2018-07-21: Canyon Of Death And Despair (But Mostly Chiros)

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  • Log: Canyon Of Death And Despair (But Mostly Chiros)
  • Cast: Dean Stark, Rebecca Streisand, Fei Fong Wong, Avril Vent Fleur
  • Where: East Nota
  • Date: July 21st 2018
  • Summary: In search of Keystones, Dean leads his friends into the depths of the Forbidden Canyon once again. Fei faces the era's true peril. Avril guesses right. Rebecca recalls her youth. Dean has a moment in the sun.

DG: A party led by Dean Stark is now entering Forbidden Canyon.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>=============================
=================<* CHALLENGE - But This Isn't a Platformer! *>=================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The deep rift of the Forbidden Canyon slices through the mountains ahead of
 you. As you begin your journey into the canyon, you quickly find that the
 path you're on ends - at a huge chasm with a deep pitfall waiting for you.
 Across the chasm, there's another rock outcropping you could jump to. But
 it's narrow and doesn't go anywhere - except to offer you a chance to jump
 to another outcrop, then another, until you can reach a larger flat area way
 off to the other side of the canyon. One fall will send you plummeting into
 the stalagmites far below.

 This is completely unreasonable for characters not in a platform jumping
 game.
=Dungeon Conditions: Cripple==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    After the recent excursion through Mt. Manfred and getting trapped inside a stone lotus, Dean had to sleep that off for a day or two. That unfortunately meant that he wasn't able to help out when people went to the place that Avelina told them about, where an ancient Statue would appear upon the alignment of seven stars or something like that, but lots of other people went, so... Dean can only hope it went well. At least now he's fully recovered from the events of Pendrago and Mt. Manfred, so now he can lead his friends on a totally *different* harrowing adventure!
    
    Namely, a search through the Forbidden Canyon, with its terrifying chasm and pitfall drop, for the possibility that they might find another strange keystone like he and Ida and several others had found in Aifread's Hunting Grounds.
    
    "I think Ida's probably figured out where it's pointing just from the one," he tells Avril, Rebecca, and Fei over his shoulder as they approach the chasm, Twin Fenrir appearing in his heads, "but I figure, it couldn't hurt to try finding another one! And me and Avril have been here before, but we never made it all the way in, so who knows? Maybe there's one here!"
    
    Impeccable logic as always, Dean Stark.
    
    Regardless, when they reach the edge of the chasm, Dean points his ARMs and shoots his Freeze Ray to create elongated platforms so the jump between outcrops isn't quite so deadly and harrowing. "Okay! Let's do our best!" he tells the others jauntily. "Worst comes to worst, Lucadia can bounce us across!" ...Bounce?

DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Freeze Ray toward his party's challenge, But This Isn't a Platformer!.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


"I'm not much for leaving it up to Ida anyway."

Frankly she'd rather stay out of this business entirely, but since Dean and Avril are in it - so is she. And she feels a little competitive over it. "Dean - what the-!? That sounds more like an excuse to push into a place you know is dangerous. Do you even have any evidence there's one here?" She grouses some, but then with a light shrug, "Well... I guess it's fine. I've heard worse plans than looking around at random."

Wow she gave in really easily. ... Maybe it has something to do with Ida after all.

Rebecca starts doing some stretches as she checks the gap, raising one leg to pull at her ankle, and bend over flexibly to touch her other toe. Then repeating. Limbering up for what's to come.

"Wait - bounce us?" She looks sidelong at Avril mid-stretch. "Can Lucadia really do that Avril?"

Grabbing a handful of grit, she rubs it between her gloves and up her fingers, clapping her hands together. "Right Dean! Let's do this!"

Right before she starts taking a running start to leap that first chasm to the first outcropping.

The jumps aren't going to be easy - but with the freeze ray and Avril around well...

She's fairly certain at least that if she fell, someone would be there to catch her.

DG: Rebecca Streisand has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, But This Isn't a Platformer!.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

With Dean's Freeze Ray he will

STOP

The pain but Fei Fong Wong honestly is just plain worried about Ida especially after last night where she barely talked to him or Elly despite them being not particularly subtle about talking to her about her present situation. She did have the werewithal to recognize that maybe she shouldn't be hanging around that weird seraph crystal thing so he's trying to take that as good news. He had ad weird dream lately too so...there's that as well, but there's little reason to mention it to Dean and the others. they live happy lives and they don't need Fei introducing problems into it.

"Well, I don't really know what we're looking for," Fei says. "But I do need to hit up more ruins anyway. I'll keep my eyes open for anything uh 'pointy' looking."

