2018-06-10: Secrets in the Depths
- Log: Secrets in the Depths
- Cast: Jacqueline Barber, Catenna, Cyre H. Lorentz, Seraph Lanval, Lydia Seren, Matilda Whitehead
- Where: Flooded Cavern
- Date: June 10, 2018
- Summary: CaraKin returns to the Flooded Cavern in search of more secrets of the ages.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has left your party.
DC: Cyre H. Lorentz switches forms to Wind Shaman!
DG: A party led by Jacqueline Barber is now entering Flooded Cavern. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* Flooded Cavern *>============================= ======================<* CHALLENGE - Ride the Rapids *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The entrance to the Flooded Cavern has crumbled away from the wall of this river valley, erosion opening up an irregular fissure in the rock face that opens up into the cave. However, scaling the sheer cliff to descend to the opening is impossible. The only way to approach it is from the small town a ways upriver, by boat - and that means braving a series of rapids in this river canyon. The water gutters and gushes across submerged and semi-submerged rocks, making passage to the cavern perilous - but beyond the rapids, the cave mouth lies. Can you navigate your boats through the rapids to reach the cave? =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The Flooded Cavern - Jacqueline had brought the Caravan Kinship here once before. Last time, it was out of general curiosity, but this time, she had a mission - she was interested in seeing if there were any more seeds hidden away within its depths.
And, of course, if they found any other treasures or matters of historical interest, she wouldn't say no to that, either.
It's for that reason that Jacqueline had asked Matilda if she wanted to accompany them. It was a matter they were both interested and invested in, after all.
As always, entry to the Flooded Cavern must be done by boat - the small town that made a convenient setting-off point must have been thrilled to hear about the ruin's discovery.
Jacqueline had arranged for the rentals, and now the only thing left...is to actually make it here.
"Be careful...these waters get pretty treacherous..." she warns, carefully guiding one of the boats. She had taken a sip of potion beforehand, and offered other bottles to the others - just something to help keep them warm and alert as they made their way forward.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
An adventure in an underwater cave is no place for a dancer's outfit. Catenna changed into something she's alright with getting wet. Namely, her vest, shorts and high boots.
"So I can tell!" Catenna calls out over the water as the rapids lash against the sides of her little boat. With the aid of a long pole, she does her best to steer the little craft along the river, reaching out to try and push it away from a particularly jagged rock.
It's not easy, and not for the first time, she wishes she could just jump out and swim. But being dashed against the rocks doesn't really sound like her idea of a good time.
The waves surge beneath Catenna's boat. She grimaces, swaying in the bow of the boat, then pushing off another rock to avoid a collision. It's getting harder to do it. "This would be so much easier if the current only went the other way!" she grumbles.
But it doesn't. And it isn't.
DG: Catenna has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
This time, Cyre actually brought his parachute.
Of course, he's using it in a particularly creative sort of way and is not in this particular circumstance abandoning his fellows to the churning rapids below. Sure, he could go off on his own, totally ignoring all terrain penalties and getting himself killed by the horrible monsters that almost certainly lie in wait deeper in. Or, he could be a good friend and glide just overhead, blasting away tumbling boulders with prismatic rays and providing an eye in the sky for upcoming obstacles in the party's way.
The latter is more his speed and less likely to end in disaster, and so it goes.
"Watch out up ahead," Cyre yells down at the little flotilla of rowboats below. "Looks like a pretty big rockslide since the last time. Got a few chunky boulders in the way. Relatively clear on the left bank, though!"
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Reverse Parachute toward his party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Don't mind if I do! Ha ha ha!" Laughs a portly, blue-clad, long-bearded fellow whose silver hairs turn blue at the tips at the edge of one of the boat as he knocks back the contents of one of the Rapid Remedies like one might a cold, frothy drink of--
Wait. Waitwaitwaitwait.
WHEN DID THIS FELLOW GET HERE?!
The fat water spirit laughs some more and lies back on the boat he has helped himself to, lowering a hand into the rapids with a pleased-looking sigh. This would be mortally dangerous for any mortal, not to mention a great way to lose a hand...
...but if you are actually a water spirit, then...?
...This is assuming he's even doing anything other than resting and relaxing as he clutches the mostly-empty bottle of Rapid Remedy, a silly little cat-like smile on his face as his eyes rest fully closed.
The current that Catenna laments might be a bit calmer, but it could just be wishful thinking. The only thing that can be taken as happening for real, is that there is a Seraph present and... really, when did he get here and why is he even with them?
Jay might want to double-check her Rapid Remedy stocks the next time they hit a moment of calm. As for Cyre, when he floats overhead and blasts the crap out of some boulders with sky lasers...
The lazy, layabout Seraph sometimes opens one eye half-lidded to look at him. The smile doesn't change any.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia has come along on this adventure though this time she has come prepared and is wearing water wings along her arms and legs. Take that Flooded Cavern. Like before, she gives her boat a bit of a 'ride' so to speak by creating an impromptu portal drop that leads to further along the cavern path. Normally she'd cheer or something, but she's not exactly high energy right now. Her mind is on other matters right now as much as she'd like it not to be.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Portal Pistols toward her party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Matilda's... honestly a little surprised to be invited. She's not going to say no, but she's feeling pretty disconnected lately. Maybe this'll be good for her?
Matilda... isn't having the best time of it in the rapids. The water has her feeling pretty harried; as Cyre calls down to them about the rockslide, she turns sheet-white and starts rowing with a little more force. Really it's more like she's trying to brake than anything else. Even with the help of Jay's potion, she's not feeling that great.
She ends up trying to form up with Lydia and use her little trick to her own advantage as well; it's better than flying by the seat of her pants, at least.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ride the Rapids.
=============================<* Flooded Cavern *>============================= ======================<* CHALLENGE - Ride the Rapids *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The entrance to the Flooded Cavern has crumbled away from the wall of this river valley, erosion opening up an irregular fissure in the rock face that opens up into the cave. However, scaling the sheer cliff to descend to the opening is impossible. The only way to approach it is from the small town a ways upriver, by boat - and that means braving a series of rapids in this river canyon. The water gutters and gushes across submerged and semi-submerged rocks, making passage to the cavern perilous - but beyond the rapids, the cave mouth lies. Can you navigate your boats through the rapids to reach the cave? =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
========================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 1 *>======================== ========================< Results - Ride the Rapids >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rapid Remedy 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matilda Whitehead 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Portal Pistols 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Reverse Parachute 1 Agility Effects: Rally and Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The going isn't easy, as much as the party might be experienced. There was only so much control they had over nature. If only there was some sort of elemental spirit here who could turn the situation in their favor...
"A-ah!" Jacqueline gasps in surprise as there, seemingly out of nowhere, is the Seraph she and Cyre saw the other day. Truly, he would be a great assistance in this matter!
...If he were doing anything more than just reclining in the boat. Maybe things are a bit calmer...? It's hard to tell, especially when an unfortunately-timed shift in current nearly sees Catenna's boat smashed into a rock.
But Cyre's up there keeping an eye on all of them, and a timely prismatic beam reduces it to dust before tragedy can occur.
Lydia portals ahead...and is rather subdued about it. Jacqueline's admittedly a little concerned, but...asking about it would have to wait until later, when they're not all trying to be careful.
Meanwhile, Matilda's taking advantage of the opportunity that Lydia's portals are providing, and does so with little difficulty.
Before long, however, they've made it to the other side, with everyone still in one piece.
Jacqueline steps out of her boat and ties it up.
"Looks like we're here..." She says, looking toward the entrance. She sends a slight smile toward Matilda...
"I'd like to thank you for coming, by the way..." She says, and then sends Lanval a glance, as if half-way wondering if he was still there or if she had just imagined him.
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================================<* Flooded Cavern *>==================================================
==========================================<* CHALLENGE - Blind Cave Sharks *>===========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The water in this cavern runs about waist-deep, flowing towards an opening
at the far end of the chamber you're in. Avoiding wading is all but
impossible, with the lack of ledges here - you're going to have to get wet.
As you traverse the cavern, however, several grey fins come slicing through
the water towards you! The semi-reptilian Cave Sharks aren't huge - about
the size of a labrador retriever - but they have sharp teeth and they're
fast, and they whirl around you, biting and jostling. Even the low light
doesn't stop them: They don't seem to have visible eyes, navigating entirely
on the sounds you make and the sonar they emit in the form of short, barking
squeals. You're going to have to fight them off!
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Mmmmm. Hm, hm, hm." Lanval has a placid, contented sigh as they come up to the other side. He doesn't help with getting up and tying the boat, but Jay's not imagining things. He's there, sleeping(?) on the boat as he clutches that bottle of Rapid Remedy. He must have really enjoyed the taste of it. (All the more important reason to double-check available stock.)
There's not much dry land to work with in the Flooded Cavern. The namesake might clue one in, but as it so happens, it's high tide in these parts. The wet cavern ground is swallowed under waist-deep water (waist-deep being judged by if one is 5'6" or so, adjust depth descriptor accordingly for other heights). There's no high ground to speak of. They have to wade to get to the far end. The far end has light filtering in from beyond. It's the only visual landmark they have.
