2018-07-13: Common Sense Effort
- Log: Common Sense Effort
- Cast: Fei Fong Wong, Josephine Lovelace, Elhaym van Houten, Lily Keil, Xantia
- Where: Pendrago - Business District
- Date: July 13th 2018
- Summary: Out in Pendrago, an informal meetup is interrupted by the sounds of a disturbance. The cause is clear -- the Trial Knight has entered the castle. If they want to stop him, though, can the Black Wolves get there in time?
DG: A party led by Fei Fong Wong is now entering Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Scaling the Wall *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Castle Pendrago is an immense thing, a structure that has withstood for well over a thousand years of hardships. Its formidable walls are perhaps the most iconic part about it for many, because for those many, it is as best as they will ever see of the seat of the Empire. But today, that changes or some by necessity. It starts with the sounds of battle. Whether you were close enough to hear -- or even see -- it or drawn by the raucous clamor as the news spread through the capital of Rolance like wildfire, the effects are quite clear when you arrive: bodies of Imperial Knights lay strewn about, broken though not dead. Holes splinter in the great wooden door leading to Castle Pendrago's courtyard, the iron bars of the castle's mighty gate drawn down far too late. And beyond the gates barring your path, past those shards of an opening, you can see the glimpse of a knight in distinctive white armor that could only belong to one entity, weapons clenched at the ready as the Trial Knight makes their way in to Castle Pendrago. If you seek to try to catch them in their one-person warpath, you won't have time to try to break the unbending iron gates barring your path. You have but one, clear option: Climb those iconic, formidable walls. Swiftly. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"So," Fei says to Elly. "Do you think the book we stole is going to tell us much? Went to a fair bit of trouble for it." He has left Hammer to take care of Chaya for the day since he thought a day out with some friends in a nice city that isn't under siege would be good for everybody's morale. "Though I guess it's encouraging that someone else was trying to steal it first--"
Naturally, it's at about this point that the sound of violence filters through the city. Fei tries to ignore it but ends up turning around a corner and seeing a corpse of an Imperial Knight laying at his feet.
He stares at it for a moment before sighing and saying, "I guess we have to look into this."
When the group actually follows the carnage far enough to reach the castle gate,, well, the door seems to have been smashed open except for the gate that's in their way, naturally. Fei grimaces at this morbid display only to look up and see Kid Kool (that's K.K) making their way through into the castle.
Fei's demeanor shifts quickly, "Shit--!"
And he promptly runs for the walls. "We have to stop him!" He shouts.
Pause.
"From doing...."
Pause.
"...something."
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Scaling the Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Not much progess, huh?"
That's Josie's summation of the matter as she leans up against a wall and has a rollup.
She snaps her fingers.
A brief scent of ozone wafts through the air, and before long she's puffing away at a rather ragged-looking cigarette. "You know, I was thinking about showing the people around these parts a thing or two about firearms, maybe make some quick cash, but it sure looked like they had that one covered and then some."
She pauses, gaze hooded. "That wasn't a gunsmoke ARM they were toting, you know."
She exhales a puff of smoke.
Moments before that sound prompts her to pull away from the wall, drop the sad excuse for a cigarette and grind it underfoot.
"Oh, now what? Don't suppose the book thieves are hitting bigger targets?"
It's definitely more than a gang of would-be library desperados.
By the time they reach the castle gate, Josie has one of her ARMs in hand. "What in the Guardians' green hell--"
Her gaze settles on the figure beyond the gate.
She takes a slow, shallow breath.
Before beelining right for the wall, ARM stuffed hastily into her belt.
"...Bastard."
She puts her boots into it as she starts to haul herself upwards.
"--That fuckin' bastard's here!"
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Scaling the Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly had been feeling tired and emotional lately. Some of this is cyclical and some of this is just that perhaps it's really sinking into her that she may never, for instance, see her parents again - not before they die, perhaps not before she dies, and that assumes she doesn't die in, for instance, a siege.
But there is no rest for the wicked. At least Hammer will take care of Chaya, Elly thinks, as they move around.
A man is dead before them.
"That person... K.K... Why...?"
"Why would this happen? What does it serve?" Elly says, her face tightening. "Why are they here? What is the point of all of this!? I--"
Her eyes squinch shut. She sucks in a deep breath through her teeth, hard enough that it whistles slightly.
"I won't let him hurt any of you," Elly finally creaks aloud. There is the question, however, of the wall. Elly moves to start climbing with the others.
And as is so often the case, the stone of the castle, in some key areas, twists and produces vaguely heart-form nodules - perfect for getting a grip, if you don't stop for too long!
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Expedition Boots toward her party's challenge, Scaling the Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily has actually joined in on the day out, surprisingly enough--mostly because a combination of Fei and Elly would've been sad if she didn't. But she did not leave Dog; Dog, indeed, is padding along beside her as Lily Keil steps through the street, still clearly injured but not letting it slow her down much. "Best if you don't add to it," Lily tells Josie, "...But you're right. And I wonder about that."
She doesn't even stop for violence, though she does listen after. She wonders about it. But she doesn't have to wonder--
As the violence starts, Dog starts barking in alarm.
"...Revenge for Lastonbell?" she wonders, and walks with the others, careful. She is not in her armor, and maybe she should've been. ...At least her arm is out of the sling, though she's not using it for anything. She looks through the doors--
Josie--"
Whatever Lily would have done, with Josie taking off Lily follows along quickly. "Come on," She takes a breath--
One-handed, she starts climbing, black Ether crackling along her hand and feet to help her hang on by carving holds as she goes. ...But as she does, she makes use of Elly's handholds along the way. "I don't know," she answers her late. "Let's stick together."
...Dog, on the other hand, is still small enough to wriggle through the bars; she'll be waiting when they get down.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Scaling the Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia, with her hands behind her head, offers her own bit of insight on the matter of the book. "Well that's fine, but can't we do anything else except wait for... the thing we got the book for?" She probably never fully understood what that was all about. She was just there because there was likely to be violence. She's already gotten what she wanted out of that particular adventure.
And wouldn't you know it? More violence starts nearly, and as soon as it does... "Hey, look over there, people are fighting!" Aaaaand she's gone, undoubtedly contributing to the reasons for Fei's sigh. But that's Xantia for you, of course she'd want to be where there's fighting happening. Getting involved with some of that would make this day better, from her perspective.
Straightforward in her thinking as she is, Xantia charges straight on through, not stopping to get some basic idea of the situation because it's not where the fighting is currently happening. Unfortunately, there's a gate between her and the interesting part of this situation. Beyond which, she can see... "You!" That's the only word she calls out upon spotting K.K., prompting her to immediately assault the gate. She hasn't encountered the Trial Knight in a while, but considering everything she's seen him do in the past, seeing him never fails to make her mad.
It's actually sort of working. Her formidible strength does start to bend the unbending gates a little. It's just slow going, too slow to get anywhere fast enough for it to matter. She would've probably not considered this and kept going anyway if it wasn't for the others catching up to her, and starting to scale the walls. "...oh, good idea! Wait for me!"
With that, she follows suit, clambering up the walls with a bit less caution than would be wise. No surprise there, she rarely applies the wise amount of caution.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Scaling the Wall.
