2018-06-01: Fire and Smoke
- Log: Fire and Smoke
- Cast: Lily Keil, Josephine Lovelace, Claude C. Kenny, Fei Fong Wong, Elhaym van Houten
- Where: Pendrago - Castle District
- Date: June 1st 2018
- Summary: The Black Wolves have slipped into Lastonbell to follow up on and do some prep work for a job they've taken on. However, this just means they're present for the moment the siege breaks. Teaming up with Claude, they attempt to work their way out of the city.
DG: A party led by Lily Keil is now entering Escape from Lastonbell. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================== =========================<* CHALLENGE - Panicked Mob *>========================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- When the wall comes crashing down, you happen to be on a street. You can see it: a titanic explosion which shoots up, sky high, and then the collapse of the immense stone wall on the city's eastern edge. A whole section of it gives away, a thick cloud of dust rising upward. Then, shouts and cries from Hyland's army -- and horns, ordering the advance -- echo through the cacophany. People in the street begin to panic. You soon find a growing mob rushing towards you in a blind panic, crying out in their fear. You will need to think, quickly, of how to avoid being caught in the mad rush hurrying towards you. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Injure==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
A narrow side street stretches down, on all sides surrounded by walls--regular building walls, not those defending the city as a whole. The cobblestones are in... decent, condition, the castle stretching upward not far from here. The central courtyard of the Castle district is a short distance away, and Lily Keil is one of those here, walking down the street while saying little, listening to someone else instead. She is not armored, but in black and gray, mostly a tunic with a sword belted on, sturdy boots... with a black dog hurrying along at her side, short furred and obviously young--but not a tiny puppy anymore.
Dog barks, once, suddenly, and then again, looking around wildly.
"Girl, what is it--" Lily starts to ask, but... well. The question answers itself. It happens quickly; an otherwise ordinary day is interrupted, tension turning into outright danger as a set of explosions rocks the outer wall... and ends in a horrifying mass of green flame reaching up to the sky, unnatural and unnerving. It is no ordinary explosion, and the doom it brings on the city is swift and obvious: the horns echo as the soldiers that were outside begin to advance. Nowhere in the city, it seems, is safe; nowhere in the city can avoid seeing it. ...And unfortunately..
This is the city. The afternoon sky is choked with smoke and dust, and Lastonbell stretches onward. ...And the crowd down the way has already started to panic. What was a few scattered people is turning quickly into a mob, clustering together as people try to find the main streets--
And are crying out, rushing right this way.
Dog starts barking again, but this time towards an alley... If the crowd doesn't fill that too, it might be a start. But there might be better ideas.
"...We have to move. Quickly."
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Panicked Mob.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Moments before the wall comes crashing down, Josie is--
Quite frankly, not openly doing what she would normally be doing in a situation like this, because it's illegal and while she doesn't give a toss about what the law thinks, she also generally prefers to not find out how they're decorating the local cells.
Besides, she's rather well-engaged in haggling over the going rate for the collection of ancient magical laboratory equipment with a man. Who she has met under completely legal, law-abiding circumstances.
"Oh, really? Is that the best offer you can make? These come straight from some of the ruins in the Mire, you know... I'm sure the curiosity factor would land them, ohhh..."
But before Josie can float an obscene bonus quote to the potential buyer, down comes the wall.
Penelope, on watch nearby, takes to the sky with a shrill coo.
Josie herself has about three seconds to blink, collect the carefully-packed satchel and turn to the man she was speaking to.
"You know what? Let's talk again later."
After that, she's simply gone, goods hefted over her shoulder as she makes her way along the edge of the sudden mob.
"Hey! Tiger! Looks like we got a bit of problem!"
She jerks her chin towards an alleyway. "So let's get while the getting's good!"
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Panicked Mob.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Into chaos, enter Claude C. Kenny.
...well, sort of. More specifically, a young man who looks exactly like Claude C. Kenny would would look if Claude C. Kenny had grown out his hair a bit and was wearing half-plate armour in an attempt to blend in to his local surroundings. And also if Claude C. Kenny burst through the door of a nearby building like he was the Kool-Aid Man.
"Oh no!" he yelps as he stares wide-eyed at the fading remnants of green flame boil their way up into the sky. The blonde swordsman reaches to one of his many belt pouches, fiddles with it, then even less explicably appears to carefully poke one of his own eyes. Granted, this is not the strangest thing half the people here have seen him do.
"Okay, what am I looking at," he says, half to himself, as his tricorder links to the contact-lens HUD and words spread across his field of vision. Eventually, he emits a low whistle. "Oh boy, we, uh... wow, that's a lot of...."
A dog barks, and Claude turns, spotting Lily, whose name he should probably remember. He eventually connects the dots, of sorts, and remembers she's the friend of Cecilia's hairdresser (i.e., Leon, i.e., not actually Cecilia's hairdresser). She was there when they punched Shaka Khan in the face. And she also frowned at him when he ate some super-expensive stuff one time. So basically, she's a lot like most of his female friends.
"Uh, good idea," Claude says, moving after Lily, his tricorder's sensors helpfully projecting a minimap of sorts. "Uh, we may wanna cut across the next two streets before going in, though, or else we'll run into the people rushing from the gate," he adds, as though that is a thing a normal person would know from the vague sound of screams.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Tricorder toward his party's challenge, Panicked Mob.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei was with Lily and Josie. To be honest, he was having a good day, so the explosion isn't too surprising but he still says a swear word. He gapes in a kind of awe when GREEN FIRE reaches up to the sky. "Fire...fire's not normally...green." He says. "Wait--was that the WALL? God dammit! Why do I even GO to civilizations anymore?!" He presses his hands against his face, starting to have a kind of panic attack. He eventually reaches into his toolbag opens it up and--
--and he just breathes into it several times to steady his breathing. He calms down more quickly than he normally would've and adds, "Gotta move...!"