Fei starts to head across Dean's platform but little does he know--

*JUMP...the playstation starts whirring noisily*

--there's still random encounters evne while jumping across the platforms Dean creates.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, But This Isn't a Platformer!.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.


    "From just the one... I would think you would need more than one to determine the proper angle," Avril comments, though her gaze remains distant, troubled.

    That... lotus had been a product of the domain. If they had not been able to crack it open and rescue Dean...
    Do Ida and the rest of them understand what they're doing?
    If it comes down to it, she will have to...
    The fingers of her right hand twitch at the thought, as if she were clutching at the hilt of a blade.

    Even if Dean hates her for it, she will do what she must.

    But for now, there's the canyon before them, and the matter of the keystone that may be hidden somewhere within.

    Wind billows up, directed by the rock walls. It catches Avril's hair and sends it spreading outwards as if it were a cape for a moment.

    "Yes. First we will need to get down into the canyon," she states, drawing out the Medium for the Guardian's assistance in breaching the gaps between the platforms Dean creates, and the small sections of rockwall that already exist.

    "The last time we were here, we encountered a doorway down in the depths. It looked as if it did not belong," she says to Fei, readying the Medium. "Perhaps what we are looking for is beyond there." This is also, by a circuitous route, a response to Rebecca's question on the wisdom of selecting this particular location.

    ...Bounce.

    Avril draws up a touch rigid, as if she's suddenly been stricken by a chill or some such. She sucks in a breath. Slowly, her gaze meets Rebecca's. And in silence, she very minutely shakes her head.

    'No, Lucadia cannot do that'.

    'But let Dean have his dream.'

    But what the Guardian can do is this: "Lucadia..."

    As the blessing's light shines, Avril prepares for her first downward leap.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, But This Isn't a Platformer!.
=============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>=============================
=================<* CHALLENGE - But This Isn't a Platformer! *>=================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The deep rift of the Forbidden Canyon slices through the mountains ahead of
 you. As you begin your journey into the canyon, you quickly find that the
 path you're on ends - at a huge chasm with a deep pitfall waiting for you.
 Across the chasm, there's another rock outcropping you could jump to. But
 it's narrow and doesn't go anywhere - except to offer you a chance to jump
 to another outcrop, then another, until you can reach a larger flat area way
 off to the other side of the canyon. One fall will send you plummeting into
 the stalagmites far below.

 This is completely unreasonable for characters not in a platform jumping
 game.
=Dungeon Conditions: Cripple==================================================
========================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 1 *>========================
===================< Results - But This Isn't a Platformer! >===================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dean Stark                          0 --(15)--> 15                 Pass
Freeze Ray                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    0 --(20)--> 20                 Fail
Sea Medium                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(20)--> 20                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebecca Streisand                   0 --(20)--> 20                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Dean Stark                  0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
Conditions: Cripple
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Dean Stark 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> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Well, no, but it can't hurt to try, can it?" Dean argues with Rebecca. "We found that other keystone totally at random, so we could find any of them totally at random! And if you're gonna search at random, it's best to search in places you haven't seen all the way to the end yet, so you don't know what's coming, but you've at least seen some of, so you at least know what you're getting into!"
    
    As far as Ida herself, well... Rebecca's always been a Debbie Downer. Dean frowns at her sentiment, but doesn't argue with her about it.
    
    Instead, he looks over at Fei. "Oh, you'll know it when you see it," he says confidently. "It's a big stone, about the size of a big dinner plate, and it glows blue when you get close to it!" So distracted is he by this explanation-giving, he doesn't notice Avril's subtle response to Rebecca. Rude, Avril. You were there too!! YOU ALSO BOUNCED. Dean does nod her way when she mentions the door, though.
    
    Regardless, the bouncing does not happen this time. What *does* happen is people jumping from platform to platform, and ice starting to break, and people screaming a lot until the light of Lucadia's Jump deposits them on... a different ice platform that, thank whatever's listening, is close enough that they manage to get across without being skewered on the stones below.
    
    That was really quite harrowing, though.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Feed Us Seymour *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 A thick tangle of thorny vines has spread madly across the pathway here. The
 vines crisscross in a spiky mess; removing them might hurt. But there are a
 few bulbous, purple-tinged buds poking up from them, each with white folds
 across them resembling smiling lips.

 Of course, as you approach, the bulbs open up to reveal little fanged mouths
 and wagging tongues. The vines rustle and twist, moving a little towards you
 but stopping. The toothy buds don't attack.