It gives just enough visible light that they can spy grey fins breaking above the water. They're not very big fins, so maybe they're just a harmless school of fi--
Nope, one of them lifts their head out of the water, brandishing big nasty bitey teeth as it makes some cute, squealing barking-like noises. It's not a big shark, maybe about the size of a labrador retriever. But those are very sharp teeth, and there's a good number of them coming their way. Their pack tactics are on point, as they part to encircle the team.
..And then Lanval comes drifting by on his back, knocking back a brightly-colored white bottle fulled of shining liquid, ceasing drinking half-way, and raises up the bottle. With a jostle, a short-lived fountain of pure, shining liquid sprays outward out and about the circle everyone occupies.
The Cave Sharks give a somewhat wider berth, but they haven't left yet. Even if they were to turn around and go back, they'd still have to fight their way through.
Lanval continues drifting by like he were floating in someone's back yard swimming pool.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, Blind Cave Sharks.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna's boat does, in fact, hit a rock. The obstacle punches a huge hole through the bow. With a yelp, Catenna tumbles out of the boat.
Fortunately, they're past the rapids, and soon enough the Moon Shaman pops out of the water with a gasp, pulling herself up with the others. She's drenched, her dark hair clinging to her in inky coils.
"I despise sailing," she grumbles, before grimacing and shaking her boot. A fish flops out and falls back into the water.
But the time has come to move on. Wading into the water, Catenna draws the silver sword Cyre gave her, dropping back to keep pace with her lover. But as those fins come chasing out of the water, she quickly lowers her hand to her hip.
It breaks the surface of the water with a little splash as she runs her fingers over her Medium. "Cyre, get ready to attack," she urges before chanting a few words in Zortroan.
And with a sudden groan of gravity, the water begins to compress towards the floor - and then peel away from the group.
The water drains down to about knee height around the CaraKin, pushing back from the group and forming a large wave as if a bubble of gravitic force were repelling it away. The approaching Cave Sharks will find themselves pushed backwards on the wave - giving the group a window to strike!
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, Blind Cave Sharks.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline...just kind of sighs. She really hopes Lanval can take care of himself - having never seen him in a fight, she's not entirely certain what he's capable of...if anything.
Trudging through the caverns is as difficult as she remembered it, though - some sections were particularly waterlogged. This was to be expected, though, and fortunately she came prepared.
"Wh-whoa! Watch out!" Jacqueline says, stepping backwards quickly as the sharks emerge. ...And, at the same time, Lanval comes drifting by. He raises a bottle...that projects shining liquid around him? Huh.
"Well, it looks like there is a little more to you..." Jacqueline comments. That eases her concerns a little...but they still have problems to deal with.
Catenna uses gravity to strike the beasts with a huge wave and pushing them backwards, leaving them vulnerable. Jacqueline aims to take advantage of it.
With a gesture and a fake incantation, Jacqueline sends out a burst of pure, concussive force toward the beasts. Her technique resembles that a Lunarian sorceror might use...but it doesn't carry that touch of Althena's Blessing one who was familiar with it might expect.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Blind Cave Sharks.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre winces at Catenna's mishap among the rocks. She goes plunging into the water and the beastman swoops down to fling a rope into the rapids for her to seize hold of. It's not much, but it might be enough to keep her from getting too much water in her lungs.
Fortunately, his concerns are unfounded and she pops back out of the river soon enough, but...!
There, in the near-distance, a school of grey fins attached to... Weird... shark-dogs...?
The MYSTERIOUS DRUNK GHOST does something that probably involves alcohol. Maybe Jay could replicate the effect? No matter.
Cyre nods as Catenna draws back the curtains of water. "You got it, pretty lady. Just focus on that water," the shaman gestures at the temporarily waylaid cave sharks, wind gathering up and around his arms and legs. With a sudden roar, he launches forward on a burst of spiralling air. He rakes his hands across the space in front of the sharks, launching blades of pressurized, cutting wind into them!
It might look to the unfamiliar vaguely like some kind of Wind Blade spell, albeit channeled through dynamic motion rather than a mage's chanting. There's a hint of spiritual essence associated with the attack, however-- maybe the power of that Fengalon he ranted about to Lanval not long ago?
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia continues to be quiet and chill. Maybe it's the lack of Ethiuses. Hard to say. Still, Lydia grimaces as they come upon a crew of the suburban relatives of the street sharks--the Cave sharks! Lydia curls her feet up closer to her body and she watches them for a moment before adding, "I'm a little worried about summoning in a cave like this. Do you got a plan for these?" to Matilda.
She can launch some energy blasts by channeling Solais, but she can't really throw anything heavy out in these circumstances. Maybe if they ever get to dry land it's something she can think about in more detail, but Lydia is very nervous about the water.
Rebecca hasn't taught her how to swim yet.
"Dang..." She murmurs in awe of Catenna's gravitiy manipulation.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Blind Cave Sharks.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
"You're -- quite welcome. I find it... difficult, to be in Pendrago and not -- tense, lately," Matilda replies to Jay, with a slightly awkward smile as they start to head in. Almost instantly, she regrets her choice of skirt over leggings for her Lunar outfit, as they head in.
"I'm -- not so much a fan myself," she adds, to Catenna, as they wade through the water. Her whole body tenses up midway through, as she hears a sound not sourced from one of them -- and then the fins pop up, and it all makes sense.
Matilda's a little hesitant to draw her sword in these circumstances -- but Freischütz is *absolutely* the wrong idea, too. ... she decides on the sword after all, driving it point-first toward one of the modestly-sized shark-reptiles. She doesn't have the flash everyone else here seems to -- she relies strictly on quick, aggressive movements... which are a little tricky in the water.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Blind Cave Sharks. DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Blind Cave Sharks.
==================================================<* Flooded Cavern *>==================================================
==========================================<* CHALLENGE - Blind Cave Sharks *>===========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The water in this cavern runs about waist-deep, flowing towards an opening
at the far end of the chamber you're in. Avoiding wading is all but
impossible, with the lack of ledges here - you're going to have to get wet.
As you traverse the cavern, however, several grey fins come slicing through
the water towards you! The semi-reptilian Cave Sharks aren't huge - about
the size of a labrador retriever - but they have sharp teeth and they're
fast, and they whirl around you, biting and jostling. Even the low light
doesn't stop them: They don't seem to have visible eyes, navigating entirely
on the sounds you make and the sonar they emit in the form of short, barking
squeals. You're going to have to fight them off!
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 2 *>============================================= ============================================< Results - Blind Cave Sharks >============================================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Holy Bottle 2 Combat Effects: Cleanse and Liability ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Celesdue Medium 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matilda Whitehead 5 --(10)--> 15 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 5 --(10)--> 15 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 5 --(10)--> 15 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------------------------
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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. [OOC] Cyre H. Lorentz says, "Carry!!" [OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "I should probably adjust my border length thing so that this cutoff thing stops happening, haha, sorry, anyway posin'" [OOC] Cyre H. Lorentz says, "https://imgur.com/gallery/dGCbw also, pic related" [OOC] Jacqueline Barber says, "Aww, adorable." [OOC] Catenna says, "awwwwwww" [OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "cute! haha"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The Caravan Kinship are no strangers to danger. Catenna sets up the opening salvo by calling upon the power granted to her through the Celesdue Medium. One of Lanval's eyes open up half-lidded as the waves twist to gravity, a hand to his chin as the outward push sweeps him up. He comically waves his feet in the air few times as he disappears under the water.
Matilda contends with a Cave Shark trying to chew on her sword. It takes a bit of doing to get it to come off. Lydia has one that's gnawing on her ankle - not in the sense of it trying to eat something (it seems to understand she's not made of The Same Stuff As Food(tm)) but more like trying to understand what's in its mouth, which hurts just as bad (it is also suffocating and is probably scared, too). Cyre's blasts of wind do well to keep the water level around them much lower, but not so much in which to be rid of the ones that are already inside.
Jay's concussive blasts are what loosen up the ones that didn't get carried back out in the gravitational wave. Between that and the initial gravitational pulse, the Cave Sharks scatter. Since they were made to flee and not stay around and be slaughtered, there's not much food/interesting stuff to get out of them.
Lanval pokes his head up from the depths a ways back from the rest, a contemplative look on his face as he finishes up the rest of that bottle of Rapid Remedy he had for himself earlier as he follows from behind.
As they draw to the light filtering in at the other end, what they find...
[OOC] Catenna says, "I can hit the next!"
DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge. ===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 2 *>=============================================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Drawbridge Switch Sequence *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
The river water plummets straight over a cliff here, gushing down into
oblivion. The pit below you seems bottomless. Only the faint glitter of
light below suggests there's water down there.
Across a chasm from you, you can see something unusual: A series of
horizontal stone beams, like columns laid on their side, half-embedded in
the rock; at the base of a few, flashes of stone can be seen. On /your/ side
of the chasm, a vertical column rises. Several verdigris-covered old levers
jut from the wall. Pulling on one will cause a column to begin to extrude
towards this side of the chasm - but pulling them in the wrong order will
cause /all/ the stone beams to retract, forcing you to start over.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna does blush a little at Cyre calling her 'pretty lady.' But it's a pleasant kind of blush.
Lanval might notice the spiritual essence woven through Catenna's spell, too - as if she's channeling something holy.
With a look back towards the Seraph, Catenna lets her spell go. The water gradually rushes back in. As it does, the Moon Shaman moves back to walk beside Cyre.