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Scaling the Wall *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Castle Pendrago is an immense thing, a structure that has withstood for well over a thousand years of hardships. Its formidable walls are perhaps the most iconic part about it for many, because for those many, it is as best as they will ever see of the seat of the Empire. But today, that changes or some by necessity. It starts with the sounds of battle. Whether you were close enough to hear -- or even see -- it or drawn by the raucous clamor as the news spread through the capital of Rolance like wildfire, the effects are quite clear when you arrive: bodies of Imperial Knights lay strewn about, broken though not dead. Holes splinter in the great wooden door leading to Castle Pendrago's courtyard, the iron bars of the castle's mighty gate drawn down far too late. And beyond the gates barring your path, past those shards of an opening, you can see the glimpse of a knight in distinctive white armor that could only belong to one entity, weapons clenched at the ready as the Trial Knight makes their way in to Castle Pendrago. If you seek to try to catch them in their one-person warpath, you won't have time to try to break the unbending iron gates barring your path. You have but one, clear option: Climb those iconic, formidable walls. Swiftly. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago - Round 1 *>================ ========================< Results - Scaling the Wall >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Expedition Boots 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Fei Fong Wong 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Conditions: Hesitate(2) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Panic! at the Palace *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Hysteria is at an all time high in Castle Pendrago, and for good reason -- it has been many, many centuries, since any outside force has stormed the palace gates, and the idea that it could be /one/ person accomplishing it is a notion even more difficult to swallow. In all the chaos and carnage, it is that much easier that the Trial Knight has some kind of accomplices -- which means, when a unit of Imperial Knights happens upon you, unfamiliar faces racing through the ornately decorated halls of the castle, there is one immediate conclusion they come to: "INTRUDERS! HALT!" And they approach, swiftly, weapons in hand. Only attempting to do their jobs, you can attempt to reason with them, or perhaps even simply try to flee -- but whatever you do, you'd best decide quickly. The knights don't look much inclined to slow down for you. =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Injure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Well that could have been worse.
IT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER!!!!
But it could have been worse! Thanks to Elly's little divots and Xantia not so much as climbing the wall so much as running right up it in a nigh-comical horizontal fashion, the rest of the group manages to eventually make it up and over the wall! Especially once Xantia starts helping people over.
The key word here is eventually though because everybody else including Fei has a right hard time of it even with Elly's divots and this means that it takes that much longer and K.K is that much farther ahead. They'll have to find some way to make time later.
Fei pants for breath for a bit before considering Lily's words. "Does K.K care about Lastonbell?" He asks. "Though the people who should be taking revenge for Lastonbell would be Rolance--"
He does smile a bit. Even if it worries him, it's nice to see Elly being so brave. Determined. Well, Elly might call it something else.
"Hopefully," Fei asides to Josephine. "Some of the Guard is still around and can hold him off for a bit." HE IS SPEAKING TOO SOON.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
As they reach the rampart, Elly considers Fei's words. She doesn't answer him because she doesn't have a clear response for him but something about what he's saying troubles her. This would be the third place if it's really him - them - whatever.
The third place she knows of.
She takes a deep breath -
INTRUDERS! HALT!
Elly turns her head to look at them and she is silent for like a second before she decides, perhaps, to channel things. "We're the third recon! Out of our way, we have to report, stat! If you hinder us Pendrago is doomed!"
(She glances at Lily and Josie afterwards.)
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Panic! at the Palace.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"What, do you think it'll actually hurt any?" Josie asks, glancing over at Lily with a wry smile. "At the rate they're going, it might be a bit of a mercy. You know, the name of gunsmoke ARMs were the 'great equalizer' back when they first were being produced. Just think of it as a particularly... definite sort of equality."
So she says before the peace is shattered in Pendrago.
Before Dog starts barking.
Before they break off in a jog for the heart of the disturbance.
Before Josie sees a particular familiar figure.
And up she goes.
...Well, nearly, at least. It was a nice, honest start, but there's only so far you can get, even with a handhold, when one of your hands doesn't work. It'll take a timely input from someone else to prevent a bit of a painful slip-and-fall, but in the end...
"Hold them off? Heh. More like slow them down. Come on. I've got a bone to pick with that one..."
HALT!
Josie slowly turns her head, as if to silently inquire, 'really, now?'
Before she glances back at Elly, and ever so slightly, smiles.
And whistles.
Penelope settles on her arm in a flurry of wings soon after.
"Incoming message! Move it, at once-- This goes straight to the captain!"
Penelope tilts her head and blinks, shifting her perch on Josie's arm.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, Panic! at the Palace.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily shrugs at Josie. "Don't say I didn't tyr to be prudent about it."
She finds herself glancing at Xantia as... well, she definitely doesn't need to wait for her. For once, one might say, the darker-haired sorceress is not angry. She's calm, mor econcerned with the others than with what's happening so far--she still has to gather information, get a sense. But--
"No, if it's them I don't think Rolance is involved. It was just a guess before I saw. "
She does not smile, obviously. She definitely doesn't smile as she dusts herself off from the climb, stretching out her good arm. "Too much lost time--"
Great. Soldiers. Lily's gaze snaps straight over to them--well, one eye. After Fei and Elly telling her to take care of herself she's put on eye protection for the hurt one. "But--
Elly thinks quickly, and Lily looks sharply to the soldiers and draws up to her full height. She's... Well, she's in dark clothes. "Lieutenant Keil," she says in crisp military style, "Reporting back to the captain. I and my squad need to move quickly--" She shifts her fingers just slightly, a signal--
And Dog turns around and growls behind them, suddenly barking loudly at--at... something?
"We've got company behind us! Good luck!"
She starts forward.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Panic! at the Palace.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
By some miracle, Xantia's haphazard way of scaling the wall meets with success! Was she actually able to spot the locations that would make for proper footholds, the way she was using her feet more than her hands to make her way up, or was it just luck? Probably not something you should think about too hard. Xantia definitely won't.
Having actually passed some of the others even though she was the last one to start making her way up, she pauses to assist the rest of the group where needed. Though she was certainly in a hurry to get to the other side, her priorities aren't so screwed up that she'll consider rushing into a fight more important than helping out her friends. ...though it's close sometimes.
She has nothing to offer regarding the theories about why this is happening, because she's yet to begin thinking about that at all. Besides, soon enough guards appear, seeking to stop them from progressing any further. Of course, Xantia is perfectly ready to just fight her way through, but it seems the others have some kind of Plan.
Since Xantia and Deception aren't very well-acquainted, she instead decides on a different option, quoting no less than two inspirational lines she's memorized from the handy-dandy guidebook that's never steered her wrong in life. "The value of life is too great to waste time! Besides, you can't stop what you can't catch!"
With that, she abruptly dashes right on ahead. It may seem like her usual brand of thoughtless action, but she sees this as a valid strategy - anybody who chases her is one less problem from the rest of the group. She's pretty confident she'll find a way to deal with the situation on her end one way or another.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Guide to Dungeoneering toward her party's challenge, Panic! at the Palace.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Well, I mean..." Fei says to Josie. "Don't want to be a pessimist here--" Aw but Fei you're so good at it.
Fei Fong Wong jerks suddenly as he's told to halt (as well as all his friends!! NOBODY HALTS FEI'S FRIENDS!!). Luckily Elly is already coming up with a plan. Xantia isn't exactly going along with the plan but Fei tries to draw the guards' attention back to him as he draws out a Rolance emblem and shows it to them. "Please, the longer we dally the closer he'll get to his objective!"
Where did he get that emblem? He forged it obviously. He figured it might come in handy sometime.
Please don't stab Dog, he thinks, please don't stab Dog. Please don't stab Dog. Also please don't have malevolence turn Dog into some crazy boss battle. Please definitely don't do that.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Panic! at the Palace.