 They look like they're waiting to be fed, actually. Hm. Perhaps doing them a
 favour will cause them to move the vines out of your way. But what will
 satisfy flesh-eating plants?
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"That..." Sounds familiar. "Is good to know," Fei tells Dean.

Meanwhile Fei has used at least two potion berries just to get through this nonsense and he finally makes it to solid ground, exhaling faintly. "Hopefully this keystone is patient." Fei tells Dean before the group carries on, giving Avril a long look, perhaps considering her words. Doesn't belong, Fei thinks, that means someone put it there right? And perhaps recently.

"So besides you and Ida, does anybody else know about where it might lead--" Fei begins before he suddenly raises his hand to signal a stop.

--that's because the group nearly walked into a group of FLESH EATING PLANTS. They have giant lips and wagging tongues and way from side to side.

"Feed me~" They sing.

Fei hesitates. "Does it have to be human?"

"Feed me~"

"Does it have to be mine?" Fei asks.

"Feed me~"

Fei frowns for a long moment before adding, "How about I just...paint your picture!"

Suddenly Fei places down an eisel and has a paintbrush in hand, swiping greens and reds across the canvas.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Feed Us Seymour.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Rebecca gawks at Dean - because it at least makes a certain amount of sense in that Dean kind of way. Enough at least that she can't really argue it too much. Her misgivings are mostly because of the danger. "I mean - that makes sense... I guess."

Rebecca and Avril share that silent look for some time. Whatever message she tried to convey. Rebecca at least seems to get it. Because after a few moments she gives this light nod with this wry kind of smile.

'Okay. I'll let Dean be Dean.'

'Besides I don't have to bounce when I know you'll catch me.'

Case in point. Rebecca falling - then Lucadia catching her with a Jump. Then depositing her on ice.

Rebecca takes a moment to gasp for breath on the other side. "Okay - we're okay. We're... okay. Lucadia... caught us..."

She doesn't say bounce.

But when she says Lucadia she may really mean Avril.

-=-=-

As the vines come at them though Rebecca recoils at their chorus.

"This doesn't feel like it's gonna end well..."

Rebecca mutters, then thinks on the matter some... "Some reason I remember Tony talking about something like this once."

Taking out her poetry book, she thumbs through it until she gets to an early section.

Golems golems golems.
Dean and a golem sitting in a tree.
Maybe he'll just marry a golem.
Hello I am Dean's wife. The Crushinator.
I have two goals in life - being huge and being a golem.
And this is why Dean loves me so.

Rebecca sweatdrops then mutters to herself in a quiet way. "In your defense Rebecca. You were ten."

There's the sound of a page ripping, as she tears it up, crumples it into a ball.

"Hey look at that. Tony mentioned they eat paper." She lies very lightly, "Go figure. The... irony."

She tosses it idly at the things which begin to rip it to pieces and fight each other over it in front of their eyes.

DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Rebecca's Travel Diary toward her party's challenge, Feed Us Seymour.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "I do not believe so," Avril states to Fei's question. "I have not heard of anyone else seeking the keystones. Perhaps they might lead to a clue to how we might return to Filgaia?"

    Even if some of the statues appear here on the moon, they have unfinished business back on the 'Blue Star'.

    Lucadia does pull though, though it's not without a few seconds of utter terror as the group nearly plummets to their death (probably) at the bottom of the canyon.

    That, and an utterly last-minute grab on Avril's end to keep Rebecca from a dangerous spill off the icy path they land on. Some reorienting, dusting off, and checking for bruises is called for.

    Still, all's well that ends well, right?

    Well, it's debateable, when their path leads them straight into a clutch of toothed plants, clamoring for a meal.

    "Oh..."

    Avril leans sidelong, eyeing the patch critically as she takes in the latest obstacle in their path.

    "Tony, was it? He was the one who gave us the Original Artificial Mediums, along with the Copy Mediums," she says, before gathering her skirts to move in and take a closer look at the hungry hungry flowers.

    "...Do you think they're cute?" she asks Rebecca after a moment, seconds before that wadded-up ball of paper goes sailing for the plants.

    She fishes under her wrap, coming up with a wax-paper wrapped boiled sweet.
    She doesn't unwrap it before tossing it over. Well, Rebecca said they like paper.

    "I am not certain that plants would typically eat candy, but perhaps the paper will count," she explains.
    ...Shouldn't she have kept the candy, then?