She reaches over, and gently touches her free hand to the small of his back, smiling quietly up at him.
As they wander on, the water begins to pick up speed. Catenna boosts herself up onto a ledge that's begun to emerge from the wall - and it's a good thing she did, because the water ends just ahead in a waterfall that plummets what seems like miles down into the heart of the earth. "That seems like a bad way to go down there," she murmurs as she peers over the edge, a chill racing through her.
Catenna squints across the chasm - then frowns at the sight of the stone beams that jut out from a platform on the opposite side of the gap. "...A bridge, perhaps," she murmurs. "One that has fallen into the water? Or...."
She scans the area. The other piece of the puzzle becomes evident as a vertical column comes rising from the rock, almost as if on cue. Several ancient levers are embedded within it. Frowning, Catenna gives one an experimental pull.
With a stony grind, one pillar shoots across the chasm, extending like part of a bridge. "Oh! I see," she says, before tugging the next switch.
The first rock beam retracts instantly. Catenna frowns, then huffs, lighting up some of her incense to clear her mind as she thinks the puzzle through.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Ritual Incense toward her party's challenge, Drawbridge Switch Sequence.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
You know, all things considered, Cyre feels almost kind of bad for these little guys. I mean, they're basically dogsharks, aren't they? This is kind of... bullying, isn't it? They're not monsters, just hungry, territorial and afraid.
...
Ah well! Banished into the churning waters they go. Next time maybe they'll know not to attack visitors.
Cyre drapes his arm gently across Catenna's shoulders reassuringly. "Nice work," he says cheerfully, "Maybe you should order me around more often? I seem to remember having a conversation about something along those lines before."
Well.
Maybe they can continue it later.
For now... They have a bridge puzzle! A bunch of levers which are somehow keyed to activate a series of stone pillars. Who could have built this thing? Probably whoever left those seeds here before...!
"Well," Cyre says to the others. "Trial and error time, huh? Don't worry, worst case I can just ferry us over one-by-one. So relax and take it slow!"
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Drawbridge Switch Sequence.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline can understand perfectly why Matilda would be tense. That's...to be expected, admittedly. She nods in understanding, but can't really offer much more than that.
But with the sharks defeated they're able to progress. Jacqueline joins Catenna in climbing onto the ledge, then watches as she points out a few levers.
"Hm, I see..." Jacqueline murmurs, observing the way the columns move up and down as they experiment with them. She goes to look them over, frowning pensively.
"I wonder what the purpose of this is...do you think perhaps there are other possible outcomes...?" She considers. Thinking on it for a moment, she rummages through her bags and draws out a bottle.
It's not a fantastic mixture, it's just a cleaning solution which she soon puts to work, cleaning off the levers just in case there's a hint or some defining feature they can use to figure out the right combination.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Drawbridge Switch Sequence.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval drifts through the rapids until he all but entangles himself about a dulled stalagmite that looks like it should crack and collapse under his mass, but he's a Seraph, and physicality continues to be a maddeningly vague subject with them. It's what stops him from drifting down into the chasm below. From his vantage point, he watches as everyone helps themselves out of the river water as they all come together to address an ancient mechanism in which to bring forth a bridge across.
"Shtrange," he mutters to himself. Something about the very feel of that sorcery Catenna put forth seems sort of familiar? He can't put a finger on it. "Mmmph."
Before they know it - really, they have other things on their mind and he doesn't seem to be hurting anything - Lanval's lying down on his back near the ritual incense. It's such a nice scent! Sitting around and sniffing incense is not the same as helping figure out how to make the drawbridge come out, alas.
He opens his mouth for when any of that cleaning solution drips off from the controls above, because apparently he is that degenerate. The Rapid Remedy was tasty, stands to reason this stuff must taste good too~
He might need to be shooed with the nudge of someone's foot if he's blocking easy access to any other of the controls.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Drawbridge Switch Sequence. [OOC] Seraph Lanval, the worst [OOC] Jacqueline Barber says, "Indeed... Seraph Lanval, Jacqueline's greatest nightmare..."
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Matilda lets out a small groan and grimaces as she finally pulls the lizard-shark off of her sword. "Hgghh," she mumbles, before heading along with the rest of the group. She turns her attention to the levers in short order, cracking her knuckles... and thinking, rather than just reaching out for one of them. Besides -- there's no use in duplicating the trial and error portion of the process, right?
She glances down toward Lanval, then back away. ... it's definitely just as well that she's not approaching.
She watches the pillars carefully as the levers get operated, trying to discern the pattern -- and hopefully provide some guidance for a right order.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Drawbridge Switch Sequence.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia screams and thrashes around a lot as she's being not exactly eaten but experimentally nibbled. LYDIA CONFIRMED: MOSTLY INEDIBLE?
Luckily this time, she isn't woundedd beyond her ability to heal. She quaffs a potion and the leg heals itself 'properly' rather than leaving metallic slivers behind. Lydia takes some notes afterwards and grumbles as she squeezes her leg with her hand tightly, panting for breath for a while. She closes her eyes and says, "Schrodinger... it's up to you now."
A bunch fo cats start hanging on the levers only to poof away in a brief quantum bubble, refreshing the puzzle back a step or two for every incorrect lever pulled.
Or maybe that's what it looks like and they're really just pulling the levers at random. I guess it depends on what you believe.
Lydia just kinda chills out on the boat, swearing obscenities against cave sharks and the like.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Schrodinger the Cat toward her party's challenge, Drawbridge Switch Sequence. ===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 2 *>=============================================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Drawbridge Switch Sequence *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
The river water plummets straight over a cliff here, gushing down into
oblivion. The pit below you seems bottomless. Only the faint glitter of
light below suggests there's water down there.
Across a chasm from you, you can see something unusual: A series of
horizontal stone beams, like columns laid on their side, half-embedded in
the rock; at the base of a few, flashes of stone can be seen. On /your/ side
of the chasm, a vertical column rises. Several verdigris-covered old levers
jut from the wall. Pulling on one will cause a column to begin to extrude
towards this side of the chasm - but pulling them in the wrong order will
cause /all/ the stone beams to retract, forcing you to start over.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
==========================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 3 *>==========================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 2 *>============================================= =====================< Results - Drawbridge Switch Sequence >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 10 --(10)--> 20 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Ritual Incense 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matilda Whitehead 15 --(10)--> 25 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Schrodinger the Cat 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 15 --(10)--> 25 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 35 --(20)--> 55 Pass Conditions: Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Flooded Cavern *>=============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Stop the Flow *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You're confronted by a series of terraces, rough cliffs descending deeper
into the caves. However, navigating them safely comes with a challenge:
River water comes gushing in through an opening in the rocks, hits the
uppermost terrace and floods out from there. The terraces have been
transformed into a series of waterfalls, plunging precariously into the
deep.
Not far away is an enormous boulder, looking just big enough to plug up the
opening. With a little brute force, one could shove it into place - if you
don't mind fighting the flow of the water around you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
As Cyre makes those suggestions, Catenna dips her lashes a little and blushes, giving the catman a quick tap on the nose with a delicate finger. "I am sure something like that can be arranged," she murmurs.
The bad news is, she ends up so distracted flirting with Cyre that it's up to others to figure out the puzzle. Lanval tries to clean them off, but it doesn't really help save to oil them up. Matilda thinks she's got the pattern down - but then flips the wrong switch and resets everything.
But where will fails, there's the Schro. Or perhaps the Schros. Catenna stares as several Schrodingers do their work, with a little help from Jacqueline's cleaning solution. Before long, the beams have all shot across the chasm and locked themselves into place, forming a neat little bridge.
Catenna blinks a time or two before looking up and realizing there's a Schrodinger on her head.
"Goodness," she murmurs.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Look at these two. These awful pair of flirterers. How utterly revolting! Also they get no work done! But it's okay, because ultimately love conquers all and that's what matters.
Also, Schrodingers. Schrodingers also matter. "Huh," Cyre says as he looks up from his brief dungeon-induced debauchery. "Wow, good kitty. I guess someone's getting extra tuna tonight."
Cyre knows how Schros work. He knows how to get on their good side.
Fish.
Onwards, across the stone bridge, the party finds what can only be adequately described as some kind of giant's staircase. It looks as if someone had carved enormous steps into the stone, which over time have been corroded and worn down to slippery slickness by the constant flow of water over their surfaces. In a few thousand years, the terraces might eventually be transformed by the rushing cascade into a steep slope, but for now there's an opportunity here to progress deeper than would otherwise be capable of.
Except, you know, trying to navigate a series of waterfalls that flow into an unknown, underground crevasse is a little bit risky. Fortunately, there is a handy boulder resting not far from the source of all that water. Cyre frowns and fights through the chill, subterranean spring to try and budge the enormous stone. It... doesn't.
"I think I'm going to need some help with this one," Cyre observes the obvious as he lights his own incense burner-- both for a source of light, and to help soothe some of the party's aches and pains before they worsen. "Anyone have any bright ideas other than 'move the giant rock?'"
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, Stop the Flow.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Schros are wonderful, and Catenna lets her head-Schro sit right whete he is as she continues onward with the rest of the group. She does give a curious glance towards Lanval, the only one in the party she doesn't really know.