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Panic! at the Palace *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Hysteria is at an all time high in Castle Pendrago, and for good reason -- it has been many, many centuries, since any outside force has stormed the palace gates, and the idea that it could be /one/ person accomplishing it is a notion even more difficult to swallow. In all the chaos and carnage, it is that much easier that the Trial Knight has some kind of accomplices -- which means, when a unit of Imperial Knights happens upon you, unfamiliar faces racing through the ornately decorated halls of the castle, there is one immediate conclusion they come to: "INTRUDERS! HALT!" And they approach, swiftly, weapons in hand. Only attempting to do their jobs, you can attempt to reason with them, or perhaps even simply try to flee -- but whatever you do, you'd best decide quickly. The knights don't look much inclined to slow down for you. =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Injure=========================================
================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago - Round 2 *>================ ======================< Results - Panic! at the Palace >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 10 --(10)--> 20 Fail Guide to Dungeoneering 1 Wits Effects: Rally and Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 10 --(10)--> 20 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Dog 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Fei Fong Wong 10 --(15)--> 25 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Injure(2)|Reckless(2) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong 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. DG: Xantia has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Small Favors *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Pressed for time you doubtlessly are, racing against the interminable advance of an inscrutable assassin, but there are some small moments even now where one can take solace in fortune smiling upon them. Take, for instance, the knight's barracks you find yourself in. Completely emptied out by Knights scattered throughout the palace trying -- and failing -- to stop the Trial Knight's path, the way forward is locked, but there are a number of keys here that can be used to open the doors leading further inward. Some of these keys might even prove useful for getting further into the castle in your attempt to cut off K.K. at the pass. If you can figure out which is which, anyway. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret, Save Point=======================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"You're out of uniform, you cinnamon tart," says one of the knights. This gets a knot of nasty, nervous laughter.
The rest of it is quick, almost too fast. A bird lands and suddenly Redhead's story is more credible to them. They shift to one side of the hallway as Lily speaks, and then the dog barks ferociously. The one in the back says "Accursed cur!" but -
- does not go for his polearm.
Not least because Xantia barges past, indeed, almost THROUGH him, sending him against the parapet with a loud clank, although, thankfully, no horrid toppling.
The squadron commander, in the end, is convinced... by Fei's papers. It's a cursory examination but he can give nothing more, nothing better, not right now. "Run, lad," the commander says, "and next war, don't bring all your harem with you on the field." There is some confused half-saluting of Lily as the group double-times forwards, past them, and soon enough there is distant screaming.
Elly does not have time to get mad over being called a cinnamon tart. "Fei," she says urgently, though from her glance over the group, it's a general question. "If this is anything last time, K.K. will probably try to go somewhere central here. These walls... I think they're going to be more like traps than anything."
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia is long past caring about the situation back there. No one came after her, which is a shame because that was the 'plan', but on the bright side, that means she can charge on ahead down into the castle proper and scout things out a little. No matter that she has no idea where she's going. That just means she gets to check out all the options!
Options of which there are precious few. The hallway she's entered splits into only two directions. Turning right first, things look clear up ahead... until a wall suddenly caves in, blocking it with rubble and forcing Xantia to make a hard stop, coughing as dust and debris are sent flying everywhere. What is going on out there?
Well, no matter, that narrows things down to the left side of the hallway. Rushing in that direction, Xantia once again stops in her tracks when she hears voices. Peeking around the corner, she spies a group of trainee knights, not particularly looking forward to combat with a foe who's been handily taking down far more experienced warriors than they.
"Say what you want, I'm not going out there, this isn't what I signed up for."
"You don't sign up for protecting the castle? That's our job!"
"Well yeah, but I didn't think anybody would actually attack it! Why don't you go out there?"
"Well I would, but I had a little bit too much to drink yesterday, I don't feel so good..."
"Okay I've got it, let's draw straws."
"Oh, right, you happen to have some of those on you then?"
"Uhhh, well no, but..."
With a sigh, Xantia backs off, those guys obviously aren't going anywhere for a while. Maybe there's a better way through.
By the time the rest of the group arrives, she's found one. Peeking her head out of a door in the hallway that she found to be unlocked, she beckons the rest inside, clarifying, "The other door's locked, but locked doors just mean there's something important behind it!" More wisdom from the Guide to Dungeoneering. But that's all the wisdom that will be coming from her. "Want me to try breaking it down?" She hasn't even stopped to look for the many very obviously present keys in the room.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Guide to Dungeoneering toward her party's challenge, Small Favors.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"...Harem?" utters Josie. With Junior?. One can see in her eyes the conflict waging war within her--
But in the end, the need to sort out the person known only as 'K.K.' wins out. Stiffly, wit her right hand, she points at the guard that said that, then points at her own eyes.
'Later', the threat speaks. Ohhh yes, later.
She bolts though before any of these brain trusts can work that one through.
Penelope, ever obliging, hops up onto Josie's shoulder, settling in near the crook of her neck. "Hey, spitfire! Slow down a sec!" she calls out to Xantia, before the sound of voices has her very promptly shut the heck up. She slinks up against a nearby wall and silent as a churchmouse, holds her ground until the others catch up... and the sound fades.
And Xantia calls out to them all.
"Locked door, huh?"
Nonchalantly, Josie rummages in a pocket, before extracting a screwdriver.
"Nothing this can't fix. --Let's try taking it apart first, alright? ...The quiet way," she adds, taking another look at Xantia before sidling up to the door.
"If this doesn't work, it's all yours, kiddo."
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Small Favors.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
'Cinnamon tart', is it? Lily notices that they don't go for Dog's fake-out, notices that one shouts at her. She narrows her eyes, and the guard probably doesn't realize how close things come to violence. When they're all there, the commander is convinced...
Lily freezes in place as the commander calls them Fei's 'harem', and as the guards salute her she salutes back, expression harsh and unyielding. She does have time to get angry about this.
The truth is, the murder in Lily's eyes is just as apparent as the murder in Josie's, and she similarly puts off such things for later. Discipline wins out over pride. However...
Lily will remember that.
"...Good work, Xantia," Lily says as she arrives with the others near her, heading inside after quiet words. The wisdom of the guide works for Lily, frankly. But with a nod she agrees with Josie, Dog padding along behind her. "...Hm..."
She looks over the set of keys, thoughtfully. "...Dog," she says. "Find one that people have used often. That smells like this room."
Dog gets to work.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Small Favors.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
A locked door.
"I feel like I hate doors," Elly says. "But maybe Hate is the wrong word. They're just so often like... They're dividers, they're fastened shut, they're sealed and blocked... they suggest that it's possible to come and go as you please, but that's never really true. Even if you just need privacy, you could hang a curtain over the doorway... and if you truly needed a door, in this fashion, surely you could make one that isn't..."
Elly trails off.
"I don't have... I mean, I didn't bring any explosive compound. I think they might be out of it completely at this point."
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Small Favors.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
'cinnamon tart?' Fei mouths.
Fei looks straight at that guardsman and says to him, simply, "I don't expect the Cardinal appreciates the attitude," with a certain stiffness that indicates he is considering forgetting the mission to deal with this right here. He doesn't end up doing that though because Fei is still largely in control. There was hardly any purple text so far today and he's not about to make more corpses to see if there will start being some.
Similarly, that comment about the Cardinal is probably less than he would have liked to say.
Nevertheless once they're out of earshot Fei feels intensely guilty. "I'm sorry about that." Fei says. "Rolance is far more backwards than I even expected."
He looks to Elly for a long moment before looking towards the locked door.
"Yeah." Fei says. "I'm not...a fan of them either. It always feels like there's at least one in the way, and it's like--why does everything have to be shut in like that? It's a shame we live in such a closed up society, even back on this world, even if the amount of doors on Filgaia is frankly unconcionable."
This isn't very helpful Fei but odds are he's just going to start punching down doors whether they have the key or not if folks take too long.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Small Favors.
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Small Favors *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Pressed for time you doubtlessly are, racing against the interminable advance of an inscrutable assassin, but there are some small moments even now where one can take solace in fortune smiling upon them. Take, for instance, the knight's barracks you find yourself in. Completely emptied out by Knights scattered throughout the palace trying -- and failing -- to stop the Trial Knight's path, the way forward is locked, but there are a number of keys here that can be used to open the doors leading further inward. Some of these keys might even prove useful for getting further into the castle in your attempt to cut off K.K. at the pass. If you can figure out which is which, anyway. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret, Save Point=======================================
================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago - Round 3 *>================ ==========================< Results - Small Favors >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Guide to Dungeoneering 1 Wits Effects: Rally and Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 20 --(5)--> 25 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Dog 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Fei Fong Wong 25 --(20)--> 45 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Reckless(1)|Save Point(1)|Secret(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong 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> Xantia has posed.