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Feed Us Seymour.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Well, we happened across that first one by accident, so the others ought to be," Dean says. Dean does not question why he believes there might be more of these stones. Somewhere, somehow, someone suggested that the light the one they'd found originally would be easier to trace if there were more of them, and he just... assumed there *would* be more to find. For some reason, no one has called him on this. Maybe everyone has made the same assumption for some mysterious reason. Or maybe... they know something he doesn't.
    
    "I think the one light pointed somewhere towards the ocean?" Dean says, only to stop when Fei raises a hand. Vine flowers drop down and sing to be fed. Dean stares at them, dumbfounded. Mosquitos the size of his hand buzz by, searching for blood. One gets awwwwfully close to Avril, and...
    
    "*Hah*! Gotcha!!" Dean shouts, whirling around and shooting that mosquito, and several others, before they can feast upon anyone's delectable skin. The bugs crumple to the ground, dead but mostly intact. ...The carnivorous flowers continue to sing for food.
    
    "Do dead bugs count?" he asks, picking one up by the leg and offering it to those strange white lips. Fei, meanwhile, paints a picture of the mighty hunter's slaying. ...No? Just the flowers? Well, at least they are in fact getting fed.
    
    Meanwhile Rebecca claims Tony had said something about plants like these once, before referencing her diary. "Huh, wow, really?" he asks her in interest. "So he knows about Golems *and* plants! Man, Old Man Tony's smart! So what'd he say?"
    
    'Tony mentioned they eat paper.'
    
    Dean squints at Rebecca. Something about this seems suspicious...
    
    ... .... ...... ..........
    
    Oh well! It's not like Dean could call Rebecca on lying about something in her diary anyway, because if he tried to read for himself, she'd beat him over the head with said diary. No sir, Dean knows better than to try looking inside. Not when he knows it's hers. Instead, he looks over at Avril and says, "Yup! They've been a lot of help so far. I wonder how he's doing right now?"

DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Standard Cartridge toward his party's challenge, Feed Us Seymour.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Feed Us Seymour *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 A thick tangle of thorny vines has spread madly across the pathway here. The
 vines crisscross in a spiky mess; removing them might hurt. But there are a
 few bulbous, purple-tinged buds poking up from them, each with white folds
 across them resembling smiling lips.

 Of course, as you approach, the bulbs open up to reveal little fanged mouths
 and wagging tongues. The vines rustle and twist, moving a little towards you
 but stopping. The toothy buds don't attack.

 They look like they're waiting to be fed, actually. Hm. Perhaps doing them a
 favour will cause them to move the vines out of your way. But what will
 satisfy flesh-eating plants?
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
=======================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 2 *>=======================
========================< Results - Feed Us Seymour >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dean Stark                          15 --(20)--> 35                Fail
Standard Cartridge                  3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    20 --(20)--> 40                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       20 --(20)--> 40                Fail
Artist's Toolkit                    2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebecca Streisand                   20 --(15)--> 35                Pass
Rebecca's Travel Diary              2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Dean Stark                  10 --(10)--> 20                Fail
Conditions: Cripple|Stupify(2)
Effects: Enlighten(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Dean Stark 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> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Sadly it seems that the paper is the only thing that the creatures are going for. Perhaps they really like poetry. One of them unfortunately chokes a bit on the piece of paper it has manages to tear free and spits it out, flying right into Fei's face and causing him to knock over his paint cans as he reaches to take the scrap off.

Fei blinks and he looks at it. Instinctively, he starts to read it aloud.

"Wife the Crushinator--" Fei begins clearly not understanding...

Unfortunately(?) at about this point, the plants decide that fei is trying to steal their lunch and he charges the group in an attempt to devour them! One of them snatches the paper out of Fei's hand and nearly, uh, Fei's hand too for that matter.

Luckily thanks to a combination of kung fu, magic, and bullet it does seem like they'll actually be able to beat down the enemy, albeit with lower supplies (again) and with some scratches and bruises (again).

"I think we picked the wrong place." Fei says.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>=============================
=============<* CHALLENGE - Cutie-Patootie Chiro Death Stampede *>==============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 As you proceed through the canyon, a low rumbling sound begins to build from
 somewhere up above. It grows louder; the entire earth begins to tremble. And
 then a shadow falls over you.

 And a tidal wave of adorable waist-high critters with tan fur, cute pawsies
 and fwishy red tails comes bubbling over a ledge and pours down into the
 canyon, racing towards you at unbelievable speed. They're Rock Mongrels,
 cousins of the Chiro Mongrel.