Peering down the staircase, Catenna presses her lips together in consternation. "I do not think trying that while the water is flowing is a good idea," she remarks. "It would be awfully treacherous...."
Fortunately, Cyre has a solution. The Nahual gives shoving it an honest try and can't get much headway.
"Let me try and help," Catenna suggests as she sheathes her sword. Planting a shoulder and her opposite palm against the big rock, she grunts as she begins to try to push it.
It's far too heavy for her to make much headway of her own. Panting with effort, she draws in a breath of Cyre's incense, then looks up to him with a blush. "...Perhaps if we all pushed together...."
DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Stop the Flow.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline can't help but smile proudly. Her solution helped make things go more smoothly, sure, but the important thing is that the levers are now nice and clean! And surely that is a worthy victory.
Moving on, though, a waterfall rages up ahead in the distance...if they're not careful it'll drag them over the edge along with it. Jacqueline doesn't quite like that idea.
"Hold on, I think I have just the thing..." Jacqueline says, rummaging through her bags. This would be an incredibly convenient place to have earth pillars, but, unfortunately, she does not. So the best thing she can offer is some of that strength-boosting brew of hers, that'll hopefully give them all the little bit of added 'oomph' they need to block off the waterfall.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, Stop the Flow.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia Seren gains +1 Schrodinger on her head too.
Nevertheless, Lydia finds herself looking for her special rock in this situation, but she ended up leaving her rock back...
...on Filgaia...
So she has nothing to throw at the other rocks which is probably just as well. Instead she walks towards the edge of her boat and, well, starts swinging her bat rapidly at the boulder.
Of course, most of these swings are just in the air as she waits for her boat to get close enough to hit it.
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Stop the Flow.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval, once more, seems to see it fit to just park his big tookus up against items of interest he appears to have no capability nor desire to do much of anything with, taking a leisurely break while everyone is possessed of the need to go deeper, go further, and ultimately find whatever amazing knowledge or riches lie ahead as everyone comes to the conclusion that chancing the flowing water is a bad idea.
Water is contained and shaped by the earth it rests in, after all, and only ever makes headway after many years. All the more reason to lounge up against the boulder that Cyre struggles to move, and chug what is not a fair share of Brewte Force, because physiologically speaking he can't even really make use of it other than as a fine beverage. A bottle of Brewte Force that Jay definitely didn't just hand over to him. Wait. Did he--
"Did ya make all theshe yersheeeeelf?" He asks as an aside to Jay, words trailing off into not at all stifled joyful laughter. "Heck of a brewer...! Ahhhh," he sighs happily, "think I'll help myshelf to a fourth--"
FOURTH?! Um, now's a good time to check potion stocks!
He continues to lay up against it as others are struggling to even push the thing, breathing in deep of the curiously strong-scented incense that Cyre's put down. An eye opens half-lidded. Of the two most notable spellcasters here, both of them put down some incense so far. He kinda wonders if that's an important component or something...
...they both smell nice, he surmises, as he continues having the unfair share of Brewte Force he has helped himself to while a Schrodinger rests atop the bottle he is drinking from (somehow).
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Stop the Flow.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Cyre calls for help with a rock, and Matilda... is stuck considering it. "-- Actually, I do have a thought. It doesn't quite... absolve us of the need to move the rock, mind -- but it might make it a little easier. A moment."
Moving around to the boulder's side, Matilda applies a modest amount of lotion to it. It bubbles and sizzles, as it so often does -- but the plan here seems to be to make the rock a little smoother. "I think this should make it less of a 'shove' and more of a 'roll,'" Matilda explains, as she gets back out of the way. She gets ready to push, just the same -- she's not sure she'll have to, and has a few concerns about too many people pushing, but... best to be ready.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Bubble Lotion toward her party's challenge, Stop the Flow.
=============================<* Flooded Cavern *>=============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Stop the Flow *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You're confronted by a series of terraces, rough cliffs descending deeper
into the caves. However, navigating them safely comes with a challenge:
River water comes gushing in through an opening in the rocks, hits the
uppermost terrace and floods out from there. The terraces have been
transformed into a series of waterfalls, plunging precariously into the
deep.
Not far away is an enormous boulder, looking just big enough to plug up the
opening. With a little brute force, one could shove it into place - if you
don't mind fighting the flow of the water around you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
========================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 4 *>======================== =========================< Results - Stop the Flow >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 20 --(20)--> 40 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Brewte Force 1 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 30 --(15)--> 45 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matilda Whitehead 25 --(15)--> 40 Pass Bubble Lotion 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 20 --(20)--> 40 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 25 --(15)--> 40 Pass Invigorating Vapors 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 55 --(10)--> 65 Fail Conditions: Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
The good news is that the party is able to budge the rock! Between all the alchemical solutions being leveraged in conjunction to the raw BRUTE STRENGTH, it's little question that the team would be able to make the rock move. The problem is, between the fact that the rock's surface is now thoroughly lubricated and the enhanced strength provided by Jay's potion, the party is perhaps a little... too... good at pushing rocks.
They manage to lodge the thing into the hole in the wall from which the water begins to spring, but the problem first begins to present itself when there's a noticable CRUNCH in the surrounding rock wall. Too much momentum, it seems. That leads to just enough space between the now slippery smooth boulder and the surrounding stone for it to...
...Roll in place, like the centerpiece to a decorative fountain. Barely obstructed water bubbles up from around it, cascading down the cliffs in a diminished but altogether still troublesome flow.
"...Huh, well," Cyre mutters, rubbing his chin. "I guess we could still go down. Just... Take your time, I guess?" And watch for slippery slopes!
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================================<* Flooded Cavern *>==================================================
=========================================<* CHALLENGE - Medusa Block Puzzle *>==========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
This large cavern is dotted with large boulders, big enough to be moved
around the room. It's also got a few pockets in the walls in which creatures
sit, nearly blending in with the walls. They look like weathered stone heads
with nests of tangled hair. They're motionless; all of the movement comes
from the bats fluttering around the room.
And then one flies in front of the stone head - and the statue's eyes
suddenly fly open, revealing dark crystals. There is a flash of magic - and
a stone bat falls to the ground. The statue closes its eyes again as the
other bats scatter.
Perhaps it would be prudent to use those stone blocks to keep the petrifying
Medusa heads from spotting you, unless you /want/ to be a statue.
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Overwhelm======================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
It turns out the darkness obscures how shallow the overall path down is. The 'CLUNK' sound of the boulder pushed a bit too well is a fair indicator of this, as it noisily rolls forward into the cavern beyond. It stops with a big 'CLUNK' noise, and there is a lot of chittering and movement. Some of them will be beset upon by bats as they finish their descent, but the bats don't stick around.
The cavern looks as though it used to be part of some greater purpose to people of a long, long time ago, what with pockets in the walls that seem as though they might've been carved out. Some might be able to make out the shapes of heads with wild and wavy hair, but they're hard to see. Maybe someone should come on up and take a better look at it, head-on...
A bat flies in front of one. There is a flash of light from about eye-level from the side of one of these barely-visible sculptures, and suddenly, the bat falls to the ground and shatters.
Pieces of it roll down towards the group. They're stone pebbles. That ex-bat is now also an ex-statue.
Several boulders line the chamber, and seem like they can be pushed. Maybe it might be a good idea to push them in front of the weird turn-you-into-stone-faces, lest they have to backtrack and figure out another way further in.
"That'sh shome shtrong earth magic," Lanval comments as he lounges up against one such boulder that he should be coaxed to move from, having the last of that Brewte Force from earlier, "I wouldn't go thish way if I were you... why don't we jusht shtay 'n share shome more driiiinksh... ha ha ha!"
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Medusa Block Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Who'd have thought Catenna would be the Shover Robot?
Wiping sweat from her forehead with a sweep of her hand, Catenna huffs and moves onward, once again drawing her sword as a growing sense of danger builds - at least in her mind. Something feels off about this huge corridor. She can't place it. Inching forward, she purses her lips and watches the bats -
And then gasps as the bat suddenly turns to stone as it crosses the meduca statue's paths. "Celesdue!" Catenna breathes, widening her eyes as she realizes what's happening - and just how close she is to those statues' line of sight.
With a blink, Catenna looks towards Lanval - lounging on a boulder. Her eyelids lower.
"Perhaps you could give us some help instead of lazing there," the Moon Shaman says tartly before once again bracing against a boulder. She grunts and begins to push it with a great deal of effort, attempting to steer it into the line of sight of one of the statues.
DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Medusa Block Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Ah, yes, I did, I -" Jacqueline starts, and then frowns and begins to rummage through her bags again as he mentions having a fourth. She knows she didn't hand him that many!
"L-listen, it's a little impolite to take things without asking..." She says, trying to scold him gently. "How did you even get into there, anyway...?"
That might be the biggest, more pressing, question!
Unfortunately, they push the boulder a bit too enthusiastically...but, well, they can still at least progress if they're careful.
Unfortunately, the next chamber they're in possesses a rather lethal trap - stone heads in the wall that turn whatever they look at into stone! And unfortunately, Jacqueline doesn't know how to make Softs yet - that'll come much, much later.
"R-right, well, umm...is it possible we can just...go around...?" She suggests. Fortunately, her potion is still active before, so she doesn't have to open up the bag again...she's made sure to make it a bit more secure after that.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, Medusa Block Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
That bat just turned from flesh to stone.