He sees Claude shortly after Claude sees Lily. "Claude??" He's been feeling weird about that guy lately, but he has no idea why. He suspects it's just his brain sucking. He has no idea how Claude knows where to go. "That's...oddly specific." He manages. "But better than any plan I have."
He gets a-movin'.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Panicked Mob.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
ELLY
has her boots on.
She was wondering why she'd been given such a withering look on the topic by Klarissa MacDougall back at the Tzadkiel, but she was glad to have them repeated. She had been tailing after Fei, and had in fact drifted half a block away in order to negotiate for... something? Probably a drink. A half-besieged city is a place where you haggle.
Then came green fire.
Elly came running. Her first action is to stare straight at Claude's projected map, then look straight at Claude, with an expression of harried skepticism. After this, though, she follows the barks.
She forgot to say something. Oh, now she did. "Fire can be green," she says. "But not easily..."
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Panicked Mob.
==========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================== =========================<* CHALLENGE - Panicked Mob *>========================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- When the wall comes crashing down, you happen to be on a street. You can see it: a titanic explosion which shoots up, sky high, and then the collapse of the immense stone wall on the city's eastern edge. A whole section of it gives away, a thick cloud of dust rising upward. Then, shouts and cries from Hyland's army -- and horns, ordering the advance -- echo through the cacophany. People in the street begin to panic. You soon find a growing mob rushing towards you in a blind panic, crying out in their fear. You will need to think, quickly, of how to avoid being caught in the mad rush hurrying towards you. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Injure==========================================
=====================<* Escape from Lastonbell - Round 1 *>===================== ===========================< Results - Panicked Mob >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Dog 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claude C. Kenny 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Tricorder 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Lily Keil 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Stupify(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Lily Keil 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> Lily Keil has posed.
Oh, the guy who ate the paycheck. Lily looks to Claude briefly, but not for long. Not with Josie making her way quickly over. But obviously she recognizes Claude. ...Though, uh, when they punched that guy in the face she looked a lot less... healthy... than she does now.
"However you know that," Lily answers Claude, "I'll take it. Lead the way, Josie." Lily is not the fastest--but she knows how to get moving. "Worry abot it later," Lily says to Fei. "We'll have to figure out what's going on when we can." But Elly has a point. Not easily...
Regardless, Josie leads them well down an alley, and the crowd passes right along as they move to another street, Dog behind them warding off anyone who might think of being a straggler in this direction.
Claude, in the meantime, can analyze traces of unnatural impact in the explosion when he looks--it doesn't look like anything that Lunar technology as it's known could do, and specifically shows traces of barium compounds.
Regardless as they move towards the other street, Lily says, "I take it no one was expecting company? Just our luck for the siege to break now..." She seems a little tense.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Lock the Gate *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Lastonbell has smaller walls threaded throughout the city, some of which have small gates of their own. While these are unlikely to stop the soldiers of Hyland in their tracks, these gates could slow them. As you hurry down a side street, the shouts of Rolance and Hyland soldiers echo through the air. You can smell fire and smoke in the air, too. Closing this gate could cut off any pursuers -- but it will take shoulder work and, worse, valuable time. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Slow===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
"Oh, you know," lies Claude, as he blinks twice to dismiss the minimap. "Magic and stuff."
This proves to be a less than accurate claim, as Claude nearly directs the group into a (potentially literal) dead end, though Dog's barking eventually sets them aright. Another minute of low-level street parkour passes, after which---
The group emerges into a small courtyard - Lily and Elly may recognize it as a killing ground - in front of a fortified gate, though the gate itself is unmanned entirely; a few stray bits of armour and weaponry suggest Rolance's soldiers may have deserted rather than hold the portal against impossible odds.
Claude darts through on a run, looks over his shoulder, and spots a big heavy bar thing that probably has some sort of ancient name for 'locks a giant wooden door'. "Uh... huh," he says, looking back the way the group came, wondering how to ask how to work one of these things.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Lock the Gate.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Everyone's here, right?" Josie says to Lily, before glancing back over her shoulder. "If they're not, too late for -- oh, good, here they are. And plus one, at that!" The last is said as she spots Claude.
"Anyway, enough dawdling. If I had to guess, I'd say the siege might just be a little bit broken now, and it's better not to find out what that would mean for us..."
She legs it into the alleyway, just missing the onrush of crowds. "Now, let's see where this gets us. --You got an idea of where to go, kid?" The last is to Claude in particular as he leads the way ahead, eventually out into a courtyard of sorts. The archaelogist glances this way and that before possibly just sighting the same thing he does -- a gate.
"Great idea!"
She sets her 'luggage' down, followed by her pack, before dredging an apparent digging tool from the depths of her pack. "Looks a little heavy to just pick and lift, though. I'll use this to give myself a little leverage." Already halfway to the gate with the mattock over her shoulder, Josie stops to call back: "Hey kid, Junior! Tiger! You're not gonna leave this for me to do all by my lonesome, right~?"
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, Lock the Gate.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei says, "Yeah..." to Elly. "But I wouldn't imagine it on Lunar."
They come upon a killing field. That's, Fei thinks, is just great. He looks over to Claude for a moment and then adds, "People aren't escaping through here so...maybe uh."
Josie shouts for him. He's starting to connect Junior = Him. I mean he knew it before but now it's kind of automatic.
"Hah? Oh! Nah, no. I'll do uh, my best here but I didn't have lunch yet."
Fei grips for the gate to try and pull at it. "There was no warning--do you think it was sabotage?" He looks over to Lily who has done the most blowing up of structures/people that he knows of.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Lock the Gate.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Maybe we ah, we should have steered clear," Elly says to Fei and Josie with a slightly abashed look. Because of the siege, presumably. Which was broken.