 They are also forming an incredibly fast-moving stampede that will probably
 swallow you up and pulverize you if you don't somehow manage to outrun a
 million rampaging Rock Mongrels. Hope you brought your running shoes.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Suffer=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    As it happens, plants don't particularly like the candy part of paper-wrapped candy. Avril does a very narrow dodge of the now plant-saliva-coated strawberry sweet as it's pinballed back right at her, her expression decidedly deadpan the entire while.

    "The... 'Crushinator'?" Avril echoes, leaning in as if she's about to take a look at the paper too--

    Before fortune (for Rebecca) intervenes, and the plants, unsatisfied with their offerings, decide to go for the next best thing after paper.
    OF COURSE IT'S FLESH.

    The path, after that problem is dealt with, leads ever downwards, towards the bottom of the canyon proper.

    "Hmm. I believe the doorway we saw was over that way," Avril says, before pointing towards the west end of the canyon.

    The earth, on cue, starts to tremble.
    She turns, blinking.
    Her eyes widen.

    They come as a tide, right over a ledge higher up on the canyon's side. They are Chiro -- or relatives of, at least -- and they care not for the concerns of lesser creatures.
    They surge rather than fall in any case. They are unhurt. They are legion.

    This happened the last time too--

    Avril as before draws the Medium from the depths of her wrap, producing it with a flourish. "Please, get close! Lucadia--"

    The power of the Sea Guardian, even here on the moon, should be able to whisk them further away from the horde and spare them a nasty trampling.
    But only if it can move them before the horde reaches them. And the horde is so very very close...

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Cutie-Patootie Chiro Death Stampede.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


"Cute?" Rebecca blinks as if stunned and not knowing how to answer. Could it be possible that Avril thought they were cute? What happens if Rebecca then says she thinks they're a little horrifying!? Would Avril then think that she herself is a total weirdo for liking them?! Unacceptable! So instead of answering the question with a concrete answer she asks. "Do you think they're cute Avril?"

Dean squints at her white lie and Rebecca wonders - 'Oh no Dean didn't buy it! And Dean buys everything!' But thankfully that accusing gaze kind of eases off, "Haha... it's funny how that works... it's like they're cannibals..."

And then Fei reads her poem. And Avril repeats it. Rebecca lightly pokes Fei on the shoulder. Then brings down her diary to rap the top of his head lightly. "It's not polite to read off people's garbage mister Fong Wong."

She'd have a much more pronounced reaction if he read it in her book after saying he wouldn't before. Buttttt, he just read off the garbage. So that's all he gets.

And then Rebecca has to start shooting.

Afterwards in the canyon - it starts to tremble and cute little Chiros are coming their way - "Um... well this'd be pretty cute if it wasn't a- STAMPEDE!"

Getting closer to Avril, she waits for Lucadia's power to whisk them away a little. And then she starts running. Running really real fast, staying close to the rest of them to make sure they keep up.

It'd be nice if there was a place to jump overhead to grab ahold and wait it out - but there is not currently so her plan 'Run away from the cute horde.'%

DG: Rebecca Streisand has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Cutie-Patootie Chiro Death Stampede.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Wife the what?" Dean echoes, probably the worst of all possible timelines for Rebecca. Fortunately(?), the carnivorous plants chomp at Fei, leading to a fight, and while they're ultimately victorious, they lose out on more supplies before they can move onwards. Fei suggests maybe they picked the wrong place.
    
    "We didn't make it all the way through last time, either," Dean reminds him, if while rubbing the back of his head. Meanwhile he makes a face at Rebecca's suggestion that eating paper makes the plants cannibals. "I really don't know which is worse, cannibals or carnivores," he laments.
    
    Once they're in the clear, Avril suggests a direction. "Hmmm... That seems about right," he says. "But I think this is also about when--" Rumble rumble rumble. "--there was that stampede of fuzzy animals--" RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE STAMPEEEEEDE. Dean gets close to Avril as she requests, but he's also summoned Twin Fenrir, and is ready to shoot the ground with ice to facilitate a speedy getaway if/when that becomes necessary. And it's probably going to be necessary, let's be real.

DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Freeze Ray toward his party's challenge, Cutie-Patootie Chiro Death Stampede.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei is poked in the shoulder. "Hm?"

THUNK!

"Oh! Sorry!" Fei grimaces, rubbing at his head where Rebecca bonked him. crunching it back up again, red in the face. "I got so caught up in the painting I wasn't thinking. He also promptly burns it with burst of flame from his hand to erase all evidence of his crime. "I uh, owe you one."