Uhhh.
Hhhhhuh.
Cyre squints slowly at the little mound of crumbling dirt that used to be a chiropteran menace. He's quietly thankful that they don't have to deal with a swarm of the buggers, but on the other hand--
"This," Cyre observes, "Could get dicey."
And so his solution is apparently to shove a whole bunch of fresh, green herbs into his incense burner. The result is a plume of thick, obscuring smoke. It smells like someone just set a chitzy overpriced scented candle store on fire, but it might just be enough to obstruct the statues' lines of sight.
"What she said," Cyre mutters in agreement with his fellow flirterer before moving to brace against a stone block. "You could at least get down from there so we don't have to push you along too."
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, Medusa Block Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Matilda pales a little at the destruction of the ex-bat. She... rrrreally doesn't want to be here all of a sudden. "I -- mrrm." SHe pauses. "I'm with Jacqueline -- I think we should just go around... that's a terribly fatal trap -- I want no part of it, really."
Cyre's course of action suggests a potential solution... but Matilda doesn't seem that convinced by it. She takes a deep breath, and starts the painstaking process of pushing a block, because she really doesn't trust the smoke to be sufficiently obscuring.
Almost as an afterthought, she applies a little bit of lotion to its frontal edge before pushing it, making it just that littlest bit easier to push along. ... hopefully, anyway.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Bubble Lotion toward her party's challenge, Medusa Block Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia says, "I have decided." after a moment. "That this is awful."
She seems a little unnerved by MONSTER HEADS for some reason. She is on edge. In the future, she's going to ask Jay if she brought her Earth Crest every day. That's just proper operating procedure from now on.
She breathes in some of Cyre's scented candles and she smilese a little bit, lazing back in her boat. "Ehehehh..."
She used to have a rock for her head she'll probably be okay. Luckily she can try to use her portals to cheat the process somewhat.
She'll probably fail but hopefully she won't become a statue. It would be a rather ignoble end.
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Medusa Block Puzzle.
==================================================<* Flooded Cavern *>==================================================
=========================================<* CHALLENGE - Medusa Block Puzzle *>==========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
This large cavern is dotted with large boulders, big enough to be moved
around the room. It's also got a few pockets in the walls in which creatures
sit, nearly blending in with the walls. They look like weathered stone heads
with nests of tangled hair. They're motionless; all of the movement comes
from the bats fluttering around the room.
And then one flies in front of the stone head - and the statue's eyes
suddenly fly open, revealing dark crystals. There is a flash of magic - and
a stone bat falls to the ground. The statue closes its eyes again as the
other bats scatter.
Perhaps it would be prudent to use those stone blocks to keep the petrifying
Medusa heads from spotting you, unless you /want/ to be a statue.
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Overwhelm======================================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 5 *>============================================= ===========================================< Results - Medusa Block Puzzle >============================================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 40 --(20)--> 60 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 35 --(20)--> 55 Fail Brewte Force 1 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 45 --(15)--> 60 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matilda Whitehead 40 --(20)--> 60 Fail Bubble Lotion 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 40 --(20)--> 60 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 40 --(20)--> 60 Fail Invigorating Vapors 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------------------------
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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] Seraph Lanval says, "let's all get stooooooooooned" [OOC] Seraph Lanval gets typin'
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Mmmmph," Lanval murmurs as he's chided for laying on the boulder they're all trying to push. He flops off of it. The boulder gets no lighter. It might not have made much of a difference as to whether he's on it or not.
"Movin' earth ishn't shomethin' I'm great at... shorry," he sounds the most apologetic as he's going to, considering he's laughing as Jay chides him about his THEFT OF POTIONS. "I shaw you jusht handin' 'em out every sho often, figured I'd shave ya the effort... thought I wash doin' a favor," by stealing potions and drinking them with imputiny. He's still got the dumb cat-like smile on his face as they all put their everything into moving that boulder. Matilda gives the elbow grease they need, and Catenna gives one good, fast, hard shove to get it rolling in front of that one Medusa head...!
...There's many more.
It turns out the cavern is much too vast, and it took all their resources to move just one boulder. Meanwhile, up ahead through the single opening they make by moving the boulder, they watch something extraordinary.
There's a snake - a living one - standing upright with big eyes and a dopey smile, looking every which way as though they're in a panic. A spherical blue ball-shaped thing or another moves some shiny green blocks that might fetch a pretty price if they could pull one out of here (they can't, for one they're too far away, for two they don't seem to be able to be pulled, for three, don't ask how one knows the second with the first factor in play).
Once it's done doing its eldritch forbidden ritual of pushing shiny green jewel blocks around, it runs towards an open chest, takes a pearl, and leaves. The dopey-looking snake disappears. Were the traps disarmed...?
There's no way to know without crawling out into the open, and that's too risky - as might be cheating with portals because that could give the Medusa heads line of sight of them, so they're just going to have to leave it at that, and go with what Jay and Matilda have been suggesting.
Also, it feels like there's repetitive music in one's head. All the better reason to leave.
[OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "who wants to draw next?"
[OOC] Matilda Whitehead says, "I think I'm up!"
[OOC] Catenna says, "dear god, we really are in a Lolo game"
[OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "we totally just got shown up by him, yeah"
[OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "some puzzles should be left to their experts, let's just wish him luck en route to unlocking Eggerland's mysteries."
DG: Matilda Whitehead has drawn a new Challenge. ==============================<* Flooded Cavern *>==============================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 5 *>=============================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Dragon of the Deep *>======================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Water has collected in the deepest part of the cavern, a vast gallery into
which several waterfalls stream into a deep pool that seems to go down
forever. Several little rocky islets poke out of the water. At the far end
of the cavern, a ledge can be seen with a couple of ancient, crumbling
pillars framing a doorway.
However, you're not alone - as you cross, a massive creature hurtles out of
the water and attempts to close its immense, komodo dragon-like jaws around
you! The creature is at least ten times as long as a man is tall, with a
body structure like some sort of vast reptilian whale, but with vicious hook
teeth capable of tearing you asunder, and it swats at you with its broad
tail, kicking up waves and striking with its body and fins to try and knock
you into the water - where it has every advantage.
The Cave Dragon - let's be honest, it's a mosasaur - isn't about to let a
delicious meal get away. That means you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Stupify===========================================
[OOC] Cyre H. Lorentz says, "and me without my rune"
[OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "...ah!! Yeah, that is an issue."
[OOC] Seraph Lanval rubs his hands together.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
As the group slinks away from the Adventures of Lolo, they find an alternative path forward -- an unnervingly long stairwell that leads deep into the heart of the ruins. "Well -- I wonder why this route isn't so guarded," Matilda offers. At first it's conversational, but it grows increasingly serious the more she thinks about it. "Perhaps some former blockage no longer exists -- or this was meant to be a less obvious route, originally... Or perhaps there's something we don't know yet -- I suppose it could end up letting out in a different place..."
As they enter the pooling water in the room, Matilda draws her sword again, having no grand desire to get attacked by cave sharks yet again. This proves prescient -- though what attacks isn't a cave shark, unfortunately. Instead, a massive creature -- a vaguely reptilian whale -- lashes out with its tail, sending stone crumbling.
Matilda swaps sword for shield in short order, reaching into her pack with her free hand. "... Well, that -- would seem to answer the question of why the other route would have been better," Matilda murmurs, offering some gallows humour as she hurls a viscous yellow liquid from her pack. "Move on it as quickly as possible!" she shouts to everyone, hiding behind her shield.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Shock Oil toward her party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep. <Ask-Staff> Tethelle Cirdian says, "Thanks!" <Ask-Staff> Tethelle Cirdian says, "Oh, the other app has the right values" <Ask-Staff> Tethelle Cirdian says, "To staff: the plain text app on the wiki still says 100, now you know" You will no longer hear messages on channel <Ask-Staff>.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
As Catenna watches the blue ball-shaped thing moving blocks, she can't help but be struck by an old Zortroan proverb:
All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu
"Curious," Catenna murmurs as she takes her sword in hand again. Weary or not, she continues down into the depths of the ruins, playing her free hand along the cave wall. "I do not know... I have never been down this far. Or in this cavern at all."
Bounding up onto one of the little rock islets in the underground lake, Catenna takes a quick look around. But the upwell of water is unmissable.
So is the enormous monster that surges out of the depths. She gasps, slashing out at it before recoiling in the hopes of avoiding a crumbling chunk of stone. Dropping to her knees, she touches her free hand to one of the Mediums at her side.
"Celesdue, please," she whispers, her voice taking on a subtle resonance. Sacred power begins to build. Catenna waits for the huge monster to lunge out of the water again - and it does, jaws agape, ready to crunch her in two.
She holds her hand out and utters a power word.
And with a sickening lurch, the Cave Dragon stops in midair as gravity snags it and holds it.
Catenna's magic works better on larger foes - but even she can't hold it forever. With a gasp of effort, she reverses her hold, attempting to hurl the monstrous beast through the air and into the ceiling before letting it fall back into the water!
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
What the heck was that snake thing? Is everyone just going to let it go without even asking? Where did it get to? What did it take from that weird chest? What is this place even, really!?