"That is not magic," Elly tells Claude. "Look, if you're - Ugh, how - I can't even put this concisely -" Run run run run run!
Inwardly Elly thinks: How am I even supposed to bring this up? I've seen him around, but is it HIM? Is THIS what a Shevat agent actually looks like? Like THIS man? Was he hiding in plain sight?! How did we not know!? Was this their new plan in order to -
*GATE*
Elly's eyes turn over the gigantic door in front of them that is, for once, not slated to be rendered ajar through lethal force and detonations. (Ha ha, how can a door be a jar, Elly? This pun actually is not native to Elly's thought-language so it kind of skitters off.) "... They probably had an excellent view from the top," Elly says, even as Fei moves to try and hoist and move things around. She ooches over to try to help - she is, after all, pretty strong for her frame, just not a rippling muscleman.
Like Fei, and possibly Claude. "This is probably a chokepoint," she explains. "People would come through this gate and this courtyard... it'd be easy to fire missile weapons down, or even just stones, and wound or kill them. But even if a few people could hold the gate against a huge force. Um."
Elly glances to Lily. "The problem I suppose is that that's very dramatic but you rarely, ah, oh I'm nervous. Ha ha! I mean they'd probably reasoned they would kill some of the enemy force and would then all be killed."
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Lock the Gate.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Looks like," Lily answers Josie easily enough, and as they make it to the killing ground... Well, "It means trouble. We can assume they'll settle in for lockdown once they finish taking the city. I don't plan to be here when that happens." Dog keeps up with her now, and she looks around for the signs of stray armor and weaponry, for the gate...
"Useful," she murmurs, spots the bar and gate. "Yeah, I was thinking I'd stay back here and not bother," Lily answers Josie distractedly, the smell of fire and smoke already starting to fill her nostrils. Then Fei--
Lily closes her eyes, for a moment. ...The ambient panic is loud in her mind. "No question," Lily says after a moment. "Sabotage. The enemy knew immediately to take advantage of the opening--they were ready. Between that and the strange explosion... There's no doubt in my mind that this was planned."
She stops to watch Elly through her explanation though, stops and pulls something from her bag. As Elly speaks, Lily slips the strange set of chains onto her gloved hand, where they glint strangely in the light, attached to small metal rune plates that suspend over the back of her hand. "Deserters. ...Not a very disciplined army. Probably, they thought if they were this far in, they wouldn't have to fight for real...." A nod. "They might've been."
She shrugs at that, and does not move to help with the gate right now. Quite the opposite, she stays back--and then there's a hum, and a sense of Etheric pressure as the lever suddenly feels... lighter.
Lily's hand is still out as she then shifts to face the gate as a whole, and closes her eyes. Black power crackles from around the walls, and dark ice begins to form, slowly making its way down and hopefully turning the gate very, very solid, cold and unpleasant to the touch.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Rune Chain toward her party's challenge, Lock the Gate.
==========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Lock the Gate *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Lastonbell has smaller walls threaded throughout the city, some of which have small gates of their own. While these are unlikely to stop the soldiers of Hyland in their tracks, these gates could slow them. As you hurry down a side street, the shouts of Rolance and Hyland soldiers echo through the air. You can smell fire and smoke in the air, too. Closing this gate could cut off any pursuers -- but it will take shoulder work and, worse, valuable time. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Slow===============================================
=====================<* Escape from Lastonbell - Round 2 *>===================== ==========================< Results - Lock the Gate >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Rune Chain 3 Brute Effects: Stalwart and Efficien -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claude C. Kenny 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 15 --(13)--> 28 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 5 --(13)--> 18 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 5 --(13)--> 18 Fail Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Lily Keil 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Slow(2)|Stupify(1)|Tire(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Lily Keil 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> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Elly, Fei, and Josie (with Mattock) manage to slowly move the heavy wooden doors into place, the ancient hinges groaning as the portal closes up. It takes a while, because those are some friggin' heavy doors.
Claude, for his part, hefts the locking bar up and (with a faint surge of chi that Fei, at the very least, will recognize) presses it up over his head. Face reddening, he steps forward, balancing the bar carefully before slamming it into place. "There," he says happily, dusting his hands together. "That'll---"
He shuts up as Lily ices up the door, using magic that he can't sense. Which is pretty normal for Claude, who is less magical than most cheeses you could name. "Okay, that will do it for suresies," he concludes with a pleasant smile toward Lily. "Nice work, team!"
(this is clearly a master shevat cover)
DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Distracting the Army *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- When you round the corner, you have to duck behind it again quickly. It seems nearly a hundred Hyland soldiers have occupied the avenue ahead. They have not, yet, formed a perimeter and spread out. Instead, it seems they are debating whether to keep moving or go elsewhere. If you provide a suitable distraction, you may be able to get this most inconvenient (but deadly) roadblock to chase something besides you. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"That seems plausible," Elly answers Lily, nodding along. She is able to tune out the smell of flame, at least, and the panic in the air isn't reaching her directly.
Probably in this case it's just a hard crust. When Lily produces a sudden darkling chain of rippling ice, encrusting the gate with rime, rendering it no doubt nasty to the touch, Elly looks at her with wonder. Surprise.
And belated realization. Because she is able to reach to her other garter holster and produce the enfolded version of that thing which she found not so long ago. Gosh, she thinks to herself. Has it really been so long since I found this? I haven't drawn my rod in ang
Round the corner.
"Alright lads," says the Hyland captain (you can tell he's a captain because he's on a horse and he's not covered in filth and only a little blood), "we bypassed that buggering little backside of a gate and we squeezed in like Stankers at mess time." (In the background Elly skids to a halt.)
"Form up, form up - alright, you, Sniggles, come forth, and you there, Gallywag, let's hear your report."
