Riesenlied 30 --(20)--> 50 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Slow(2) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Riesenlied 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> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"For a second I was worried we got hit by a shrink ray again," Fei mutters to Ethius. He does kind of turn his head around to try and look at Ethius's face like he isn't even being subtle about it but he gives up eventually--particularly when Ethius just uses his hand to cover his face.
"...Okay I get it." Fei manages. "We'll just...get through this...with one arm. Why not?"
He actually bursts out laughing at Shalune's comment before adding, "Shalune? I might need to uh--" He stalls for a long moment. "Might need you to take a pass back and get me outta here too."
He looks over to Elly who seems to be able to give Riese a hand in geting out of this situation at least.
Indeed, Shal and possibly Elly might need to double back to get the rest of the group out but at least nobody drowns in quicksand--and in the end, isn't that what's truly important?
DG: Shalune Amira has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>===========================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Evil Eye *>==========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Natural monsters have interbred here, becoming more than the sum of their
genes over a millennium. Unfortunately, you're the one being subjected to
the results of all this garbage. The heads of this creature might be
compared to dragons or particularly well-armored snakes... save that there
are three of them, and they amble around on rocky, craggy tentacles. The
beast shoots blue waves of energy out of its eyes, and can also generally
bite and crawl around.
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune doesn't appear to be kidding that she's run into quicksand before, because the way in which she deals with it - give someone a rope to hang onto, then slowly raise the Little Dipper off the ground to drag them out across the surface - is almost practiced in how upbeat and calm she is throughout. Once Jay's safely on terra firma rather than terra wobblia, she's quick to nod and maneuver her craft in Fei's direction instead.
(She never claimed to be any good at Latin, by the way. It's not like it even exists in this setting outside of Claude's most feverish secondary-school nightmares.)
With the Little Dipper's engines whining and in need of a break, the caves in front of them are a welcome sight in how mundane they are - and though it takes a fair bit of walking, it isn't that long before the rough stone gives way to a more ordered look, signifying they've found their way back to the main part of the Trial Cave.
With that, Shalune lets out a sigh of relief, leaning down a little to hook the Dipper back onto her backpack. It's that motion - and a bit of her natural luck - that make the first lance of energy skim just over her head, and the second misses as well as she throws herself to the floor with a 'wah, what!?' of confusion.
Getting her shotstaff out and extended is a little awkward in this position, let alone when she tries to roll sideways to dodge once more. She's accidentally poked herself in the side at least once before she's finally able to sight along its length, a little tripod on one end ensuring that the barrel is held steady when she fires.
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Evil Eye.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline's spell...it isn't really working as she'd like it. She's not really making much headway. She has to be careful because she doesn't want to freeze the ground entirely, but she also needs to actually...do something.
Which isn't happening.
So, in the end, she looks to Shalune.
"Shaluuune..." She kind of whimpers slightly at the sarcasm...but, she knows that Shalune will come through for her in the end, so she's not entirely worried. With a nod, she grabs onto the rope and does as she's asked - staying still so Shalune can handle it for her.
"Th-thanks..." She says, once she's finally lifted out of the muck and back on thankfully solid ground. Shalune's talent definitely shows in how well she handled the situation.
She keeps going, and can't help but smile a little bit as she looks over the more ordered stone of what she hopes is an official part of the Trial Cave. ...It doesn't last for long, though, because of course it doesn't.
Jacqueline gestures with her right hand quickly, bringing a bolt of lightning crashing down toward one of the creature's heads.
"I haven't seen anything like this before...I'm going to see if I can't find a weakness of some kind." Jacqueline states. She'll rotate through her repertoire of offensive Crests, hoping that something will have an effect on it.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Evil Eye.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied shakes her head with a firm expression of, "N-no, no, you were the one who saved me, Miss Elly..." as she gratefully accepts a vial of Taurin-- Rapid Remedy from Jacqueline to restore her Heat gauge. But Elly soon casts a spell that disrupts the quicksand and turns it into mud, nodding as she pulls her misshapen draconic leg up first and up towards solid ground, with a sigh as she helps Elly in turn and out of trouble.