The big question for what comes next, of course, is whether or not you get random encounters while running from Chiros and well yeah you probably do. Fei rushes along and adds, "On reflection maybe Ida has this handled??" Fei shouts, his voice barely raising over the noise of the incoming stampede.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Cutie-Patootie Chiro Death Stampede.
=============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>=============================
=============<* CHALLENGE - Cutie-Patootie Chiro Death Stampede *>==============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 As you proceed through the canyon, a low rumbling sound begins to build from
 somewhere up above. It grows louder; the entire earth begins to tremble. And
 then a shadow falls over you.

 And a tidal wave of adorable waist-high critters with tan fur, cute pawsies
 and fwishy red tails comes bubbling over a ledge and pours down into the
 canyon, racing towards you at unbelievable speed. They're Rock Mongrels,
 cousins of the Chiro Mongrel.

 They are also forming an incredibly fast-moving stampede that will probably
 swallow you up and pulverize you if you don't somehow manage to outrun a
 million rampaging Rock Mongrels. Hope you brought your running shoes.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Suffer=============================================
========================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 3 *>========================
===============< Results - Cutie-Patootie Chiro Death Stampede >================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dean Stark                          35 --(15)--> 50                Pass
Freeze Ray                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    40 --(15)--> 55                Pass
Sea Medium                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       40 --(20)--> 60                Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebecca Streisand                   35 --(15)--> 50                Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Dean Stark                  20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Cripple|Slow(2)|Stupify(1)|Suffer(1)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Dean Stark 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> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Avril's comment sends Rebecca into what might be called a bit of a fluster. Avril, in response...

    Well, she nods. "Yes, I do. There's something, hmm... endearing about them," she says, of the slobbering mawed plants as they continue to request a meal.

    ...Whatever you say, Avril.

    What happens after they've dealt with the plants might have been a little cute itself, if it weren't for the fact that a trampling looks a little inevitable there for a while--

    But--

    Brilliant light descends as the lot of them hoof it, as comforting and invigorating as all the easy drift of the sea.

    In the nick of time, Lucadia's blessing has swirled around them and pulled them away at high speeds (enhanced, thanks to the ice underfoot) from the rush of fuzzy but determined animals to a point of somewhat higher elevation close by; the critters will just surge right on past, leaving the group unscathed. Also helpful, the fact that the creatures slip and slide on some of the ice themselves, which further enhances the time Lucadia's power has to do its work.

    "I suppose we should get down," Avril says, once the horde is but dust trails.

DG: Rebecca Streisand has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Pick A Shell... I Dare You *>=================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 You're not the only adventurers trying to solve the mystery of the Forbidden
 Canyon! Waiting for you ahead is a weaselly-looking man in a bandanna,
 sitting in front of a flat-topped rock with three turtle shells atop it.
 "Say there, friends. I hear you're lookin' for the treasure," he says
 wheedlingly, before dropping a pea beneath one of the shells and rapidly
 mixing them up with blurring motions of his hands.

 "Find which shell the pea is under," he challenges smugly, "and I'll give ya
 a hot tip!"
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


So the question had been answered that Avril thinks they're endearing. Rebecca files this away under her Avril facts. She does not answer still whether she thinks they're cute though.

She wants to think on that when the sound of their squelching corpses isn't fresh in her mind.

Fortunately the ice and blessing get them up high, and Rebecca whistles as she watches them all go by.

"Hopefully when we get down a second stampede won't come raging by..."

But eventually she dismounts.

And onward they go. Until eventually a weaselly man jumps out of the tree with a certain flair on the path in front of them. "SAY FRIENDS - LOOKING FOR TREASURE?"

Rebecca startles, "Wha- where did you come from?"

"Does it matter!? The fact is you're adventurers here looking for treasure right? How would you like to play a game?"

Rebecca says quietly, "I can't think of anything I'd like less?"

"Wow - don't be like that! Especially when I've got a hot tip for you!"

And that's when he kneels down and allows a pea to roll it out of his sleeve to the ground, putting down a shell over it and two more and starting to rapidly mix them up. "Think you can find the pea? If you can - I'll help you out."

Rebecca groans, "Bad enough this con is run in every back alley where we've come from - that now we have to deal with it here."

And eventually he stops, giving them a gap toothed smile, "I run an honest game here. Now which is it?"

Rebecca pulls out her diary from her bag, then slams it down so quickly that he retracts his hands with a yelp before he can get his knuckles bruised. "What's the big idea!?"

Glowering at him. "I wasn't born yesterday mister. You keep your hands up where we can see them and one of us will pick our answer. Then overturn the other two - nice and slow after just to make sure it's there. We'll see just how on the up and up you really are. And you better not have friends waiting in the wings to ambush us. It won't go well for you."