Sniggles is apparently announced by blowing his nose loudly. (Elly looks at everyone else incredulously. Heaped garbage breaks the line of sight between them all and what sounds like a company of mans indeed.)
There is a rustle and a stout man gets up on some kind of a box or other piece of garbage. "Now beggin yer pardonage my lordship but I have sailed a mighty sea and my report must fulwise be heard lest we afear to lose what strikes we've snapped and what balls we've ballied. Now through our ways the foeman has fled but even the lowest cur mightwise - here, Neovaneish, stop with your yawnering and cattylumpus-"
Recon Corporal Gallywag is emitting a dense cloud of fantasy dialect! It will not last. But perhaps...
Elly looks at several people at once and hisses to Claude, "Use your Shevat tricks! You should have an -Invisibility Screen-, use that." What?
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Distracting the Army.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny looks at Elhaym van Houten, who is hissing nouns at him. Weird nouns. His eyes drift to the side, a little sketchily, as he tries to figure out what she's talking about.
"My, uh..."
(Is Shevat some sort of curse word or something? Uh, just ignore it.)
"...my tricks, huh? I, uh..."
(Wait, an -Invisibility Screen-? Does she mean a cloaking device?)
"...I'm not sure if I..."
(Wait, if she knows what a cloaking device is, she should know they're banned!)
"...if I can do that here..."
(OH MY GOD MAYBE SHE'S A VENDEENI)
"...but maybe I can..."
(WHERE IS SHE HIDING ALL OF HER TENTACLES? ARE THEY IN HER HAIR)
"...try..."
Claude's gaze stops sliding, and focuses a little ways off over Elly's shoulder. "Uh... actually, this might work. Hold that thought," he says, ducking behind a corner. He emerges a few seconds later, lifting a large barrel marked 'FLOUR' over his head. "Okay, I thought this was flowers, but it's flour," Claude says. "Maybe if we throw this at them... uh... it'll blow up?" he says/asks. "And then they can't see us?"
(...)
"I think it's a Shevat good plan," he adds, to blend in.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Tricorder toward his party's challenge, Distracting the Army.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Ah, don't worry about it. What's done is done, right?"
The reply comes easily enough.
Other things, perhaps less so.
Even with the leverage she can utilize via the mattock, moving the door into position doesn't come easily at all for Josie. She's out of breath by the time the gates are locked and barred, doubled over with her left hand resting on her knees.
"Some of us... are a little too old for this..." she gasps, before finally pulling herself up, shaking her head, and setting about the task of (quickly now!) repackaging her gear and hefting the bag of occult treasures she wrested from a long-abandoned ruin. She's not leaving these behind without a good reason.
"Where to now?"
This is the point where Josie, still standing in the 'killing ground', sees the proverbial dotted line as a few members of their little gang vanish around the corner.
"..."
BUT ALL IS NOT LOST*
(*possibly)
While Josie follows up on the younger set, a shadow falls upon the military group gathered below.
(It's... not really a large shadow.)
(But it's the principle of the thing.)
There, from above, a fell presence descends from the heavens: Penelope.
A rather normal-sized if fancily-colored pigeon.
To judge by her trajectory, her current target for destruction is quite possibly the captain's hat.
Why? We just don't know.
But on the other hand, it's definitely a distraction.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, Distracting the Army.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Aw you're not that old," Fei tells Josie while they work.
AND THEN
Fei says, "His what?" to Elly, surprised, startled, and a bit afraid, though a fair chunk of this is thanks to the army they nearly walked into. He gives a nervous look as Claude seems to not really understand what Elly was talking about either. Fei gets progressively more confused and concerned. "Do that 'here'?" Why is he so goddamn suspicious??? It's like he always has something to hide, but what he has to hide is completely innocuous and nobody really cares! It's frustrating!!!
"I have a better idea." Fei tells Claude.
He promptly draws out a piece of paper from his bag and folds it into the shape of a paper airplane. He throws it around the corner. It soars through the air! Then it BONKS a soldier in the cheek and/or eye.
"It's perfect," He says breathlessly, and then with a scrunched up face as Penelope bombs the area (that's also probably a violation of some treaty).
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Distracting the Army.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily doesn't smile back. She just nods neutrally back at Claude, all seriousness, because, well, Lily is not a particularly pleasant or friendly person. "...Good work," she agrees. "Let's keep moving." Then, a beat, "Slowing down, Josie? Should I find you a cane?" It almost sounds like a joke--Lily certainly is giving Josie an amused look, if you can tell.
She comes to a slow pause as they stop round the corner and there's the Hyland solsier right there, talking. She slips back, and Dog hops back at her heels, listening and occasionally glancing around the corner, but avoiding being... seen, at first. This means, of course, that she can see Elly's look and--well, she just shakes her head.
Lily frowns, looking between Claude and Elly. But those ideas aside--
As soon as Penelope swoops forward, Lily narrows her eyes. "Dog," she says, "Go."
With an outstretched hand, Lily abrubtly conjures shadows around Dog, who rushes forward to meet Penelope, barking and weaving through the soldiers and being very noisy to the horse. Now, horses in battle are generally trained to not fear loud noises.
Dog, however, is draped in shadows making her hard to see, and her barks are a horrifying distorted noise that sounds like it comes from the depths of Hell. Lily watches on in approval.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Distracting the Army.