"Shrink ray... Janey and Mikaia led us to that cabin," Riesenlied muses at Fei. "It's a good thing Jay and Shalune were there."
But before long, a powerful foe has appeared! Her eyes widen as she ducks the eruption of energy and...
...
Draws her guqin as she starts to float in the air, a translucent outline of photonic energies accompanying the first few plucks of her instrument's songs. There is a dramatic rise of power in the air as she channels her empathy in the form of music, bringing it to bear against the monster to soothe it.
"You shall not harm my friends. Please, begone and leave us be."
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Bella Aeterna toward her party's challenge, Evil Eye.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
The problem with using Ether abilities to solve all your troubles in life is that some things just can't be solved that way. For more information, please consult Vanderkaum's immortal work on 'Why Can't I Get A First-Class Wife?' and its companion volume, 'Massive Face Tattoos Are Good, Actually'.
Be that as it may, Elly's ability to futz with the water in the earth or the earth in the water helps. But she is staggering a little once they're on more solid ground, and she ends up fishing in her hip bag for something - a purple gel candy, one of the ones they sell in the shop, which she eats, disconsolately, in lieu of a Rosesol.
Her chewing pauses.
The Shrink Ray...
Then past them is the looming squad of -- of -- Elly has no idea what it is. Her mouth is full. She's fatigued.
Elly reaches to that garter holster and pulls out what looks kind of like a child's parody of a gunsmoke weapon. This is because it isn't a gunsmoke weapon. When Elly sights and pulls the trigger, there's a fshhh-FWAFF of the rocket projectile being pre-ignited and slung forwards by a literal spring launched catapult. Then the motor ignites.
The anti-monster payload heads right towards one of the creatures. The penetrator head is meant to be able to slam into even a beefy -Wels-, and the payload within is a nice respectable grenade-power explosive package.
*gulp* Elly swallows.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool High Caliber Sidearm toward her party's challenge, Evil Eye.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius has some problems getting to the other end when he does lose a bit of altitude and sink further in. It's tough to navigate when one hand's inside a single-person hot air balloon and the other is plastered on their face like it might mean a sizeable amount of the universe - but with a bit of assistance and understanding that no, he doesn't want to take his hand away from his face, he makes it through to the other end of the sand traps.
Into a new problem.
Ethius goes to a kneel, moving his hand away from his face while keeping his back turned to the rest. One of the two satchels at his belt are taken... hm, this one's not quite dry enough yet. He'll need to channel a heat spel--
An oncoming blue eyebeam forces Ethius to run, run, run across the chamber and reposition before he can do just that. Once he can tumble into some cover, there is a Symbological spell cast to attempt to dry off the bag's contents.
Little stops him from preparing the spell to activate it proper once he thinks the bag is dried off. While a burning sensation smolders at his fingertips, his eyes track to the fshhh-FWAFF over yonder.
Another sweep of eye beams comes by as a tentacle slaps down near his position. He doesn't have time to further observe it.
"I'm throwing down a smoke cover," he declares at last as he quickly chants and flitters fingers through the means in question, activating the satchel's contents such that once it hits the ground...
...well, is it really possible to evolve past the need to Not Have Dust In Everything Ever?
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Evil Eye.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Vanderkaum weirdly becomes a protagonist in a later xeno-game. It's honestly kind of unbelievable.
Fei naturally needs a moment after being carted away from the sand pits. He doesn't comment further on the shrink ray either, largely because a new problem asserts itself and it's quite a major problem. In fact, one could say that it's three problems in one.
Fei closes his eyes, drawing out his RPS Badge and clenching it firmly around his hand. That's right. Three problems. And they say two heads are better than one, but three heads is a crowd. Or maybe he's misremembering the saying.