The guy starts to sweat a little.

DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Rebecca's Travel Diary toward her party's challenge, Pick A Shell... I Dare You.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Endearing?" Dean echoes, staring at Avril. Next to her, a singing flower slavers. "Uh... I... guess?" He shoots a bewildered look Rebecca's way, but Rebecca's just looking at Avril like she's remembering that for future reference for some reason. Like she might get her a gift or something. A gift between ladies. A *romantic* gift between ladies, perhaps, even. But Dean wouldn't know anything about that.
    
    Anyway, the group manages to evade the stampede. These little guys *are* cute, or at least they would be if he and his friends hadn't almost been crushed to death by them. Dean watches them go by with a *whew!* and then grins at the others. "We're a little closer now, guys! We just gotta keep moving forward!"
    
    And forward they move, until Mr. Weasel jumps out with a Proposition For Them. Dean doesn't startle, because they *are* in fact looking for treasure. "How'd you know?" he asks, already intrigued--then grins at Rebecca. "Aw, c'mon! It's just a game! What could it hurt?"
    
    Rebecca's a bit smarter than that, though. She outright threatens the guy, even, DEMANDING a fair game. Dean blinks at her, sweating a little... but hey, she's usually got a good eye for this kind of thing. When the game actually *is* ready, he'll keep a close eye on the cups... and...
    
    "The pea is under... THERE!" he declares with a dramatic flourish, made even more dramatic that he summons Twin Fenrir to hand to point for him. This miiiight just be extra incentive for the huckster to not cheat, even though that was not at all Dean's intent. He just wanted to look cool!

DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Standard Cartridge toward his party's challenge, Pick A Shell... I Dare You.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei might have thought they were cute if they didn't try to eat him alive. That does tend to make him feel a little less love for any sort of creature.

Fei glances over to Rebecca for a moment before nodding once and drawing out his sketchpad as the game is played as he starts sketching the very man who offered them a game.

"Hey uh..." The man says. "Whatcha doing there?"

"Well," Fei says after a few moments. "I'm pretty sure that the church of Althena frowns on gambling so I'm just getting a sketch done of you so I can hand it over. Never know when I might need that kind of insurance to get 'em off my back."

Yeah Fei can be kind of a dick sometimes.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Pick A Shell... I Dare You.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    They're learning all sorts of things about Avril today.

    (but the real question is, is that something that the person she used to be thought was cute, or is this something she has come to think is cute...?)
    (maybe it's best not to ask)

    She hops down, shoes scuffing against the dirt underfoot. One glance traces down the opposite end -- the end those creatures had come charging down from.
    "I do not think they will," Avril says simply, her brow creasing faintly. "I feel as if that was the last of them."

    They don't get much farther before that man appears with all pomp and little circumstance.

    Offers to play a little game with them. Avril glances between the three of them, as if to silently inquire if this is typical, but...

    No, her memories might only go back about a year and then some, but she had spent most of that time in the wastes of Filgaia. She might still be a naif compared to some, but she has wrung out a few hard-earned lessons yet.

    Rebecca, as she so often does, takes point in the accusations leveled at the frankly entirely shady man.

    "And should we lose? What would you ask of us?" She takes one slow step forward.

    "You must promise that you will honor your terms, as we promise to honor our own. Otherwise..."

    Her gaze is steely as she stares at the huckster. Unblinking, even.

    "Dean. That one should be right."

    ....Was she even watching the cups?

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pick A Shell... I Dare You.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Pick A Shell... I Dare You *>=================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 You're not the only adventurers trying to solve the mystery of the Forbidden
 Canyon! Waiting for you ahead is a weaselly-looking man in a bandanna,
 sitting in front of a flat-topped rock with three turtle shells atop it.
 "Say there, friends. I hear you're lookin' for the treasure," he says
 wheedlingly, before dropping a pea beneath one of the shells and rapidly
 mixing them up with blurring motions of his hands.

 "Find which shell the pea is under," he challenges smugly, "and I'll give ya
 a hot tip!"
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
=======================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 4 *>=======================
===================< Results - Pick A Shell... I Dare You >===================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dean Stark                          50 --(5)--> 55                 Pass
Standard Cartridge                  3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    55 --(5)--> 60                 Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       60 --(5)--> 65                 Pass
Artist's Toolkit                    2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebecca Streisand                   50 --(5)--> 55                 Pass
Rebecca's Travel Diary              2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Dean Stark                  40 --(25)--> 65                Pass
Conditions: Cripple|Slow(1)|Treasure(1)
Effects: Enlighten(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Dean Stark has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 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> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Avril's question on what they stand to lose. "Nothing? It's all in good fun." He laughs lightly, but then he stares at Avril's unblinking gaze and gulps, "... swear it to Althena." Rebecca eyes him suspiciously. As if thinking his aim was to pickpocket them or ambush them for some light banditry.