"Aw, that's no fun," Xantia complains about Josie's suggestion to do things the quiet way. Not so much because of the fact that it's more quiet, she can see the sense in that. She's just disappointed that it means she won't get to break stuff. It's what she does best after all, the way she feels she can be the most helpful. She's told 'good work' by Lily though, so it sounds like she helped already, which cheers her right up again. But it's Elly and Fei who she can completely identify with here.
"I know, right?! I mean, what's even the point of doors? If you can open them it's just wasting time, and if you can't you're just gonna break them down and they'll be gone anyway!" Okay so maybe her thoughts aren't exactly the same, but close enough.
This door in particular doesn't require any violence to get through however. Josie's method would have eventually worked, but one very intelligent Dog speeds things along by managing to sniff out the correct key on the first attempt. With that, the obstacle is cleared with very little effort at all.
"Your animals are very smart and helpful," Xantia has to acknowledge, speaking of Dog and Penelope both. "I guess that's why you don't eat them."
DG: Josephine Lovelace has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>====================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Hectic Hedges *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The sound of steel clashing steel fills the air around you as you make your way into a grand, outdoor courtyard, dull and distant sounds of knights trying to fight off a lone attacker carving their path throughout one of the oldest institutions in Glenwood. This courtyard is dominated by an immense hedge maze -- but it is also a potential shortcut through a great swath of immense, palatial architecture if one can figure out how to navigate its verdant depths... perhaps using the sound of violence as a guidepost might help. That's not grim, or anything. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Treasure========================================
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"No fun? Well, we can't have that. Tell you what, I can't take this door off its hinges, and you can smash all the doors to your heart's content. Deal?"
Of course, she never gets beyond 'vague threat' level with the doors before Dog comes to a much simpler solution.
"Huh," comments Josie, arching a pale eyebrow.
They emerge through the formerly-locked door into a courtyard. Somewhere, steel rings on steel -- a fight has broken out, but...
The hedgemaze seemingly stretches out towards the horizon.
...But it might be a little hard to figure out where it is on sound alone.
"Where there's trouble... heh, that's exactly where that bastard'll be."
A little roughly, she prods Penelope who has until now been still where she perches atop Josie's shoulder. Like a small, glowering gargoyle of a bird.
"C'mon. You know what's up," she murmurs in a sidelong to the pigeon, who looks back at her and halfway closes her eyes as if in a sort of squint.
But, the bird still takes to the skies, flying low over the maze.
Josie doesn't wait, but sets off in hot pursuit after her pigeon, apparently trusting Penelope to show her the fastest way through.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, Hectic Hedges.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"..."
"Seriously," Lily repeats, looking level at Fei and Elly, and then Xantia, on the subject of doors. "...Don't encourage them," she sighs, shaking her head. "Doors are fine." She pauses. "...But I noticed, about Rolance being backward."
As Dog works though--well. Dog is smart, and she is very helpful. She wags her tail happily as Lily takes the key from her and gives her head a pat.
"..." Dog makes a soft whine at Xantia. She does not seem to appreciate the suggestion of being eaten. "I'm pretty sure Penelope would murder anyone who tried." Pause. "...Don't worry, girl. She's not going to eat you."
Steel on steel, and the hedge mage ahead. "Isn't trouble where we usually are, too?" she asks, stepping forward and continuing along--until Penelope goes. "Dog."
At that, Dog takes right off after Penelope, following her by scent. Lily, for her part, takes off quickly after.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Hectic Hedges.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong says, "Well how about that!" with a small grin at Dog. "You're a clever pup aren'tcha? Who'se a good dog, it's you, yes it's youuuuu!"
He pauses, clears his throat, and draws out his sketchpad. "I'll handle the map, make sure we don't get turned around."
But he pauses briefly to give Lily a confused look. "Nah I mean, I really have had a lot of bad experiences with doors."
FEI'S FIRST DIG
'Oh boy!' A chibi Fei says as he drops down to the end of the dungeon. 'I wonder what treasure we'll get here! I'm so glad we were able to get passed that locked...door'.
There's another even sturdier door in Fei's way. It requires a duplicator key to get throuhg. Fei doesn't have a duplicator key.
Fei spends like an hour trying to beat down the door with his dig team before giving up and going home.
NOW
"I really don't care for doors." Fei says.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Hectic Hedges.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly looks up then. She smiles at Fei, if weakly. "Oh - I thought they were talking trash because they're terrified. I suppose it was the Malevolence, too, perhaps."
Even sainthood has limits, because Elly does not add her semi-habitual 'don't hold it against them' at the end of this.
Elly holds her peace until they reach the hedges, and she exhales with some relief. "At least this is going to work both ways," she says, explaining as she enters inwards, even as the dog makes his mark and the bird hopefully brings them a view from an aerial perspective. Like some kind of a view only a bird can make.
"Don't relax too much... there could be pockets of Malevolence here. But, for once, I think we'd have as much chance of surprising them, as they would have as us. And of course... we have Penelope's help, too." She, too, will pet Dog; hopefully it will not interfere with his working life.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hectic Hedges.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia readily confirms, "Of course I won't eat your animals! They're your animals!"
Notibly, nothing about not seeing them as food. It's just that Xantia would never take food that doesn't belong to her, so it's not going to be issue. It may take more effort to get her to see these things the way most people would.
Next obstacle is... a maze. Xantia doesn't look too pleased with that. "Can we just..." Whoops, the animals have already been deployed before she could make her obvious suggestion, to cut their way through to where the sounds are coming from. Just itching to make everything a Brute challenge, as usual.
Even so, she doesn't seem to have a problem with following along, so long as she doesn't actually have to figure out the maze. This gives her some time to kill, which she does by physically taking out her Guidebook this time, to see what it says about mazes. And actually finds something that could genuinely be useful this time. "Oh hey, it says here that just about any maze can be solved as long as you keep a hand touching the border on one side and never take it off from there as you go through it. I didn't know that!"
Of course, she doesn't actually proceed to do anything with this knowledge, she just continues to follow behind the others instead of taking initiative with this. But it's good to know, right?
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Guide to Dungeoneering toward her party's challenge, Hectic Hedges.
======================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>====================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Hectic Hedges *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The sound of steel clashing steel fills the air around you as you make your way into a grand, outdoor courtyard, dull and distant sounds of knights trying to fight off a lone attacker carving their path throughout one of the oldest institutions in Glenwood. This courtyard is dominated by an immense hedge maze -- but it is also a potential shortcut through a great swath of immense, palatial architecture if one can figure out how to navigate its verdant depths... perhaps using the sound of violence as a guidepost might help. That's not grim, or anything. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Treasure========================================
=================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago - Round 4 *>================= ==========================< Results - Hectic Hedges >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 25 --(10)--> 35 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 25 --(15)--> 40 Fail Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 25 --(15)--> 40 Fail Guide to Dungeoneering 1 Wits Effects: Rally and Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 25 --(15)--> 40 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 25 --(10)--> 35 Pass Dog 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Fei Fong Wong 45 --(5)--> 50 Fail Conditions: Secret(1)|Stupify(2)|Treasure(1) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has failed this challenge! The party gained 5 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie does pause for a moment there on the threshold, just long enough to glance back over her shoulder.
"Y'know, kiddo... not all animals are for eating."
But she doesn't linger on the subject long, and is out and into the courtyard before more than a second or two passes.