Fei flings the RPS Badge forwards before launching a chi blast into it. It refracts the energy and splits it into three blasts, each chi blast rushing out towards one of the beast's heads.
Fei exhales afterwards, straightens up, and catches the RPS Badge with a hand before it hits the floor.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Evil Eye.
===========================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>===========================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Evil Eye *>==========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Natural monsters have interbred here, becoming more than the sum of their
genes over a millennium. Unfortunately, you're the one being subjected to
the results of all this garbage. The heads of this creature might be
compared to dragons or particularly well-armored snakes... save that there
are three of them, and they amble around on rocky, craggy tentacles. The
beast shoots blue waves of energy out of its eyes, and can also generally
bite and crawl around.
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Tire=============================================
======================<* Trial Cave of Vane - Round 5 *>====================== ============================< Results - Evil Eye >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 55 --(5)--> 60 Pass Bella Aeterna 4 Combat Effects: Fanfare and Efficient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 50 --(5)--> 55 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 50 --(5)--> 55 Pass RPS Badge 3 Combat Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 55 --(5)--> 60 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 55 --(5)--> 60 Pass High Caliber Sidearm 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 45 --(5)--> 50 Pass Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Riesenlied 50 --(20)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Riesenlied 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: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>============================
=============<* CHALLENGE - Transmission Machine Broke... Again *>==============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
An internal teleporter renders this route potentially trivial, but there's
no way to know where it goes... and more importantly, it seems broken in the
way that the outside teleporter sometimes is. Again, one must wonder: is the
circle itself not functional? Does it need to be charged? Does it need to
have a piece re-seated? Honestly, there are so many potential faults in
magic this old that you should really charge for this kind of work.
Unfortunately, no one in Vane can pay you... but hey -- at least you'll have
done a nice thing for this poor old cave if you manage to get it working!
And if you don't, well, there's still the long, slow way around...
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Secret==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
When it comes down to it, the Evil Eyes infesting this cave aren't exactly the hardiest of monsters. However their internal physiology works, their legs are still formed of rock and stone held together by sinewy muck, and it turns out to be remarkably easy to topple them; Jacqueline doesn't find any explicit weaknesses, but only because her target has broken off the combat to flee, startled by the way the cave lights up with pyrotechnics.
The other two are larger and more tenacious, but their forms are too slight and focused more around ambush. Elly's projectile rocks one creature off its feet as its left leg scatters into component pieces, and Ethius' cloud of smoke rolls in just as Fei's energy blasts pelt both remaining enemies. The screeches of anger and pain pierce through the pervading mist, and for a moment it seems like a creature named 'Evil Eye' might be rather better at seeing through the smokescreen--
--but the first pure note from Riesenlied's lyre seems to act as a wave of force, dissipating the cloud just as quickly before her empathic power washes over the creatures. Their attack hesitates as the fallen creature recombobulates its leg through some manner of magic; the pair chitter, and then they've vanished down a side passage.
Shalune, on the other hand, is clutching her noise with little tears at the corner of her eyes, and a red mark on her face that suggests she's just learnt a valuable lesson about recoil that she should have learnt some time ago. "Bawww..."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly's eyes cut to the side as Fei banks a burst of 'chi' off of his enamelled badge. Impressed!?
Then things fade, and past there is a walk. A walk AWAY from where those two monsters fled. There are multiple routes through these caves of trial, and shall they take the one less travelled by, therefore reifying Robert Frost? Yes.
As they walk, Elly has time to speak to everyone.
"It's not that bad... are you alright?" this, to Shalune. Walk...
"Thank you for, ah, for announcing that one," Elly tells Ethius. "And for doing it too, of course." Walk, walk...
"I can't believe such a thing as that Shrink Ray exists," Elly says to Riesenlied. "If I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't believe it. But I suppose it does exist..." Walk, walk, walk...
"Are you holding up alright?" This to Jacqueline. Walk, walk, walk, walk...
And to Fei, she smiles, and maybe that's all that needs to happen. Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk...