These questions and more swim in Cyre's head as the party finds an alternative route deeper into the heart of the cave system. The faint muskiness of an ancient reservoir fills Cyre's senses- it's the kind of dark, dank pit that one might find something that hails from well and truly beyond the veil of time. Something that fell down here once upon a time and simply grew and grew and grew until it could grow no more.
Cyre remembers the last time he tried to fight it.
It... didn't end well.
"Wait," he murmurs as they make their way into the pooling water. "Something's wrong. I can hear--"
An enormous tail smashes into the stone ceiling. Cyre snarls and darts forward at Matilda's flank, "You don't need to tell me twice. Keep moving! All it needs is one hit!" His eyes briefly pulse with emerald light as the essence of the wind stirs within him, but the shaman... does not transform. He focuses it into his limbs again, raking at the enormous beast with claw-like gales. Why does he hesitate to transform?
Is it because of some limitation of the transformation-- a cap on how many times he can safely shift into that avatar form? Or is it that there is someone unfamiliar watching them, now? Someone Cyre may be yet hesitant to reveal the inner workings of his transformation to just yet...?
...
...Nah, he probably just doesn't want to aggravate that sucking chest wound he only recently recovered from. Won't help if he adds pulverized bones to his list of ailments, though!
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval trails along behind them in that awful parody of walking he does, happily taking swigs from the latest of his stolen potions. (With luck, maybe he'll break into Matilda's Bubble Lotion stash in the next several right nows, and this mild irritation will resolve itself in an all-encompassingly decisive manner.)
"...Thish way... uhhh. Mmmm." Lanval stops, stroking at his beard as he stands upright a bit better than he usually manages. Does he know what's ahead here? Matilda's already taken point by the time he gets the idea to maybe speak up about what's come ahead - and it's too late, as it strikes. It will take everything everyone has to fight it off, or at least fight past it. It is huge, and it is powerful. How many peerless warriors have fallen before this thing, in its years of life?
He takes his roped gourd and drinks not just a bit of it, but maybe even all of it. If it has a bottom. He staggers past its swinging tail as it goes overhead, like he has no care in the world. Sacred power from another world holds it in place, and Lanval continues to laugh. As he lowers his head and wipes something off his lips from that ratty sleeve he wears, his aquamarine eyes are fully open. The laughter, the air, the atmosphere, it all seems to feel more...
Mirthful.
He pours some of that Holy Bottle into the open gourd, before he holds the rope over his head to the echoing, booming laughter. He keeps spinning it about over his head, as clean, beautiful water shines. Every droplet somehow sparkles, even with little to no real visible light sources to work from as he comes closer and closer to the Cave Dragon.
"Ha ha ha...! Be on your way in good health!!"
As the gourd makes contact... there is a brilliant explosion of sparkling pure water that splashes everywhere, a burst of water magic so wondrous and powerful in scope it can't be anything less than an act of divine intervention unto itself. At the epicenter, a laughing drunkard high on sheer, intoxicating joy before something that has never known anything of greater stature on the food chain compared to itself.
(It might still be top dog, when all's said and done.)
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep. [OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "and then" [OOC] Cyre H. Lorentz says, "and then we go splat" [OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "possibly, yes" [OOC] Catenna says, "Take the Challenge of the Klingon Sword to determine our destiny." [OOC] Catenna says, "YOU. The one closest to the Digger system. RESPOND." [OOC] Catenna says, "Experience bIj." ===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=============================================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 5 *>=============================================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Dragon of the Deep *>=======================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
Water has collected in the deepest part of the cavern, a vast gallery into
which several waterfalls stream into a deep pool that seems to go down
forever. Several little rocky islets poke out of the water. At the far end
of the cavern, a ledge can be seen with a couple of ancient, crumbling
pillars framing a doorway.
However, you're not alone - as you cross, a massive creature hurtles out of
the water and attempts to close its immense, komodo dragon-like jaws around
you! The creature is at least ten times as long as a man is tall, with a
body structure like some sort of vast reptilian whale, but with vicious hook
teeth capable of tearing you asunder, and it swats at you with its broad
tail, kicking up waves and striking with its body and fins to try and knock
you into the water - where it has every advantage.
The Cave Dragon - let's be honest, it's a mosasaur - isn't about to let a
delicious meal get away. That means you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Stupify===========================================
------------------------------------< TOOLS >-------------------------------------
|Player |Tool |Lvl|Ability|Effects |
|Seraph Lanval |Holy Bottle |2 |Combat |Cleanse, Liability |
|Jacqueline Barber | | | | |
|Catenna |Celesdue Medium |2 |Combat |Embolden |
|Matilda Whitehead |Shock Oil |3 |Combat |Liability, Resilient |
|Lydia Seren | | | | |
|Cyre H. Lorentz |Fight |0 |Combat | |
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
All life begins and ends with Nu of course.
It's of course Nu Age Philosophy.
And it's Nu-se to Lydia.
Anyway, there's a giant monster. Lydia stares at it. Even now, giant monsters are still terrifying to her. Maybe the life of an adventurer never was really her thing and she really should just focus on becoming fabulously wealthy so she can pay people to have 'fun' for her. 'Fun' is defined as life threatening experience way above your paygrade.
But then Catenna holds it with her gravity and Lydia says, "MATERIAL RIGDOBRITE!" and she launches hordes of tiny but determined rocks towards the monster, trying not to look directly at the beast!
"Gahhh was this so bad last time why do we keep running into this horrible thing???" Lydia complains vibrantly.
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I appreciate the thought...but please be more mindful in the future. There are some potions in there you really shouldn't drink..." Jacqueline replies. While this is true, she mostly just wants him to stop going through her things. She also doesn't know exactly how well some of her more...explosive mixtures would work when drunk, and doesn't want to find out.
And then...well, Jacqueline's not so sure...exactly what happened. It's probably best to just move on and not think about it.
Further on, Matilda puts it best.
"...S-so it would seem..." Jacqueline replies to Matilda. This wasn't her first time running into this beast, and she had hoped last time would be the last...
...But it isn't.
"R-right, let's get moving!" Jacqueline says. She attempts to take advantage of the opening the rest of the party had created to rush on through. She doesn't have anything here that would be effective...at least not without endangering half the party to electrical pain.
As she moves, though, she finds herself distracted by Lanval's display. She...hadn't expected him to be capable of anything like that. It's kind of a...huge surprise, if she's being honest.
But not so huge that she stops moving. That's important. And to Lydia -
"Yes, I believe so..."
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dragon of the Deep.
==============================<* Flooded Cavern *>==============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Dragon of the Deep *>======================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Water has collected in the deepest part of the cavern, a vast gallery into
which several waterfalls stream into a deep pool that seems to go down
forever. Several little rocky islets poke out of the water. At the far end
of the cavern, a ledge can be seen with a couple of ancient, crumbling
pillars framing a doorway.
However, you're not alone - as you cross, a massive creature hurtles out of
the water and attempts to close its immense, komodo dragon-like jaws around
you! The creature is at least ten times as long as a man is tall, with a
body structure like some sort of vast reptilian whale, but with vicious hook
teeth capable of tearing you asunder, and it swats at you with its broad
tail, kicking up waves and striking with its body and fins to try and knock
you into the water - where it has every advantage.
The Cave Dragon - let's be honest, it's a mosasaur - isn't about to let a
delicious meal get away. That means you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Stupify===========================================
=========================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 6 *>========================= ========================< Results - Dragon of the Deep >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 60 --(20)--> 80 Fail Holy Bottle 2 Combat Effects: Cleanse and Liability -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 55 --(20)--> 75 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 60 --(15)--> 75 Pass Celesdue Medium 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matilda Whitehead 60 --(15)--> 75 Pass Shock Oil 3 Combat Effects: Liability and Resilie -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 60 --(20)--> 80 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 60 --(20)--> 80 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Jacqueline Barber 75 --(0)--> 75 Fail Conditions: Stupify(2)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has failed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge.
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Door of Songs *>==========================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
At the far end of the Cave Dragon's cavern, the natural rock gives way to
something else: Walls of ancient, weathered masonry, with the remains of
angled buttresses pushing out of the wall face. Between two of those
buttresses, the masonry forms an arch, framing a stone slab - a door. A
crystal centres the door, three dark arrows around it pointing left, right
and up; the crystal itself is set in an ancient gold frame. It's dark right
now.
When touched, the gem lights up to a pale blue hue and produces a soft
sequence of notes - a short, uplifting song, brief, yet with a little spark
of something reverent clinging to those faint, crystalline sounds from a
time long past. When the music ends, the gem remains lit up for a short
time, as if waiting for you to do something.
Perhaps it's expecting you to sing along... to a song you don't know the
words to. Or do the words matter?
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Vault, Suffer==================================
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Matilda's initial reaction proves to be the most successful of the game plans for dealing with this awful, huge creature. Its body locks up for a few moments, giving Lanval time to pour out that Holy Bottle, gives Cyre a chance to rake the beast -- gives Celesdue, most notably, a chance to hold the creature.
It can't even writhe -- which is good, because Catenna's having a hard time holding it. "... I think," Matilda offers, with no small amount of fear, "That we should just run for it while it's held still."
The good news: they manage to do that!