Isn't trouble where we usually are, too?
This is the point where Josie, whatever thoughts might be on her mind, cracks a lopsided smile. "Makes life easier, don't it?"
Into the maze it is.
It doesn't take long before Josie has a startling realization: she's lost sight of Penelope.
It takes a second more for her to realize that Penelope is also not coming back.
ELSEWHERE, JUST OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS
Penelope alights upon a branch and coos.
What a monster.
BUT BACK INSIDE THE CASTLE WALLS
It doesn't take long before Josie gets helplessly lost amidst the hedges... and probably the lot of them with her in fruitless flight after the now-absent pigeon. Even Xantia's well-honed book of advice doesn't seem to help as they wander. Somewhere, a fight is still taking place...
But it's a long way from here.
In the end, it's a mixture of Fei's careful map-making and Dog's keen nose that sees them through to the opposite end... but they've wasted a lot of time in this maze. Is it too late?!
DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>====================== ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Collapse *>=========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Sounds of war grow more pronounced as you race through a long hall -- portraits of Emperors and Empresses who have come and gone dot the walls around you like portents for the one who sits upon the throne before you manage to reach a large, castle chapel. Spacious, but not empty, you see them there -- white armor shining in the candlelight, there is the briefest glimpse of the Trial Knight fighting a host of Imperial Knights. A glimpse that begins with a large warhammer of white and blue and gold flaring into existence in their hands... ... and ends with them slamming it into a holy statue of the founder of Rolance, Pen Dragonia. They can barely be seen as the statue cracks, shatters, and crumbles. And as the dust settles... ... they are gone, leaving only knights trapped beneath the broken weight of their first emperor, the path forward clotted with rubble. Knights to save, a path to make. You know what to do. =Dungeon Conditions: Collapse, Weaken, Injure=================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Dog wags her tail merrily at Fei, barking happily once. She looks very pleased.
Lily's fine with Fei handling the map, though... Bad experiences with doors...
"I'd rather doors than trap chutes," she says. "But that's fine. I'll handle the bad doors for you." Maybe, meanwhile, Elly is right about the men and why they were talking trash, but she is not a saint. Instead--
Dog accepts a couple of pets from Elly before she takes off. She will accept more later when she is not as busy.
Josie takes the explanation, at least. But Lily looks back to her--"More interesting, anyway."
Dog, unlike Penelope, comes back to the group, whining softly as she loses Penelope's scent. She's ot thrilled. However...
They make it eventually. It is not, however, too late. They find their way into a great hall, and the portraits in the vast space hang there as the one in armor fights a host. ....The hammer. The statue.
It shatters, and they are gone. Knights, trapped. A path to make...
"Come on," Lily says coolly, Dog at her heels, and pulls a strange item of jewelry, settling it over the hand of her broken arm. She doesn't even wince. Instead, she closes her eyes, moves her hand forward--
Ether suffuses the air as rocks begin to rumble, flying out of the central path in smaller chunks than before, ash all over. ...She is not stopping to pull soldiers out, though at least she isn't throwing them. ...However, a look at her face can demonstrate the pain of channeling through this arm, even if she keeps it silent. She doesn't let it stop her.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Rune Chain toward her party's challenge, Collapse.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia gives Josie one of those looks as if she's watching water burning. All animals are supposed to be for eating, it's people who don't think so that are the weird ones!
She, too, won't linger on a topic she knows by now few would agree with however. The maze awaits, and it... it takes a while. Maybe Xantia should have actually tried the trick the book mentioned, or even suggested they try that. But nope. Her only other contibution was asking 'Are we there yet?' every few minutes.
Eventually, the answer to that question can be 'yes'. By then Xantia's so bored from all that, she doesn't even acknowledge it. She just wants to move on.
The fire returns to her eyes when she spots the Trial Knight up ahead... only for the way to get blocked through copious application of force. Well, that explains that collapsed wall earlier, if K.K.'s been swinging that hammer of theirs around like that. Xantia looks over her shoulder. This is where her own hammer would be... if she'd brought it. Would've been handy right about now, but she wasn't exactly expecting to need it on what should've been a fun outing with friends. This day sure took a turn.
Well, no matter. She has her physical strength to fall back on, making her plenty able to assist in clearing away some of the larger rubble. As she starts tossing chunks of rock aside, she takes notice of the application of Ether, and follows it back to its source... casting a concerned glance Lily's way. She doesn't say anything before returning to assisting in the clearing efforts, but she's obviously noticed something's wrong.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Collapse.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei gives Lily a long look as she's clearly in pain but he doesn't comment on it. Not now. He doesn't speak on the matter of trap doors being worse than doors either. That's just asking for trouble.
Of course trouble in this case seems to be a long hedge maze followed by suffering. Fei COULD blow up this rubble pretty easily but there's people trapped inside and you know what that means: Helping them out the old fashioned way!
Fei jogs on over to the pile of rocks and helps folks out by lifting them with his own two hands. He may be a little stiff after all that walking still.
"Doesn't seem like Rolance is doing too well in this war," Fei murmurs to himself. "Even if we stop K.K here it'd take a fortune and a great deal of labor to fix this place back up."
Hopefully these knights won't turn into monsters and try to eat them, Fei also thinks miserbaly.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Collapse.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
The horrid sight comes before Elly can even parse it. Before she can think, before she can act - could she have done something?
It's a familiar twinge for her, at least. Her hands clasp before her.
"... I told you about that, didn't I, Fei? What KK called me, that time in Bledavik...?"
Elly closes her eyes. She does not finish the thought for a while. Lily can break up rocks but to Elly is the POWER PRIMEVAL, which in this case is a dramatic way to refer to Earth Ether. The stones roll very easily. They form comfortable, easy to move shapes. It is low key. Sustained. Elly doesn't move as she does it, speak, or sing.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Collapse.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Once they clear the maze, Josie utters something unprintable under her breath.
"That's no snacks for you, missy," she voices to a bird that isn't here anymore.
"Come on. Door's open." She doesn't wait long for anyone else, moving at a clip for the hallway's entrance ahead. It's darker inside. Her eyes take a moment to adjust.
Then settle on the figure at the end of the hall. "You--" she starts, going for her gun.
But she is not fast enough.
She only has time to draw it from her belt before the hammer falls. The statue shatters. The path is blocked.
The knight is gone, as if they had never been.
Josie pauses for a moment, and only at a reluctant distance holsters the ARM. She exhales out that breath she'd held.
"Damn..."
Her gaze sweeps the room.
"They're alive. Poor bastards. C'mon." She jerks her head in a nod. "We don't have time to play rescue party..."
Going for her pack, she draws out the mattock, digging up and lifting what rock hasn't been cast aside or obliterated by her comrades' considerable magical might. Time to do this the old-fashioned way.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, Collapse.