"... This is a pretty long route, isn't it..." Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk...
Finally, there is a pair of stone benches near what looks to be a natural crevasse leading outwards. There is a glimpse of the afternoon sun and an old battered semi-circular dish containing what was probably originally sand and now hosts a small orchid, not currently in bloom. Elly says, "I have to take a moment..." and plops onto the bench, with visible relief.
Just outside - and slightly uphill, from a concealed and not too steep walkway - is...
... that circle...
It looks... familiar somehow.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke... Again.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied is buoyed by Jacqueline's encouragement, but even she can sense that there's some part of her that really wanted to just stay in bed and spoil Mikaia and Janey a little more. She's rather exhausted after utilising the full extent of her empathy, using her instrument as a focus... but follows along as she responds, "There was an artificer's workshop that rather more reminded me of Filgaia's designs than one of this world..."
A pause.
"I think we ... turned it off," she comments, but isn't sure. Walk walk walk...
She's getting pretty tired... haven't they been here before? Walk walk walk...
"Maybe I should have dropped breadcrumbs..." Riesenlied finds herself wondering. A pause. "But my cuccos keep eating the breadcrumbs, so that's not very useful." Walk walk walk...
"... I wonder how Noeline is doing ...?" Walk walk walk...
And then, finally, they come across...
"Wait..."
She glances around as she looks around and-- stares at the circle. She feels a cold kind of dread as she asks the question that's inevitably on everyone's minds:
"Did we go back where... we started?"
Riesenlied Morale -50
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon's Tear toward her party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke... Again.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei rests a hand for a time on Elly's shoulder when she's near. It's a brief touch, but the smile he returns to her is longer. "Maybe we got past the worst of it." He says. "And it's smooth sailing from here on out."
5rBut like a small child who can't kick a football, Fei's dreams are pulled away at the last moment when they...are back at the teleporter.
Fei stares at it for a long moment before looking back to Riesenlied. "Gotcha too huh?"
He looks back at the circle.
He stares at it.
Then he decides, "I guess we could just... go home."
He pauses for a long moment before adding, "Wait--is this the same teleporter or...is it a different one?"
He consults his drawings, frowning deeply.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke... Again.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is not a great conversation partner. He doesn't look Elly in the eye when she thanks him for the timely assist - or much of anyone, because he's preoccupied with trying to hide the lower half of his face underneath one of his hands. (His right, specifically - but his preference for keeping his left free is well-documented.)
Walk, walk, walk, walk...
He does cast a glance as there is further discussion about the artificer's workshop. He closes his eyes, moves a finger up closer to the bridge of his nose, turns away, continues to walk, walk, walk, walk...
...
Did they just return to where they all started? Ethius gets out the fogged-up eyeglass. It's got one more use before he thinks it might risk damaging the item in question, but, one Symbological cast later as he turns away from the group to free the mouth-covering hand for the proper motions...
Well, he'd be able to say one way or another if it is or not, wouldn't he.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke... Again.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"O-oh dear..." Jacqueline's quick to worry over Shalune, but so is Elly, it seems. Jacqueline sends her a friendly smile.
"Yes, it is surprising, isn't it...?" She says. It reminded her that she had something she needed to show Shalune, but it'd have to wait until later...she hadn't brought it with her! To Elly, though, Jacqueline has to take a moment to considerate.
"Truth be told, I'm starting to feel a little tired...but I think I can power through it." She replies with a nod.
And they walk.
And they walk and they walk and they walk.
And then...
They come across something that looks rather familiar.
"I-I, um...h-hmm... Maybe it's...just an illusion? To make us think we've wandered back, when really we haven't..." She considers. Just in case she runs over to the circle, taking great care not to actually activate it, as she looks it over to see if there are any of the brush strokes she remembered making from when she cleaned it off just earlier.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke... Again.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Fortunately, this sort of challenge is right up Shalune's alley. She's extremely content to ride along on the Little Dipper, keeping pace with the rest of the party as she natters back and forth on a variety of different topics. After a while, she's offered Riesenlied a seat on the scooter instead, apparently preferring to walk and well aware that the Hyadean might be getting rather tired.