==========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Distracting the Army *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- When you round the corner, you have to duck behind it again quickly. It seems nearly a hundred Hyland soldiers have occupied the avenue ahead. They have not, yet, formed a perimeter and spread out. Instead, it seems they are debating whether to keep moving or go elsewhere. If you provide a suitable distraction, you may be able to get this most inconvenient (but deadly) roadblock to chase something besides you. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
=====================<* Escape from Lastonbell - Round 3 *>===================== =======================< Results - Distracting the Army >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 10 --(13)--> 23 Fail Dog 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claude C. Kenny 20 --(8)--> 28 Pass Tricorder 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 28 --(13)--> 41 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 18 --(8)--> 26 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 18 --(8)--> 26 Pass Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Lily Keil 40 --(15)--> 55 Pass Conditions: Slow(1)|Stupify(2)|Tire(1) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Lily Keil has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 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> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Listen... I know that on Filgaia, we would be enemies," Elly tells Claude. "But we're not on Filgaia any more. Before we can worry about anything like that, we have to get through this. And... I don't know about you, but I'm tired of ancient fighting. Alright?"
As he goes to get a barrel of something, Elly - flipping back her lush, bodiful, tentacle-filled hair with one hand - looks at Fei. She smiles. Then to Lily as she speaks to Josie. Should I speak up? Elly thinks.
The Lunar Rod is held firmly in her hand. Penelope is the key, for better or worse. She swoops -
And the captain is stymied briefly. The fantasy dialect stops and there is a ripple of laughter. "Alright, alright," says the captain. "As you were, troops, as you were -"
Fwish! A paper airplane flies ahead as Penelope, who is not suspected as anything other than a panicked animal, flies to safety. The paper airplane simply makes no sense to anybody present and as such they hardly notice it - to them it is classed as garbage - but it makes Recon Corporal Gallywag go "oi!" because it hits him almost but not quite in the eye.
Elly tells Claude, "High, over them - high as you can - Now!" and she runs forwards, even as Lily lets loose the dogs of war. And then things become swiftly and decisively strange, for Elly mounts the garbage and swings her Lunar Rod at the side of the captain's head. There is a clang and her heart sinks for a moment because his head turns to look towards her -
And then the captain's eyes close. He slumps.
The men look at this situation with wonder and confusion. AND THEN - THE DOG! barking viciously, Dog runs forwards, and the Captain's horse rears upwards, and the Captain - decisively now suffering from the SLEEP status effect - falls free. Elly, not thinking, grabs the reins and swings into the seat -
BGM INTRUSION - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGcfHvUTfac
just as the flour barrel reaches the top of its arc. As the horse comes down, now slightly less burdened, Elly draws iron and raises her weapon, aiming for a second and then firing. There is a swish-fwee-THROOSH as the gyro-rocket round rises up and smashes into the flour barrel, and the assembled troop - wow, it's actually more like a company and a half - stare. None of this makes sense to them, if for more conventional reasons.
A cloud of flour erupts from the barrel, blasted apart.
"... What in the goddess," begins one of the troopers, before Elly throws Ether into it. Fire Ether... into a cloud of...
THOOM
The explosion makes several of the troops scream and, in a single shrieking moment, sets them momentarily to rout. It also makes the horse Elly is on start running in a probably arbitrary direction, slavering. The wagon-pulling nags rip free from their wagon under the prompting of Dog and flour-air explosion, running, conveniently, past that alleyway and trampling Hyland soldiers underhoof!
Quickly! Ride the illegal horse!
DG: Josephine Lovelace has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - Burning Building Rescue *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- While Hyland's army has refrained from wanton slaughter, a panicked populace fleeing the city causes some issues. Here, you find a building that is now ablaze. The home crackles and snaps. Embers float away, as smoke rises high into the air. The door is closed, but through a window, you can see flames rising. A voice, however, cuts from inside the burning house: "Help! Help me, please!" =Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Secret===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"A cane, huh? Is the next step gonna be asking me if you're in the will?" Josie grouses, but seems relatively goodnatured about it, the whole statement punctuated with a lazy shrug. "...Heh heh. Though, that assumes I'm the sort to plan that far ahead~"
Creaky joints or perhaps just overextertion means she's the last to arrive on the scene as Penelope makes her terrible descent, plunging captain-wards.
There's a paper airplane. As she watches, the onrush of Dog. Elly's comandeering of a horse.
A puff of flour.
Josie blinks. "Wait--"
Flame.
To say the phrase 'Josie backpedals hard backwards' would be an understatement of how fast the archaeologist moves in the opposite direction as the fire fans outwards in a resounding 'thoomp' of flame.
But the really important point is that she's still standing when the destruction finally settles down, and most of the soldiers aren't.
Josie spares them a glance.
"Sure got a way with theatrics, Red," she murmurs aloud, before making good speed across the roadway, in apparent pursuit of the direction Elly has gone.
It's bound to happen that destruction of the walls and the breaking of a seige also will lead to ultimately, 'a city on fire'. So it is here, with an entire block ablaze from flames; did someone set this fire deliberately? Was it the natural cause and effect of walls and buildings falling? Or a result of the explosion that set off this whole mess, spread naturally as fires do in cities this tight-packed.
Perhaps the whys don't matter.
There's a house on fire ahead, and someone is still trapped inside.
"Help! Please, the door's-- Help me!"
Josie, uncharacteristically, has gone still, her expression strange as she drops the pack she's been carrying -- drops both of them. With uncharacteristic force, she hauls the mattock free from the bag and runs for the burning building, apparently intent on throwing her whole weight behind this strike at the door.
She doesn't say anything.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, Burning Building Rescue.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude had the best plan! He will tell everyone he knows about this, and they will believe him. (No they won't.)
But the scream for help sets the young Federation officer to running, his armour clanking as he moves toward the home. With this much metal on him, he can't exactly jump into the flames to save the girl, but he can still act - in this case to slide in toward the front right side of the house, which is beginning to bend---
'CRACK'
"Nnnrgh," Claude grunts, bracing the upper part of the beam across his back and shoulders, muscles straining. "If I move... the whole house... will collapse," he wheezes. "First... save the kid who's inside!" He grimaces. "I think I can only hold it up for..."