======================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>====================== ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Collapse *>=========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Sounds of war grow more pronounced as you race through a long hall -- portraits of Emperors and Empresses who have come and gone dot the walls around you like portents for the one who sits upon the throne before you manage to reach a large, castle chapel. Spacious, but not empty, you see them there -- white armor shining in the candlelight, there is the briefest glimpse of the Trial Knight fighting a host of Imperial Knights. A glimpse that begins with a large warhammer of white and blue and gold flaring into existence in their hands... ... and ends with them slamming it into a holy statue of the founder of Rolance, Pen Dragonia. They can barely be seen as the statue cracks, shatters, and crumbles. And as the dust settles... ... they are gone, leaving only knights trapped beneath the broken weight of their first emperor, the path forward clotted with rubble. Knights to save, a path to make. You know what to do. =Dungeon Conditions: Collapse, Weaken, Injure=================================
=================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago - Round 5 *>================= =============================< Results - Collapse >============================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 35 --(5)--> 40 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 40 --(5)--> 45 Pass Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 40 --(5)--> 45 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 40 --(5)--> 45 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 35 --(5)--> 40 Pass Rune Chain 3 Brute Effects: Stalwart and Efficien -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Fei Fong Wong 50 --(20)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Collapse|Injure(2)|Stupify(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Short Way Up *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Castle Pendrago was once truly pristine. It still is, even, for the most part. Except for certain, minor things. Like that giant, gaping hole in the ceiling right above you. Huh. The pile of rubble beneath it that clogs out the door at the other end of the hall suggests that someone -- three guesses who -- probably just plowed through the ceiling to get to the upper levels rather than bothering with trying to find stairs, and, well... it might not have been the /worst/ idea. If you can manage to scale up the rubble and reach a point you can maneuver your way up that hole to the floor above, you might save some valuable time. Stairs? Those are for chumps. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily avoids Xantia's gaze when she looks at her, and does the same with Fei's. She recalls it; just before, Elly telling her to take care of herself. ...But that doesn't mean she wants to stop and admit she has feelings about it or something.
"...?" She is curious, somewhat, about K.K. calling Elly something. However... She finds something different about Elly's Earth Ether; indeed, Lily can move, and destroy, but sheer control over the earth is not hers. Lily's power is not low key; it is jagged, violent.
And when they stop, she lets out a breath, shaky, and slowly takes the chain off of her hand, shaking her head.
"I think you're right, Fei. ...Neither side is doing well, at this point."
For the record, of course: They do quite well. Fei exerts extra effort in saving people, but they do look gratefully at him--those that are conscious. Xantia in the meanwhile exerts some work--but her incredible physical strength sees her through.
"We don't," Lily agrees with Josie, and stops beside Xantia as she moves forward. "I'll be fine. I'll take a rest after we get out of here, all right?"
She's concerned, for what'll happen when they reach them. But they'll see. Josie's old-fashioned approach stops the last of it, and thanks to Elly's magic, there's a path here such that the survivors can escape.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly looks at the others. Josie's determination. Xantia's strength. Fei's endurance. Lily's discipline.
Then she tugs up her skirt and pops something off the garter holster. No, it's the entire assembly.
This likely doesn't surprise people - even Josie has seen that Elly has some kind of squat derringer of an ARM even if it didn't seem to do very much and looked funny. She pops open the handle and draws something out. Several somethings. "I need a moment, since the light is good here," she says in a tone of apology.
Elly draws out the long cartridge from the barrel of the short pistol. (2/3rds inch caliber - or, to render it another way, .6 repeating... perhaps even to three significant digits?) She inspects something about the casing, which is some sort of smooth material instead of brass, and then makes a careful, deliberate nick in one side of it, scraping off a few fingernail-shavings of material and wadding them onto the tip of the round. She repeats this process a couple of times, and then squishes down a small metal cap.
"I should explain, while it fuses," Elly says, holding the long cartridge close in her presumably-warm little hand.
"This is the anti-animal sidearm issued to Gebler pilots," Elly says. "Since it's possible that in a field situation it may be necessary to deter relic machinery, reinforced animals, or even Kislev Gears, an optional penetrator head can be attached. Under emergency orders - at the expense of some terminal velocity energy - the solid fuel casing can be cannibalized..."
"To create a -superplastic thermo-kinetic armor penetrating effect-." That entire phrase was gibberish. Magical gibberish, probably.
Elly looks up. "K.K. told me once - I guess it's arrogant to say - that I'm a 'destroyer' and that I ought to accept it." Her hand unfolds and she sockets the round back into the weapon. She holsters it again, if, Josie would surely be able to tell, with more care than before. "Their Ether is powerful... and they're really strong. But the functional head of the anti-animal round is about two-thirds of a centimeter, and the blast effect is about seven times the cavity, so..."
Elly looks ahead. "If I'm doing the math right... I don't think their armor is over five centimeters thick."
"If anybody's going to get destroyed," she says as she starts to stride forwards, "It's going to be them."
JUMPING LEVEL! Don't fall back down to the first floor of the half-collapsed castle, or you'll either break your ankle or have to start the jumping puzzle over. There may, of course, be a treasure chest here and there to jump off the path to get... but is it worth the delay?
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Expedition Boots toward her party's challenge, Short Way Up.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
It's just a matter of a little grunt work. All in a day's effort, for an archaeologist. She doesn't wait or look back, merely continues on into whatever awaits unflinchingly.
It's a certain movement to one side that catches her eye. Elly has, time and again, proved herself the bearer of many an interesting toy. Interesting explosives, for example.
Then there's the matter of Elly's particular magic.
For one reason or another, she's never quite managed to corner the red-haired girl to shake an answer or two out of her. --Sure, she knows who Elly is/was /with/. Sure.
But she's already regretting -- as much as a woman like Josie can manage an emotion like regret -- not doing so now, as she watches with increasing interest what Elly is doing with the material she's produced here.
"Shooting up a Gear, huh. Now that's more my style. Don't supposed you've got extras?" she says, much like she'd queried after a similar matter once before.
The solid fuel casing can be...
"Huh."
She turns both hands palms up. "Gotta admit it, Red. I didn't get that at all. But if I had to make a guess... this is gonna be one hell of an explosion, isn't it?"
Her lips part in a wild grin.
"I already like it. C'mon, let's hurry it up and blow that bastard sky-high."
She takes a hop upwards, scrambling over the rubble in her own ascent.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Short Way Up.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei's head jerks towards Elly. He says, "I remember," to her. "But what do people who don't know you know? If K.K had spectacular insight into others, they wouldn't be relying on Malevolence." Of course there's the matter that Fei managed to find out Elly's name before she ever told it to him and it always felt like they knew each other before knowing each other but surely there is no similar connection between Elly and K.K that would be ridiculous.
Besides, Fei recalls, they called him a destroyer too.
He wonders what it means to destroy, really? It's not the same as 'killer' is it?
Fei walks along the rubble, hopping along and hopefully timing it so random encounters happen between bounces rather than in the middle of a bounce. Luckily this isn't a gear jumping puzzle which is way worse than just normal jumping puzzles. He doesn't have any spectacular gear for this.
Part of him is surprised to hear Elly talking about ending another life. This is the same person who couldn't shoot him while he was being, lets face it, kind of a dick.
Of course maybe K.K has gone far enough that even Elly, EVEN ELLY, is ready to penetrate K.K with a thermo-kinetic armor effect. Fei pauses, is that how it goes? Sometimes Elly says strange familiar words but the meaning escapes him.
Still, even as strangely unnerving it is to hear Elly speak as such, another part of him is relieved to know that Elly won't hesitate before 'destroying' someone who seems determined to make the world a sadder, darker place at best and to torture people with their own failings at worst. To Fei that's the order it is.
"If that's what you've decided," Fei says. "Then I'll help in whatever way I can. I'm only going to say...don't feel compelled to follow their narrative."
He leaps once more.
"You're better than that."
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Short Way Up.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Clearing the rocks was a lot of work, but it's work that Xantia is good at and doesn't particularly mind. And they helped people in the process, that's always a plus! "You should head back the way we came," she starts to tell the injured knights, before correcting herself. "Actually maybe not, there's a terrible maze over there." She doesn't know an alternative suggestion, so she just sort of leaves it at that. Hopefully the knights have a better idea of their own, or are really good at mazes.
Xantia's other, greater concern is preempted - Lily may have already guessed that she was going to offer help with that injury if necessary. When she is approached first, she readily takes Lily's word for it that things will be fine, quick to smile and agree with a simple, "Okay!"
She watches Elly's following display with great interest. And while she doesn't understand what's happening just from looking, the accompanying explanation strangely... makes sense? In so far as immediately understanding what it does without understanding most of the words makes sense. This somehow doesn't register as unusual to her. In response, a confident smile returns once more as she cracks her knuckles. "Well if that armor is any thicker than that, I'm sure I can take a few centimeters out of it for you!"