"Oh, I'll be fine, just-- ugg, that was pretty stupid," she admits to Elly with a bright sort of smile, tugging at her pink hair with an amused sigh. Her shotstaff has been packed away for the moment as she reshoulders her pack, setting it in place across her back.
"Oh, oh, but I saw that Shrink Ray too! We got zapped by it and hadta rummage around the guy's studio to try to figure out how to reverse it. If you ask me, it's a seriously irresponsible thing for an inventor to set up a trap like that. What if it had malfunctioned and done somethin' totally different?" she pouts aloud, never mind the way it suggests that she's okay with the 'being shrunk' part. "I wish I'd taken it with me... but I think I disabled it for good," she reports, completely innocently and completely wrongly.
"Aww, Miss Riese, I'm sure she's doin' okay. When we get back I'll tell her you held up really well, but you need a cuddle and a half and some cocoa for good measure," she promises brightly, doing her best to try to keep everyone's spirits up despite the lack of a Wits Resilient tool to go with the rest of hers.
"Aw, but that makes me hope that Lunie's doing okay. Ever since-- all of that stuff happened, I've been pretty worried. She's sleeping a lot, y'know?" she mumbles to the open air, wavering in Jay's direction as she thinks about it.
The main question here is whether she'll even notice the existence of the circle, or accidentally keep going.
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Transmission Machine Broke... Again.
============================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>============================
=============<* CHALLENGE - Transmission Machine Broke... Again *>==============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
An internal teleporter renders this route potentially trivial, but there's
no way to know where it goes... and more importantly, it seems broken in the
way that the outside teleporter sometimes is. Again, one must wonder: is the
circle itself not functional? Does it need to be charged? Does it need to
have a piece re-seated? Honestly, there are so many potential faults in
magic this old that you should really charge for this kind of work.
Unfortunately, no one in Vane can pay you... but hey -- at least you'll have
done a nice thing for this poor old cave if you manage to get it working!
And if you don't, well, there's still the long, slow way around...
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Secret==========================================
=======================<* Trial Cave of Vane - Round 6 *>======================= ===============< Results - Transmission Machine Broke... Again >================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Riesenlied 60 --(20)--> 80 Fail Dragon's Tear 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 55 --(20)--> 75 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 55 --(20)--> 75 Fail Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shalune Amira 60 --(20)--> 80 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 60 --(20)--> 80 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 50 --(15)--> 65 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Riesenlied 70 --(10)--> 80 Fail Conditions: Fright(1)|Secret(2)|Stupify(2)|Tire(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Riesenlied has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Riesenlied has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>===========================
=========<* CHALLENGE - Unnecessarily Long Stairwells and Ladders *>==========
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
This particular exit to Vane comes from a point very deep in the Trial Cave.
Sadly, that means it's really, really long, and consists of climbing a lot
of stairs and ladders. Sometimes there are outcrops to explore, sometimes
there are little side stairwells leading off to their own fun
mini-adventures.
On the other hand, this is an incredibly tedious moment. Taking it too
quickly courts unnecessary exhaustion, but taking it too slowly means
echoing footsteps may invite the attention of the creatures within the cave
system. Good judgment as well as raw foot speed will be key to finishing the
trek unscathed.
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Hesitate=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
NARRATOR: "It was the exact same door."
Elly doesn't get up right away, eyes closing. She's probably counting ten as a way to remain calm. Consulting documents and having a repeat exposure, as well as the movement of the sun in the Lunarian sky, does reveal that what looked like a complete glyph is actually partially blocked by a small wadded-up wasp nest, thankfully abandoned and easily wedged out by someone who isn't terrified of wasps.
After this there's a soft 'ting' and a gentle thrum in the runes. Elly sighs as she gets up, trundling forwards. "... My feet are still wet," she gripes, quietly, even as the circle is used.