The bad news: Pretty much the very instant they get across, Catenna stops being able to hold it. While the group gets to escape, they're left with one final, forceful tail-smash on their way out.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval continues to laugh as he prepares another divine assault of watery, bubbly power against the ginormous beast, until he hears a name called by the scared young girl Lydia. Rigdobrite... an odd thing appeared to that name. He looks back in Lydia's direction with those aquamarine eyes--
SPLASH
That is the sound of a flailing limb of a Cave Dragon slapping Lanval upside his dumb face in a comical bared-teeth grimace with his eyes shut cartoonishly in a >_< face before he tumbles further down the way alongside the group.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna stares as Lanval of all people does something she isn't expecting.
Of course, against something this huge and powerful, who knows if killing it is even possible? They're forced to retreat, hopping the little islets until they reach the far side of the Cave Dragon's domain - a stone platfom, part of a wall showing through ages of rock and mud, much of it eroded away by wave action to reveal...
A door. Catenna blinks, staring at the symbol set into the door. She doesn't recognize it; stepping close, she lays a hand on it as if to test it.
Only for the gem at the centre of the door's sigil to light up. Catenna starts, stepping back - and she blinks as a soft tune emanates from that lit crystal. It is a light series of notes - one, then four, then another slow sequence of them, a tender mix of subtle melancholy and lifting hope, like a ray of sun breaking through clouds they can't see.
Catenna lays her hand on her Medium without realizing it, lowering her head. When she looks up again, there's a touch of quiet reverence behind her eyes as she stares into the crystal, even as the song tapers out.
But the gem remains lit. Catenna purses her lips. "...It must expect us to sing along," she murmurs. "A musical lock of some kind...."
Quietly, Catenna steps over to Cyre, kneeling just long enough to set out a few lit sticks of incense, letting the fragrance of it clear the minds of those who breathe it. As the incense flickers, Catenna slides an arm around Cyre's waist and leans against him for a moment, looking up at him as if in expectation.
And then, not knowing the words, she begins to sing along - simply following the tune that the crystal played out, wordless, a mere lifting melody. The crystal pulses subtly as it catches the sound of her singing.
Catenna actually has a really nice singing voice. One of those hidden talents she doesn't let show often, probably.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Ritual Incense toward her party's challenge, Door of Songs.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia misses Lanval's glance because honestly even if he is a Seraph he's drunk like all the time. She completely underestimates Lanval to a hilarious degree. It's pretty awful.
Lydia is promptly tailwhipped toowards the next challenge. She makes a >_<! face as well, in fact it's the same >_<! face as what Lanval has because the artist just copy pasted it it's honestly horrible.
But then Catenna starts playing music and Lydia... Lydia is just not feeling it. So this time, Schrodinger--now on everybody's head, begin to sing in chorus.
"Nyaaaaa! Nya nya nya nyaaaaaaaa! Nya nya nya nyanya, meow meow meow! Nya nya....nya!"
It's honestly the most terrible thing you've likely ever heard.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Schrodinger the Cat toward her party's challenge, Door of Songs.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Sometimes it was difficult to be completely graceful on an expedition like this. Case in point, Jacqueline's smacked by the Cave Dragon's tail and goes tumbling into the final chamber. She lays on the floor in a daze for a moment, but manages to drag herself off the floor to look at the situation at hand.
A musical lock...
"I remember this..." Jacqueline murmurs. She's...not much of a singer. Or, at least, she's not confident in her singing ability, and she's a little embarrassed doing it around anyone.
But, since this is the way forward, and the others are doing it as well...
Jacqueline begins to sing along. Quietly.
She feels a Schrodinger appearing on her head, and she is okay with this.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Door of Songs.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Catenna starts to sing as they approach the door, following the tune of the crystal, and Matilda... shifts uneasily, a little. Others begin to join in -- Schrodinger on Matilda's head included, to her mild discomfort.
Matilda slowly shrinks back from the door. She doesn't sing; her mouth opens a little, but ultimately, this is something where she just lets everyone else take point. It's best if she stays back. This isn't her world, isn't her song.
She does at least have the good sense to stay silent rather than interfere with the song, though.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Door of Songs.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre really wasn't sure what to expect in regards to the Seraph known as Lanval. 'Wellspring of divine water' was almost certainly not at the top of that list. The shaman doesn't quite shield his eyes from the field of stars blossoming out of the sacred seafoam roiling all around him, but he is notably bereft of words by the time the colossal ancient launches its parting shot. Rocks tumble down from the solid stone ceiling, sandblasting his back as if to provide a reminder that age and power are so frequently equated when it comes to creatures like these.
Someday, someone will get the better of it. But that day is not today.
Catenna leads the way to what appears to be an... enormous, musical lock. Cyre is suddenly reminded of another similar mechanism-- but where Rujm el-Hiri was a mournful, deathly place, the melody stirring here is... different. Familiar. As if it were resounding all throughout Lunar, but it is only here that it's strong enough for him to actually hear. Cyre's mouth hangs open for but a moment as the song washes over him-- and before he catches Catenna's glance.
Right then.
Maybe this song wasn't meant to be sung with a male vocalist. Cyre doesn't care. He takes in a breath and sings regardless, weaving a complement to the lilting notes of that lilting, primary melody. It's...
Well.
Cyre seems to be a pretty good singer, to say the least.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Door of Songs.
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Door of Songs *>==========================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
At the far end of the Cave Dragon's cavern, the natural rock gives way to
something else: Walls of ancient, weathered masonry, with the remains of
angled buttresses pushing out of the wall face. Between two of those
buttresses, the masonry forms an arch, framing a stone slab - a door. A
crystal centres the door, three dark arrows around it pointing left, right
and up; the crystal itself is set in an ancient gold frame. It's dark right
now.
When touched, the gem lights up to a pale blue hue and produces a soft
sequence of notes - a short, uplifting song, brief, yet with a little spark
of something reverent clinging to those faint, crystalline sounds from a
time long past. When the music ends, the gem remains lit up for a short
time, as if waiting for you to do something.
Perhaps it's expecting you to sing along... to a song you don't know the
words to. Or do the words matter?
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Vault, Suffer==================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval's momentum from taking it upside his face carries him all the way into this next chamber, where he sprawls out on his back as he comes before a chamber he remembers clearly enough when he came here in the company of friends.
It takes him some time to put back on that funny, dopey cat smile as it comes to his senses that everyone's alive and all right enough, given their circumstances. From where he lies sprawled, he gets a better view of where Catenna is laying her hand on that weird stone tablet of hers. The mark on it - kinda like a footprint? - looks nothing like anything on the Church of Althena. He's seen tablets of that size and shape a few times now.
When he is capable of motion again, he rests a hand against his lengthy beard in contemplation as he watches each and every one of them through a half-open eye.
"...Mmmph," he murmurs as he lies there as Catenna gets the idea that she's expected to sing along. He's been here. He knows the proper tune, but he doesn't say anything to correct or confirm her assertion. He seems so fixated on whatever thoughts that run through him - if any - that he can't quite come to appreciate the wonderful scent of the ritual incense.
Catenna sings the tune, as does Cyre (with prodding). That weird cat - is that one, or many of them? - sings along too, as he looks upon the melancholy and reserved beastwoman girl. He notes how shy/withdrawl Jay seems to be to try to sing. Ashamed? He takes note of Matilda's decision not to partake at all.
"...Hey." He speaks up, as if sounding a bit less silly, and a bit more solemn. He edges closer to Matilda and Lydia without ever getting up, so he's basically just shifting and crawling on his back towards them, until he comes to a rest between them. "What'sh the matter?"
Everything about this ethereal fellow is just so weird. He drinks with imputiny. There are a number of people who seem to be attributed to heretical beliefs who now look ready to further fly in the face of the Goddess and Her edicts as involves song, dance, and drink. He didn't scream like a loon and threaten to bring the Guard on their heads over that odd talk about some Guardians or another within that horseless carriage of theirs. (He did laugh a lot, but hee... laughs a lot.)
"I'm not gonna tell if ya shing this once," he tries to reassure those who seem to shy away from singing, "it'sh, ahh... well. It'sh tough out there today, ishn't it... 'm not a mortal, can't shay I'm... on the shame level 'bout all ya got goin'." He's not that level about shame either!! But that's beyond the point.
"The Goddessh knowsh you're shtill faithful," says the Seraph, servant of a Goddess whose appointed enforcers have been kicking the teeth in of those who dare defy her, "jusht do yer besht." He puts on that dumb cat-like smile. "Jusht let it all out, 'n then we can all go 'n get ourshelvesh... y'know, back ta enjoyin' the life she'sh given ush all."
A life devoid of song, dance, and drink - all once beloved celebrations of life itself. How does he still maintain that dumb smile of his, so seemingly unaware of the truth of everything around him?
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Door of Songs.
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Door of Songs *>==========================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
At the far end of the Cave Dragon's cavern, the natural rock gives way to
something else: Walls of ancient, weathered masonry, with the remains of
angled buttresses pushing out of the wall face. Between two of those
buttresses, the masonry forms an arch, framing a stone slab - a door. A
crystal centres the door, three dark arrows around it pointing left, right
and up; the crystal itself is set in an ancient gold frame. It's dark right
now.