If pressed, she wouldn't even be able to indicate how much a centimeter is exactly. But it's the thought that counts, right?
She feels a little bad about sounding so enthusiastic after Fei speaks up, only putting two and two together about the whole being called a destroyer part of the equation after the fact. She doesn't correct herself, though. Figuring out who you are... she's hardly the authority on that sort of thing. She hasn't exactly done a great job of that herself so far.
Instead, she turns her attention to the jumping puzzle, taking long leaps in order to clear it as fast as possible. Again, the quick way rather than the particularly safe way. It worked out well enough last time, after all.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Short Way Up.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
With Xantia's seeming innocent smile, it would make Lily kind of an asshole if she didn't keep her word about being careful after that. She looks back to her for a few moments, as if to give the impression she listened--and, well, she'll do what she can.
Dog pads along after Lily as they make it through--but Lily, for her part, pauses when Elly asks for a moment, looking with some interest to see what she's doing. She's not surprised, of course, but obviously Elly has some kind of task to perform. So, she pauses, and as Elly explains, Lily takes the time to adjust the splint holding her arm still; making sure it's secure, solid, feeling for changes. ...It's tender. But from the corner of her vision, she watches the nick of the material, the changes...
'Kislev Gears'. Of course.
"..." She watches with some interest--quite a bit, in fact. "...Fascinating," Lily admits. Magical gibberish, sure, but Lily gets it. She nods, to Josie at that. "Very big. I've seen it in action, I think--I just had no idea that that's what was causing it." She has, after all, fought Gebler; even occasionally in a Gear.
But she doesn't miss that important thing. She pauses, waiting until after Fei speaks up, or rather, not talking at first as she tries to jump her way to the first, to the second. Dog has an easier time of it; Lily has to time each jump very deliberately.
"...It's good to be resolute," Lily tells Elly eventually. "And I trust that resolution. I'll be relying on you, Van Houten. But the thing about being a destroyer is..."
"In your case, I don't think it's all you are. Ignoring the raw power you have at your fingertips is pointless. But don't ignore the woman behind it, either."
She actually almost smiles at Xantia, but instead she just looks to her, nods. They can do some destruction, for sure.
For now, onward.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Short Way Up.
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Short Way Up *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Castle Pendrago was once truly pristine. It still is, even, for the most part. Except for certain, minor things. Like that giant, gaping hole in the ceiling right above you. Huh. The pile of rubble beneath it that clogs out the door at the other end of the hall suggests that someone -- three guesses who -- probably just plowed through the ceiling to get to the upper levels rather than bothering with trying to find stairs, and, well... it might not have been the /worst/ idea. If you can manage to scale up the rubble and reach a point you can maneuver your way up that hole to the floor above, you might save some valuable time. Stairs? Those are for chumps. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago - Round 6 *>================ ==========================< Results - Short Way Up >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 40 --(23)--> 63 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 45 --(23)--> 68 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 45 --(13)--> 58 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 45 --(13)--> 58 Pass Expedition Boots 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 40 --(23)--> 63 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Fei Fong Wong 70 --(10)--> 80 Fail Conditions: Collapse|Injure(1)|Tire(2)|Weaken(1) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Imperial Seal *>======================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- There are certain security measures that are enacted whenever a seat of national power is threatened. Call them protocol; people tend to be prepared for the worst, especially in as tenuous of times as these. This is especially true of Pendrago, a city that has existed long before it was even called that. The antechamber you arrive in is large and possessed of a gentle, subtle kind of beauty; the warmth of the sun-soaked marble is faint and pleasing as your footsteps echo throughout the room. It's quiet. Undisturbed. Before you, a pair of large double doors reign, ostentatious on their own... ... but notably marked with a shining seal of the symbol of House Dragonia, forged in reinforcing magic. The seal locks down the doors, preventing entry -- ostensibly, to keep whoever is inside safe from harm. One might assume they arrived before the Trial Knight... and then you hear the voices. Indistinct with that barrier between you, the sound of a voice warped by metal is, nonetheless, undeniably recognizable to those who have heard it before. The Trial Knight is within the Throne Room. How they managed to bypass the seal without any sort of obvious force is, perhaps, a question for another time. For right now? Finding out how to unlock the seal yourself will take time, time you do not have. There is only one way forward, here: Breaking through that magic. As quickly as possible. =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"No," Elly answers Josie quietly. "This is the last one." Looking over, she says, "Maybe. It shouldn't be a very big one."
"But it will put a hole in armor... And whatever's underneath it. I don't know anything about 'what' that person is underneath the armor. But I don't think you wear armor that heavy for fun. Maybe they need it to live."
Her eyes turn to Fei mid-jump.
She smiles again. It's a familiar one. "All of you... thank you. I'm not trying to make myself into some kind of an icon of death... I hope that we can all find peace and build happy lives... but it's going to be hard to do that if some rude person in white armor can just march in and do whatever they please, right? Malevolence isn't exactly something we can -"
Elly misses her jump.
The dramatic conversations get sidetracked as several repeats are needed. Hopefully they won't get there to find KK picking their teeth with the bones of White Knight Leo or worse, Jude Moshe.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Or they're just a big fan like Kylo Ren.
Nevertheless, Fei can't argue with Elly's words. He says, "Well we certainly have to stop them." He can't help but smile. She called K.K a rude person. She certainly has a way of cutting to the core.
Of course being in a decent mood doesn't help with jump puzzles especially when the dialogue boxes happen midjump and freeze the action and the inertia of your jump somehow. It's really troubling. Nevertheless, they eventually reach their destination.
More or less.
It's an antechamber, a beautiful somehow undisturbed antechamber. A large pair of double doors, super fancy like, wait there and carry the familiar to Fei at this point House Dragonia symbol.
"They're talking." Fei says. "....So I guess we're not too late."
A red tinted aura ripples around Fei suddenly, energy crackling around his body. He raises one hand and one hand clutches at something within his pocket--as if trying to reassure himself of something. "We came all this way." Fei says. "So I think we should say hello." He pauses, looking back to Elly. "Perhaps a bit rudely."
A red and blue chi blast erupts out of Fei's hand and slams into the barrier, rocking it hard. The energy seems limitless. He remembers, in his dreams, how often he has been asked to destroy, to destroy so that life may grow once more to die once again, a cycle of death and rebirth, the cycle of fire.
It wasn't by chance he picked up that medium. There is metaphysical cosmic affinity there.
But Fei could probably use some help here. House Dragonia doesn't stint on security and he is tapping into this strange power of his--not embodying it.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Mother's Cross toward his party's challenge, Imperial Seal.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Doesn't that figure," Josie laments, a touch overdramatically. "Well, I can't say that I didn't ask. Besides, it's going to a good cause."
The smile she wears broadens.
"Light 'em up, buttercup."
The going up the stones is a little unsteady.
"Hey now, there's nothing wrong with destruction. Sometimes you just have to break something to get somewhere. So don't sell yourself short, Red. Anyway." She pauses a moment, steadying herself atop a piece of rubble. "We're going to get up there, kill that bastard, and then get the hell out of here before anyone asks any awkward questions. Sound like a plan?"
The rubble she's on is a little unstable, as it happens, which sliiightly undercuts any 'cool' her little speech might have picked up.
Well, you can't win them all.
Still, eventually they make their way on up, all the way to the undisturbed antechamber.
"...Having a good old long chat in there, I bet. Asshole likes to talk," Josie says, lips twisting in a grimace.
What sort of history does she have with K.K., come to think of it...?
"I suppose we should knock," she says, hefting that mattock of hers one more time.
"Hate to interrupt a conversation. Would be downright rude, don't you think~?"