And it seems to go to somewhere else! PERHAPS THE ACTUAL LOCATION. Lucky!?
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"This... may be our last chance."
Nobody knows who the narrator is or how far later this was narrated (for all we know it could've been Janey putting on a silly mask and making super-deep voices), but perhaps there is a kernel of truth to it.
They're teleported to...
To...
"I... want to believe I am an optimistic person," Riesenlied expresses as she looks up. There's a very, very, very long ladder in front of them, at times ending to go off on staircases up and then with another ladder and even further.
"But... I can't bring myself to see this ladder as a shiny ladder of hope..."
Still, griping won't change anything. She nods towards the others, and goes up very gently.
DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Unnecessarily Long Stairwells and Ladders.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune does her very, very best to nod along with Riesenlied's statement - to look solemn and thoughtful and treat their final challenge with the gravitas it deserves, to look up and face the ladder with a resolve that promises to make it through this, come what may.
She does this because, frankly, she already feels very guilty at the way she's not actually touching the ladder at all, outright cheating the challenge by slowly putting the Little Dipper up the shaft behind everyone else.
It's not so much that she expects the Trial Cave to be mad at her, so much as the rest of the digging party, so she follows her instincts and keeps her mouth firmly, firmly shut.
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Little Dipper toward her party's challenge, Unnecessarily Long Stairwells and Ladders.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Climb climb climb climb.
"Well it's certainly a trial." Fei says.
Climb climb climb climb climb.
"Huh this is a long rope." Fei adds.
Climb climb climb climb climb.
"I wonder what it leads to," Fei says. "My muscles are already aching, haha..."
climb climb climb climb climb.
"Okay I'm pretty sure I should've hit the top now." Fei adds.
Climb climb climb climb climb.
"Glad I didn't skip working on my core." Fei mutters.
climb climb climb climb...
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Y-yeah, I'm...I'm worried too. But...I'm sure she's just trying to regain her energy. After...what happened, she was probably exhausted..." Jacqueline says. She's definitely concerned, and those thoughts distract her from the task at hand...
But not so much that she can't see what's in front of her. ...Yup. Jacqueline recognises those tell-tale brushstrokes. This...is definitely the same one. A part of her wants to say 'let's just go back, rest up, and do this another day'...but now that they have the thing actually working, well, it'd be a shame to back down now, right...?
...Right...?
Well, it's too late. They're moving on, and Jacqueline doesn't want to be left behind. As they move forward she provides yet more potions to give everyone just a bit more energy, but it isn't with her usual flair and enthusiasm for the task.
"Come on, everyone, we can do this! Just a little bit further, I'm sure. Just keep going..." She urges. She's...doing her best to try and keep up morale, but she's already started to waver a while ago.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, Unnecessarily Long Stairwells and Ladders.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius wouldn't protest them turning about and calling it a day - but nope, something compels them all onward. Curiosity? Hope? Acquisiton of cool things? Nonetheless, he recognizes the environs that they traverse upon - the noteworthy vertical climbs and maze of chambers along the way.
Ethius takes up the rear for whatever reason. (This 'whatever' is 'because I can't hide the lower half of my face' and the 'reason' is 'because I need to climb with two hands' and the 'for' is I don't know what 'for'!!)
He peers at Little Dipper from far, far below. He offers no reassurance, no lecturing, not much of anything - he's just... there.
Once they find a side ledge, he might be going exploring with another go of the Hot Air Sack in case there might be other shortcuts or such ways present, but...
After getting the runaround - rather literally - who's up for a climbaround?
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Unnecessarily Long Stairwells and Ladders.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"We know the way out now," Elly soothes Riesenlied. She takes up the rear, though she looks a little glassy-eyed as she does. Maybe she can't believe this either, or maybe the TP Healing Compounds in the gel were kind of intense and she's getting visuals.
As she starts to climb, Elly thinks of Dominia.