*rumblerumble*
"...uh, not long at all, actually," Claude grunts, his knees shaking. "Holy crap houses are heavy."
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Burning Building Rescue.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei says, "Um Elly," to her. "I'm not sure uh--" He trails off uncertainly as Elly knocks out a dude with a magic stick. It's inefficient, but it's kind. Fei ends up leaping onto a horse and he grabs its reins in an attempt to steady it. Horses, Fei thinks, I've missed those.
Of course he doesn't get to ride too long though because suddenly someone is screaming! And Josie has gone quiet. She really is a kind person, Fei thinks to himself, since the moment someone is in danger like that--she is serious. For a stranger.
Fei starts summoning chi and his arms and legs gain a frosty mist around them. "Claude!" He says. "Use your ice powers!" If he's from Shevat he probably has ice powers, he reasons. Maybe him being from Shevat is why he's uneasy? He wasn't sure but maybe he was dismissing it too quickly. "No wait holding that up is more important--uhh I'll try and be quick!"
He runs into the burning home as he starts frosting over the flames, looking for the child.
This is too familiar, Fei thinks grimly.
Holy shit Claude is carrying a house, Fei also thinks grimly.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Mother's Cross toward his party's challenge, Burning Building Rescue.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly's face burns red as Josie tells her she is theatrical. She smiles weakly, but she cannot do much more because
SOMEBODY'S POISONED THE W-
Wrong.
THE TOWN'S ON FIRE!
Elly doesn't have time to think a lot about this. This is not a very comfortable situation for Elly, to say the least. When ice power comes up, Elly comes out of her slight reverie, focusing on - "H, h - hold on!!" she tells Claude.
"Listen," she tells him, still from horseback. "I - I'm Elly. I'm glad we were able to meet here and finally talk. I want you to know that whatever happens I understand what you..." Did she write him off?
"Is the floor stone?" she calls to Claude, which is superficially a nonsequitur. It may be less of one when the stone gets molded upwards to provide some degree of buttressing. (Oops, she said buttressing.)
"Fei, hurry - leap out if you have to! I'll catch you!!" On a horse?
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"If I were in your will," Lily answers, "You'd outlive me out of spite." ...She actually seems fairly good-nautred about it herself, unusual for Lily, but banter with Josie is easier than focusing on the growing emotion throughout the city, the pain and fear both climbing ever higher. But there goes the distraction and--
"You're--" Lily throws out her hand again and Dog is abrubtly shielded by a barrier of darkness, enough to prevent the fire from getting on her as she whines her way back. "That's a hell of a distraction," Lily mentions, as she moves and does exactly what Elly indicates, taking off at a sprint and putting down her hand to use a blast of flame to give herself enough air to land on a fleeing horse. "Hup--Dog!"
Dog is fast enough to chase after, her powerful legs pumping as she retreats after the group, black fur almost a blur to observers, graceless as a dog ever can be.
...But she doesn't keep the horse for that long; once they're past the soldiers, the area is too rocky to keep up with a mount, too scattered with debris, and Lily brings the animal to a stop and slides back to the ground. She looks arond. "So, or next move--"
She doesn't even blink at the fire. It doesn't faze her. ...But, when the person screams, when Josie goes still--
Lily watches her for what feel like longer seconds than there are. "...We don't have..." She starts to say it, but everyone eles is rushing into action, so the ex-soldier just shakes her head. "All right." She closes her eyes; she can feel it. Feel...
Claude holds up a goddamn house. Lily watches him, sees Josie getting the door open, and when Fei rushes in--"Fine," she murmurs, and reaches to adjust the chain on her hand. "Dog, stay." Lily narrows her eyes further--and then moves, sprinting directly into the flames outright without so much as another word, taking the path Fei has started clearing.
Sections of flame in her wake wink out, completely bereft of air, but it doesn't appear that she's devoting much at all of her energy to defending herself--instead, her right hand is up, glowing black, and the smoke seems to be collecting towards it.
"Stay low, keep your breaths shallow!" she calls to the child.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Rune Chain toward her party's challenge, Burning Building Rescue. DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Burning Building Rescue.
==========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - Burning Building Rescue *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- While Hyland's army has refrained from wanton slaughter, a panicked populace fleeing the city causes some issues. Here, you find a building that is now ablaze. The home crackles and snaps. Embers float away, as smoke rises high into the air. The door is closed, but through a window, you can see flames rising. A voice, however, cuts from inside the burning house: "Help! Help me, please!" =Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Secret===========================================
=====================<* Escape from Lastonbell - Round 4 *>===================== =====================< Results - Burning Building Rescue >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 23 --(5)--> 28 Pass Rune Chain 3 Brute Effects: Stalwart and Efficien -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claude C. Kenny 28 --(5)--> 33 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 41 --(5)--> 46 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 26 --(5)--> 31 Pass Mother's Cross 4 Brute Effects: None -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 26 --(5)--> 31 Fail Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Lily Keil 55 --(20)--> 75 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Secret(2)|Stupify(1) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Lily Keil 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> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Further repartee might need to wait for another time. Ahead is a house ablaze.
For her part, Josie doesn't even seem to hear -- let alone notice -- Lily's attention or words. She simply acts as the person trapped within continues to scream.
Josie barrels into the door, mattock pick first.
Even with all of her weight and even with all of her perfectly-precise intent behind it, the door doesn't budge. "Damn... you!" she informs the door, rearing back for another strike.
But the house has started to collapse. But the flames flicker ever higher--
Claude breaks in as the house begins to slump, lending himself as a temporary support against its destructive end. Mattock loosely in hand, Josie stares up at the fire as it reaches the roof.
Earth rises, continuing to catch and hold fast against the inevitable.