And it's with that bright, strained cheer that she slams the pick end of the mattock right into the barrier.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, Imperial Seal.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
See, this is why Xantia doesn't learn to take caution in most things she does. Things tend to end up just fine when she doesn't, managing to make it up to the floor housing the throne room on her first try. Not without cutting her leg on the sharp edge of ruined stone, but it doesn't matter. Such minor wounds don't tend to remain long.
While waiting for the others to arrive, she examines the sealed doors. While she doesn't really know what that seal means, it stands to reason that these doors aren't going to open easily. Maybe she should make a habit of bringing her hammer wherever she goes.
She looks to the rest of the group for their judgment as they arrive, smiling as they come to her favorite conclusion: smashing time. "Got it, I'll be as rude as I can!"
So saying, she extends her arms behind her, as if she were holding a hammer. Even if she didn't bring one, that doesn't mean she's entirely without one. Electricity springs forth from her hands, surrounding them, then extending outward, quickly shaping into an exact copy of her own hammer. Which she then swings towards the door, while saying, "Alright K.K., I hope you're ready for some uninvited justice!"
She's still working on her superhero lines, she's doing her best.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Imperial Seal.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Yeah, Josie," Lily agrees, though her visible eye lingers on the older woman. She'll have to watch her. "It sounds like a plan to me. Neutralize the target and go." A beat, "Maybe they'll even pay us." She's not that optimistic, though.
Gebler's supplies are running low. ...There are good things about being on Lunar.
Regardless, the theories about K.K. are better than nothing--Lily considers it, and quietly resolves to just see how hard she can hit them with magic. But--
"...It's all right," she tells Elly. And then she also misse a jump. It's pretty awful.
Eventually, though--
Lily looks around the chamber, thoughtful, examining the doors, the symbol... the Trial Knight beyond. "Yeah. We might as well." She glances to Fei, spotting his energy; the red lingers in her mind. "...Damn right."
Pulling the chains again, Lily wraps them about her hand, the runes attached shining in reflected light. She draws in a breath, to prepare herself, channeling throuh injury. ...And then--"Van Houten," Lily says. "...Let's do it."
Lily stretches out her hand, and blue light shines from her hand, from the lines under the chains. The temperature in the room drops precipituously where they are, and the area below the barrier begins to ice over outright. The sheer cold rises, up and up towards the ceiling, the air itself fogging and flakes of ice and snow beginning to radiate from ahead.
She smirks as she watches Xantia's electric hammer, which is itself a good distraction. "I haven't been very sociable in a long time," she agrees, staring and redoubling her efforts.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Rune Chain toward her party's challenge, Imperial Seal.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly breathes in, breathes out.
"Sure," Elly answers Josie. "I'm not doing this for fortune or fame..."
Then Lily gathers matters and chills the air. Elly tilts her head forwards as she closes her eyes and lets the wintry air wash over her. It is OK with her if it sucks the sweat and moisture off of her skin and garments for a moment. Frankly, all this leaping and everything has left her feeling a little gross, and it is good to come to things feeling your best.
But soon the coolth turns into a painful feeling and she knows it is time. Elly raises her left hand outwards, more to focus her thoughts than anything. She can, at least, take half a moment to get the shape exactly right.
An inspiration comes to her, hard to define. A question of geometries. Alloying it, she thinks. Major...
... Would you approve of this?
Much of what happens is invisible if you aren't using either Physics View or have a sensitive 3D thermal vision. The first is a low-rolling warm breeze, so warm that it dries out people's shoes and makes the accumulated ice start to sublimate. Rising as steam... forming layers of top-heavy rime.
Then the 'cube' comes, hurled forwards on a spiralling path. The tiny patch of air Elly's awareness has seized superheats without preamble or pretense, becoming a microscopic star for a searing moment, the electromagnetic currents formed by Xantia's punch making it dilate and expend -- as well as reaching atrocious, fusion-adjacent temperatures, just for a moment.
But a moment is precious. A moment can be long enough...
... TO DESTROY A DOOR
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Imperial Seal.
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Imperial Seal *>======================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- There are certain security measures that are enacted whenever a seat of national power is threatened. Call them protocol; people tend to be prepared for the worst, especially in as tenuous of times as these. This is especially true of Pendrago, a city that has existed long before it was even called that. The antechamber you arrive in is large and possessed of a gentle, subtle kind of beauty; the warmth of the sun-soaked marble is faint and pleasing as your footsteps echo throughout the room. It's quiet. Undisturbed. Before you, a pair of large double doors reign, ostentatious on their own... ... but notably marked with a shining seal of the symbol of House Dragonia, forged in reinforcing magic. The seal locks down the doors, preventing entry -- ostensibly, to keep whoever is inside safe from harm. One might assume they arrived before the Trial Knight... and then you hear the voices. Indistinct with that barrier between you, the sound of a voice warped by metal is, nonetheless, undeniably recognizable to those who have heard it before. The Trial Knight is within the Throne Room. How they managed to bypass the seal without any sort of obvious force is, perhaps, a question for another time. For right now? Finding out how to unlock the seal yourself will take time, time you do not have. There is only one way forward, here: Breaking through that magic. As quickly as possible. =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago - Round 7 *>================ =========================< Results - Imperial Seal >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 63 --(5)--> 68 Pass Mother's Cross 4 Brute Effects: None ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 68 --(5)--> 73 Pass Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 58 --(8)--> 66 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 58 --(5)--> 63 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 63 --(5)--> 68 Pass Rune Chain 3 Brute Effects: Stalwart and Efficien ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Fei Fong Wong 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Collapse|Save Point(1)|Tire(1) Effects: Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has successfully explored Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago!
=====================<* Common Sense ~ Castle Pendrago *>===================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Sword of Damocles *>====================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The seal shatters as the doors are broken wide. Columns line the wide open halls of Pendrago's throne room, an immense, circular affair dotted with statues of Rolance's past rulers, a long red carpet leading towards an immaculate throne at its center. A balcony, magically protected, provides a view of the entirety of Pendrago beyond. But the throne room's most recent decorations come in the form of the strewn bodies of the Royal Guard of the Imperial Knights, armor shattered and bloodied, but all of them at least seemingly alive -- if in various states of consciousness. Devastated, by an unstoppable force. And it is there that you find them. The Trial Knight, and the boy Emperor, huddled against his throne, masking fear with noble defiance. The former, raising their weapon into the air... (OOC: This leads directly into the scene Leviathan, Saturday at 7pm! If you are sending an alt or can't make it, your character can help the knights out, or anything else you'd like to do!) =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong's chi blast presses against the magic seal. It seems like it can do this for a while, giving everyone a chance to clobber the door.
Xantia unfortunately has the hardest time of it. Her own physical strength is incredible, but that ether hammer of hers slamming against the seal doesn't quite have the oomph to punch through.
It's probably only because she didn't eat Penelope though. Everybody is saying Xantia can't eat this Xantia can't eat that, what can Xantia eat anymore?! It's downright cruel.
Swinging a friggin' mattock works well, though, speeding up the demise of the door through the old mage option of rapid heating and cooling. In honor of the release of Hero U, Quest for Glory 4 had this as a way you could escape a cell too if you were a mage class! Could be the only way you'd survive!
The door actually gives way before the magic seal and when it does, the seal flickers away leaving Fei's chi blast to pass through the room.
Fly past K.K and the boy emperor (not the one that Fei referred to earlier).
Through a fancy statue of one of Rolance's past rulers (that one was kind of a dick though so don't feel too bad).
And through a few walls before bursting out from the ceiling.
And giving Penelope a light show from her perch.
"Woops." Fei says before nodding once to Elly with a grin, "You'n'Lily make a good team."
And with that he runs in only to see....!
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G65pvuTFR_A
TO BE CONTINUED--->