When touched, the gem lights up to a pale blue hue and produces a soft
sequence of notes - a short, uplifting song, brief, yet with a little spark
of something reverent clinging to those faint, crystalline sounds from a
time long past. When the music ends, the gem remains lit up for a short
time, as if waiting for you to do something.
Perhaps it's expecting you to sing along... to a song you don't know the
words to. Or do the words matter?
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Vault, Suffer==================================
==========================<* Flooded Cavern - Round 7 *>========================== ===========================< Results - Door of Songs >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 80 --(5)--> 85 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 75 --(5)--> 80 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 75 --(5)--> 80 Pass Ritual Incense 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matilda Whitehead 75 --(5)--> 80 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 80 --(5)--> 85 Pass Schrodinger the Cat 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 80 --(5)--> 85 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 75 --(35)--> 110 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2)|Suffer(1)|Vault(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has successfully explored Flooded Cavern!
===============================<* Flooded Cavern *>===============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Ancient Murals *>=========================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
You've discovered a long chamber, perhaps once some sort of gallery, awaits.
Most of it has caved in beneath what must be thousands of years of rock
piling up atop ancient brick and stone; a few smashed columns lie strewn
beneath irregular heaps of natural rock as testament to this. However, a few
things are intact: There seems to have once been a sunken area in the centre
of the room, almost like a now-dry pool. Part of a pedestal can be seen
within.
More visible, however, is a series of murals running along the only
mostly-intact wall. Much of the colour and linework has been worn away, but
a few faded and discoloured shapes can be seen - what looks like the bottom
half of a woman flanked by bits and pieces of reptilian shapes, and a few
remnants of what might be people.
Only two figures can be made out almost fully. One is the top half of a man
in what looks like a conical red helmet, depicted with a crescent moon just
above and behind his head. Fragments of a couple of other figures can be
seen with him, but the only other figure largely intact is that of a man
holding a two-handed sword with prominent green gems at the crosspiece and
pommel.
(You should send a +request about this discovery!)
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna has a Schro-hat. It throws her off-balance a bit but she's also okay with this.
Some of them join in the singing - not all of them do, but the door seems to take it in stride. The voices lifted in song leave the gem at the heart of the door pulsing with a gentle blue light. It shimmers with delight, joining in the song with crystalline notes of its own, echoing across the water in the cavern beyond.
And then the Schrodingers finish singing. The gem...
...pulses to a soft pink colour. And a couple of shimmering pink kitty ears pop out of the gem. It emits a soft sound.
*nya~*
The ears vanish, there's a soft chime, and the door pulls away into the ceiling, revealing a chamber beyond.
With a shiver, Catenna steps through into the next room, unable to escape the feeling that that felt oddly right on a spiritual level - not the same as singing to Celesdue, but somehow fitting.
She blinks at the sight of the room beyond, setting her hand at her hips as she gives the mural on the wall a curious look. "I wonder who those figures are."
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
That gem just sprouted kitty ears.
Wh-what.
Are cute kitties just a universal constant, or something? Was this just some kind of bizarre Kitty Krystal? It was adorable, though. Whatever it was.
The ~nya~ resonates in Cyre's ears. Calling to some deep, catty part of him.
...
Or maybe he's just feeling the same lingering spiritual afterglow that Catenna is sensing. Regardless, he follows her into the chamber beyond-- and the murals painted on its walls. Cyre makes a curious noise as he leans in and begins studying the artwork. A lot of it's worn down and stuff, but...
There's... Something familiar here.
"I know this sword," Cyre murmurs, examining the emerald-studded blade. "I've seen it and its wielder before. Does she know about this place? Strange that it'd turn up in here of all places." There's a beat as he looks to the Weird Cone Hat. Hm. "What's this, though? Maybe we should make a sketch and ask some of the guys back at Vane?"
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Matilda... rather than pay attention to the song, ends up watching Lanval. Listening to him -- really listening to him as he talks. She raises an eyebrow at one point, clearly caught off-guard by something...
... and then decides that, whatever it was, she's going to let it go. Not her world -- not her goddess. ... at least, she doesn't think so.
Matilda's gaze turns to the ancient murals, the, once the singing finishes and the chamber opens. She looks at the mural -- then Cyre suggests something before she's fully taken it in, and she nods. "It -- seems as good an idea as any," she affirms.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
They sing, and in response to their joined voices, the door opens...but not before the gem sprouts some shimmering ears, out of respect for their feline accompaniment.
Jacqueline steps through the door cautiously, and then looks out in awe at the room they found.
"W-wow, this is...amazing. I'm surprised it's manage to survive this long..." Jacqueline murmurs. Sure, it was damaged, but....it was still impressive! Her eyes are first drawn to what looks like the lower half of a woman flanked by reptilian shapes.
Who was that, she wondered...? With no way to decipher it currently her eyes stray to the rest of the mural, where her eyes are eventually drawn to a certain sword.
"Isn't that-" She starts, but Cyre seems to make the same conclusion she does. "...Talise's sword, yes. Maybe we should ask her about it..."
It's an idea, at least, but something they'd have to save for when they get out of here. His other suggestion is a good one, too.
Jacqueline rummages through her bag and draws out her notebook before carefully sketching as much of the mural as she can, so they can take it back with them.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia looks towards Lanval for a long moment. It takes her a while to realize what's going on because, as mentioned before, she just kind of mentally stopped thinking too much about him. As her understanding grows, she widens her eyes ever so faintly. "Ah..." She says. before placing a hand on Lanval's shoulder. She gives it a small double-pat.
When Lydia smiles just openly and honestly, there's a different quality than when she smiles the rest of the time. She isn't a very smiley person as a rule. It's usually smirks, grins, or other flavors of smile that give it an edge. This is just a genuine simple honest to god smile.
"You're a good guy," Lydia tells him. "You make her sound pretty great."
She does eventually hum along. She has sung here before so she'd like to give others a chance.
And then...
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang, Talise is a warrior of legend!" Lydia is saying as she passes by. "Or maybe her dad is or something, daaaaang. She never said she was a warrior of legend before!"
She throws up her hands.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
It seems to warm the watery Seraph's heart to see Lydia cheer up some and start humming. After it all opens, and they see what's inside...
Lanval is walking upright, normally. The rope bearing his gourd is slung over his shoulder as he follows in behind them. His eyes remain closed. That dumb cat-like smile rests on his face as he scratches at his beard with his free hand.
"That shword... yep. Yer right. Shtill fightin' the good fight in the handsh of a good friend. That shword... it'sh name... Rastaban."
It's great that he didn't slur while speaking the name of this venerable sword depicted in the mural. Now if he'd just clean up his act, sober up, and stop slurring over everything else... but at least he's not staggering about everywhere.
"...Iiiii dunno who it ish wieldin' it, though, there. But if ya take a look at thish other one," he gestures broadly over to the top half of a man in a conical red helmet, with a crescent moon over his head, "that one'sh one of the old Dragonmasters... Dragonmaster Louie. The very firsht one to bear that title, after provin' himshelf acrossh all the Trialsh of the Dragonsh... Red, Black, White, and Blue." He didn't slur on the word 'Dragonmaster.' "Hm, hm, hm." He can barely hold back good-natured laughter, as he suddenly decides that today he's going to be dropping some exposition and not just lounge about while rudely drinking everyone's potion stash.
"Shtuff like thish... even though it'sh all long before me, kinda makesh me wish I could get out more," he muses aloud as he regards what remains of the mural with a certain reverence. How he does this with his eyes closed, uh. Maybe it's best not to ask. "Praishe the Goddessh that we shtill have shome if it to remember it all by...!"
He rummages around... somewhere... on his person. "Friendsh of Talishe, far ash I care, are friendsh of mine! Maybe I oughtta take ya all back ta meet 'er 'bout it!"
Wait. Maybe not Catenna. She's got that weird moon thing going and he knows Talise has been having a rough time of things. He doesn't know of a more devout soul than Talise. Maybe... it might be best not to bring her as to not upset her too much, he thinks.
Moments later, he is now holding a bottle of Reliable Repellant, and is contemplating its consumption. (There is a narrow window of opportunity to snatch it back.)
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"Who are you talking about?" Catenna asks Cyre with a blink, looking up at the Nahual. As Jacqueline speaks up, the Moon Shaman ahs, nodding simply. She really only knows the person in question as 'That tall lady who travels with Tethelle and hit on me that one time at Elder Halle's village.'
But Lanval has an interesting story. She crosses her arms under the curve of her chest and blinks. "A Dragonmaster? Interesting," she murmurs.
"I am curious about these Dragonmasters, I think... I feel like I know so little about the past of Lunar, despite this being a place where I feel Celesdue so strongly."
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Dragonmasters, huh...?" Cyre lapses into quiet contemplation, especially since Catenna's primary question had been answered. But... "...You know. I think I might know a dragon from up here. Maybe I should ask her..."
Ruby is a dragon, after all!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
It seems like there's a lot of people to ask about things, and a lot of things to ask about. Fortunately, Lanval provides some of the answers for them, though there's still many more left unaccounted for.
"I see..." Jacqueline murmurs. She finished up some final touches on her sketch...and makes some notes on another page, as well.
"Well, I'd like that sometime, but I think for now I think we should head back...I'm sure we'd all like to take a rest after this." She says, shutting her notebook. They didn't find any seeds, but they did find valuable history - and that was very important.