And there with a like a breath of winter about him, Fei -- whether he makes the perilous ascent up on his own or with Elly's assistance -- climbs into the swiftly failing structure.
At this point the blocked door becomes less of a cut-off road and more of a detour. As both Fei and Lily will find. Flame chokes, dies. Rubble is obliterated. And there before them, caught in a pile of shattered furniture, is the child. She's bruised and battered, but without obvious injury.
A hasty retreat is necessary.
It'll be all of seconds before Claude is unable to hold out any longer. Once the house is dropped, that's the end of it--
--And in the destruction, a way forward born as the dust and ash rises. It's not perhaps the safest of paths, but there is now a shortcut across what would have once been impassible due to the layout of the city.
The child meanwhile bawls and clings to whoever is now holding her. It was probably a scary experience...
DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - The Collapsing Tower *>==================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- As you run down the street, you see the opened gates at the west end of Lastonbell. There are already people flooding through -- and blood in the streets, where a group of Rolance soldiers have been brought low, some manner of weapon punching through their armor. This is when the telltale whistle of a passing catapult shot flies through the air. The boulder doesn't smash down amidst you or the crowd. It strikes, instead into one of the huge gothic towers over the gate leading out of the city. Lastonbell's namesake bell is between the two towers. The left most one comes crashing down. The gothic tower comes crashing down. The crowd disperses, screaming, as people rush to escape it -- and you must do the same! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
"Rngh... thank you?" says Claude, who does not appear to be deploying his super-secret ice powers (which may be so super-secret he does not know about them). He responds to Elly's next question a second later. "And...maybe?"
The pressure bends Claude over several more inches.
"Okay, yeah... it's stone..." he sputters, even as Elly begins reshaping the rock to take some of the load off. It keeps him a little more upright - and, more importantly, from cracking in half - long enough for the others to take care of business and get out of the house, at which point he slides out and away.
Claude lasted about thirty seconds, more or less. He sorts of melts afterward.
"goooo teeeeam" he sing-songs weakly.
....
"...does anyone have, like a pocket steak or something?"
....
"...like... a sandwich, maybe..."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
While Fei may lend a hand to helping the kid out, ultimately Fei is a big burly freezing dude while Lily is a sweet non-homicidal lady who almost certainly doesn't think about genocide routinely. The girl ends up clinging to Lily, still bawling. Fei looks strangely down about it while also relieved, which isn't too weird since lord knows what happened to this kids' parents. They may be on fire!!
"Maybe we should take her to Taben Peak if she doesn't have family--" Fei tells Lily. OR SHE CAN TAKE THE CHILD FOR HER OWN AND TRAIN HER IN THE WAYS OF MURDERING SOLARIANS. Like father like daughter??
But regardless as they move down the gates on the west end of Lastonbell--it's already a busy crowd.
He slows down a bit and adds, "War...it's always like this, huh... Even with them holding back on hurting the civilians, it's still ruining so many lives."
That's when the tower comes crashing down thanks to a well placed cannon shot.
"M--move!!" Fei shouts, running but honestly he's still a little on fire.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Collapsing Tower.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny, who has not been fed any sort of steak or meat at all, and who is still basically dusted as a result of holding up the house for a bit, does about the only thing he can think of, which is---
*nomf*
Elly may feel a bit of a drag on her horse's right side as a young blonde swordsman of indeterminate ancestry grabs on to the leather of the right stirrup with the strongest remaining muscles in his body, i.e., his jaws.
"Grmf frmffeff, plrf," he mumbles.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Collapsing Tower.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
The tower falls. Elly stares ahead.
Her horse starts to turn right and she looks at Claude with a baffled horror as he digs his teeth into leather and all the taste that that leather entails. (Klarissa MacDougall would understand this desire of his, but she ain't here. Look for her in a future Gebler Dig near you!)
She has to counterbalance it, Elly thinks, distantly. I have to -
Elly is dissociating hard! Or something like that. It's a cool feeling, an almost smooth feeling. She remembers the cool air of... home?
And she leans to the left. The horse steadies out and Elly brings round the Lunar Rod, an improvised catch-surface that may take Josie by tremendous surprise as she is caught like a cow in front of a train's catcher and hoisted up with a loud POP (from Elly's spine), a whinny (from the horse), and a tormented squeal from the soles of her boots.
Tormented... but not ruined!!
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Expedition Boots toward her party's challenge, The Collapsing Tower.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Worse, and worse. The fear radiating off of this poor kid is loud on its own to Lily's senses, even if it were only her. ...And of course, she can sense it, as she emerges from the flames holding a child in her arms, rushing out while the little girl clings to her, keeping her left arm occupied holding her up. "Shh," she murmurs. "It's all right. We'll get you out of here."
She almost manages 'gentle'--no, not even almost. ...But while the child is without obvious injury, Lily is not; portions of her sleeves are burned away completely, the strange markings on her arms obscured by soot, ash, and blistered skin. She sure isn't asking about her parents.
Lily watches Josie for a few moments, and then turns her head to the melting Claude. "...We don't have time to loll around talking about food," she says to him, looking him up and down as if waiting for him to stand up--and walking along. ...Dog, somewhat more helpfully, walks over to lick Claude's face until he gets up.
"Let's worry about getting out of here first," Lily says to Fei... and then sees the gates. They have a shortcut, at least. Lily doesn't complain about the girl in her arms. Instead she answers Fei, "War--"
Whatever she was going to say is cut off immediately by the cannonfire, and the sorceress throws up a barrier of darkness in front of the girl in her arms to prevent any debris from hitting her. "Gh--"
"Not much time for philosophy," she grits out, a piece of shrapnel having carved a thin line in her cheek. It's just as well; none of what Lily has to say about war would be good for a child's ears.