Something like this...
IN JUGEND
"Dominia, are you... studying while doing pushups?"
"Certainly. Join me if you think you can keep up."
"But I needed to ask you for the notes -"
"Join me," Dominia Yizkor may have said, "if you think you can keep up."
HERE, NOW
Up we go. The boots help, though hopefully nobody will slump down and knock Elly to her tragic demise.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Expedition Boots toward her party's challenge, Unnecessarily Long Stairwells and Ladders.
===========================<* Trial Cave of Vane *>===========================
============<* CHALLENGE - Transmission Machine Broke... Again *>=============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
An internal teleporter renders this route potentially trivial, but there's
no way to know where it goes... and more importantly, it seems broken in the
way that the outside teleporter sometimes is. Again, one must wonder: is the
circle itself not functional? Does it need to be charged? Does it need to
have a piece re-seated? Honestly, there are so many potential faults in
magic this old that you should really charge for this kind of work.
Unfortunately, no one in Vane can pay you... but hey -- at least you'll have
done a nice thing for this poor old cave if you manage to get it working!
And if you don't, well, there's still the long, slow way around...
This is an unreasonable demand to make of trainee mages.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Secret==========================================
======================<* Trial Cave of Vane - Round 6 *>====================== ==============< Results - Transmission Machine Broke... Again >=============== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 60 --(20)--> 80 Fail Dragon's Tear 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 55 --(20)--> 75 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 55 --(20)--> 75 Fail Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 60 --(20)--> 80 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 60 --(20)--> 80 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 50 --(15)--> 65 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Riesenlied 70 --(10)--> 80 Fail Conditions: Fright(1)|Secret(2)|Stupify(2)|Tire(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >=============================== <Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Climb, climb, climb...
Maybe... this was a bad idea.
The corpse inside Riesenlied raises her eyebrows, as if looking up from a book they were reading. "Is it time already? You always do this. When the going gets tough..."
Shalune keeps her resolve and presses forward, flying up with Little Dipper to get up towards the top of the shaft. She finds some footholds that help the others carry forward.
Climb, climb, climb...
I can't do this...
Nasrin lets out a little snigger as she replies, "Darling, there are a lot of things I could call you, but a mountain climber you are not."
Fei is fortunate that he has such a well defined core, since it's really all in the core (and the legs) that counts when you're climbing so much, isn't it? Pump it up, powerful boy!
Climb, climb, climb...
Maybe I should just...
"Give up?" Nasrin interjects. "Yes. Give this foolish little quest up. You have no idea what you're getting into."
Jacqueline pushes past the distractions in her mind as she peps the group up and buoys their spirits further. Potions are provided, giving them that little last oomph...
Climb, climb, climb...
"You can't handle this." Nasrin scoffs rather bluntly.
Why are you so mean to me?
"Girl, have you seen the kind of run-down little place your mind is? I have to live here! I'm not the one being mean here. If anything, I'd say I was just being... pragmatic."
Ethius continues onward with his heat-powered spells, with the erstwhile bandit sack transformed into a device that lets him lift himself upwards. It helps.
Climb, climb, climb...
I... I don't need you.
"You're wrong." The smirk grows ever wider. "You need me. You've always needed my little bloodied corpse as a distraction. It distracts you from all the things you've never been able to do. Never been able to accomplish."
She lowers her head.
"You always have."
Elly climbs up towards the top with her boots, which help give her more sure footing as she proceeds upwards while thinking of the buff elf who is literally a phys-adept, who knew? Perhaps it is helpful for Elly now.
But at the end, they face... ... ...
...
A dead end.
No words of wisdom, no helpful artifacts, no pot of gold nor aiding balm or even a convenient exit. Sometimes, curiosity does get the better of someone, and in this case, it would seem that it has not paid out.
...
Well, Miria will likely shower them in sympathy and make them hash browns, at least.
Sadly, today is not the day Riesenlied reconciles with her inner self and learns how to doublejump.