Instead of talking, she sprints as quickly as she can, trying to get ahead of the tower--or at least far enough that she can shield herself and her charge from some of the debris. It will probably get her hurt.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Collapsing Tower.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie watches in silence as the house comes down, ashes and embers flung up into the air.
Before she turns away abruptly on her heel and to walk back and retrieve both of her previously abandoned bags from where they lie in the road. Her expression is difficult to read, even in profile.
This is of course the point in time where a large rock strikes a clocktower with all good strength.
This is the point where the tower falls, its bell clanging out an alarm.
This is the point where people ought to run.
Josie is caught flatfooted as she stares up at it.
And caught flatfooted the moment she is abruptly flipped (an unprintable swear ensues) into the air by the Lunar Rod. Both bags are sent flying into the air (along with, precariously, the mattock) as Josie collapses like a sack of potatoes across the back end of the horse with a grunt that suggests that perhaps it was not a gentle landing.
This is not a state that continues for long. Rolling upwards -- her bad hand reaching for the saddle for stability -- Josie whips out a hand to try and catch what she can before it's left to get potentially buried under the tower's rubble.
This is, understandably, neither recommended riding form or in any way suggested as a general course of action when one is about to be smeared by a falling clocktower.
And yet.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Collapsing Tower.
=========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - The Collapsing Tower *>==================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- As you run down the street, you see the opened gates at the west end of Lastonbell. There are already people flooding through -- and blood in the streets, where a group of Rolance soldiers have been brought low, some manner of weapon punching through their armor. This is when the telltale whistle of a passing catapult shot flies through the air. The boulder doesn't smash down amidst you or the crowd. It strikes, instead into one of the huge gothic towers over the gate leading out of the city. Lastonbell's namesake bell is between the two towers. The left most one comes crashing down. The gothic tower comes crashing down. The crowd disperses, screaming, as people rush to escape it -- and you must do the same! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
====================<* Escape from Lastonbell - Round 5 *>==================== ======================< Results - The Collapsing Tower >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 28 --(100)--> 128 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Claude C. Kenny 33 --(100)--> 133 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 46 --(100)--> 146 Pass Expedition Boots 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 31 --(100)--> 131 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 31 --(100)--> 131 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Lily Keil 75 --(10)--> 85 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Secret(1)|Slow(2) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: Lily Keil is too exhausted to continue! DG: Claude C. Kenny is too exhausted to continue! DG: Elhaym van Houten is too exhausted to continue! DG: Fei Fong Wong is too exhausted to continue! DG: Josephine Lovelace is too exhausted to continue! DG: The party has failed this challenge! All party members are now Exhausted. This attempt is over. DG: The party led by Lily Keil has been fully Exhausted by Escape from Lastonbell! DG: The party will now draw a conclusion.
=========================<* Escape from Lastonbell *>========================= ===================<* CHALLENGE - Bloodied and Desperate *>=================== |Type: Escape |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- You have escaped Lastonbell, but at great cost. Slipping through the lines of Hyland's soldiers, getting out of the city, and not falling prey to desperate citizens and opportunists proves hard. You are hurt, exhausted, and lost both silver and valuables to escape Lastonbell. You have a long, hard walk ahead of you. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Well there goes the horse. Hopefully folks leapt off in time.
Unfortunately the debris forces the group to head to the next closest gate since unless folks are willing to shoot THROUGH the civilians to get to the gate, it'll be pretty hard to get everybody through there. would be better to just edge along the wall and reach another gate.
Along the way, a fleeing civilian just casually steals Fei's money pouch on the way out, there's several encounters with soldiers, some of whom who recognize all the bounty having people and try to arrest them to sell to the church--hell there's even an ACTUAL bounty hunter who fires arrows at the group, seeing an opportunity to seize their prize.
When all is said and done, Fei's opinion of humanity has dipped faintly but he manages to remain sane, if exhausted and considerably poorer. At least everybody survived.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly did, in fact, leap free in time. She was too focused on trying to help Josie, trying to make sure Mr. Shevat didn't break his neck, hoping they can get away, moving quickly.
She pops one of the wannabe bounty hunters in the head with the Lunar Rod. In some ways it's a mercy.
It is later, late enough that flies have come, that Elly realizes that wasn't water she felt run down the inside of her boots.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily is sure, as the group walks out, that the things she left at that inn room are gone for good at this point. As for what she's carrying on her... Well, most of her money ends up lost in the struggle, too. But think of what she gains...!
Specifically, she gains a few arrowheads, mostly lodged in her thigh, a number of additional bruises, and miscellaneous other injuries. The child, however, hasn't received a scratch since the burning building. Not a one.
"Shh," Lily says to her again, soothingly. While she continues to hide against Lily as much as she can.
...Dog trots along after the group obediently. "...Just relax. I'll keep you safe," she murmurs.
It's for the best that Irisa is not watching most of the battles though because after Lily is filled with arrows she straight up disintegrates a man's arm to the clavicle. It's pretty horrifying.
Lily is... limping on the way finally out of the gates, despite herself. "Little... further..."
Tired, yes, wounded, burned... but they're all alive. It's not even the worst warzone Lily's been in in the last year.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie... catches the mattock before she rolls off the back end of a horse.
There's no time for anything else, not even to grab whatever might be littered across the ground. Josie just rises to her feet and books it before the tower slams into the ground a few yards behind her... and promptly sends her similiar pitching towards the ground.
Most of her belongings: possibly buried under a clocktower.
Current status: alive but battered.
Needless to say, this is the point where Josie, upon rising to her feet, lets out a bellow of frustration before leaping ahead across the scattered debris, intent on little else now except making her way with the others to the gates.
This isn't worth dying over.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny bounces along the ground, pieces of his armour plating breaking away with each stride of the horse.
In fairness, he's had worse escapes.