The man sweats a lot more at Fei. "Wow seriously? You'd really rat me out to the Chosen? That's cold man. That's-" And then Dean shoots the shell. Which Avril helped him choose. "-cold. Oh."

Out of the shell rolls a pea.

-=-=-

"Wow y'all are just too good at this." And with that, he sweeps some brush aside which was camouflaging a trail. "This'll take you past the next part which - well you don't want to know what the next part was." Rebecca says smartly, "Well thanks for the honest game. Much appreciated."

And after all of them depart...

Some of the man's compatriots come out of hiding, armed and dangerous. "Dang man don't you think we should go after them? That guy sketched you..." And he puts up his hands and just says, "You know what. No. No. Just let it go. I bet he was bluffing and the way that girl looked at me..."

He thinks of the look Avril gave him and shivers, "... something about it tells me that it wouldn't go well for us."

 DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.

 ============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
 =====================<* CHALLENGE - Catch That Thief! *>======================
 |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
 --------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  For once, you get a short reprieve! The stretch of canyon ahead of you
  appears free of obstacles. You're able to walk along easily enough.
 
  Until a brown Chiro Mongrel-lookin' critter pops out of a hole and jumps at
  you - and snags a bag full of your inventory, and dashes off! It's
  incredibly fast and you'll have to hoof it like you mean it if you're going
  to catch the Rock Mongrel before it vanishes with a bunch of your silver and
  other valuable vittles!
 =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei doesn't answer the question until after the man gives them advice on where to go. "Probably not," He admits. "Just insurance." He taps the side of his head twice with an index finger. "But you should be careful, not all members of the Church are obvious."

And with that the group continues onward, Fei glancing over to Avril and adds to her, "It was impressive how you were able to pick out the right cup. It didn't even look like you were watching." Honestly it's probably for the best that those men didn't end up chasing after this group because they're clearly all pretty nuts. Especially that Dean guy who just drew his gun out of the blue like that. How scary!

But unfortunately the next problem is--

THE SCREEN SHATTERS INTO SEVERAL MIRROR SHARDS

A Chiro has appeared!

A Chiro has used steal!

Fei has lost 660 gella!

A chiro has fled!

"Gah!!" Fei shouts. "Don't let it get away! That's my lunch money!!"

DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Catch That Thief!.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Aw, c'mon, Fei, don't be like that! It's just a game!" Dean protests to his friend. Avril points him at a shell, and he shoots it, and out rolls a pea. He beams at his friend. "See? We didn't play for money or anything like that, we just had a bit of fun and this guy showed us a shortcut!" And to the huckster himself, he gives a cheerful thumb's up, a more sincere version of Rebecca's clipped gratitude. "Thanks, man! We had a good time!" As the group heads on into the hidden trail, Dean adds, "Wow, though, Avril, you've got a really great eye. I was thinking that one, but you pointed at it without any hesitation!"
    
    The group heads down the trail, chattering in a lively, friendly fashion, clearly bolstered after that friendly and totally innocent game, when all of a sudden--
    
    CHIRO SURPRISE!
    
    "Wha--hey! It's another one of those little guys!" Dean declares, blinking widely. Then Fei shouts, too, and-- "What?! That was your lunch money it grabbed?!" FOOD MONEY IS SACRED AND CANNOT BE DESPOILED. Twin Fenrir flashes back into his hands, and he shoots a trail of ice in front of him for him to leap onto after a running start so he can catch up with it SUPER quick. "After it!!"

DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Freeze Ray toward his party's challenge, Catch That Thief!.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "'All in good fun'," Avril quotes, her gaze heavylidded for the moment. Then, she nods, as if she accepts his solemn oath (in the name of the goddess) that he'll play fair.

    Before she and Dean make their pick of the cups.

    The pea sits there, as if lit by the sun.

    "Remember that you promised," she informs the man.

    He remembers.

    Strolling down the side path, Avril shades her eyes as if attempting to gauge where they are to where she remembers the doorway resting. "Hmm? Oh? ...No, I wasn't watching. I just had a feeling where the pea would be. Perhaps this is what they call 'intuition'?" she says to Fei and Dean as they wind their way further down that path. "Now, hmm, if we're here, the gate might be--"

    A WILD CHIRO HAS APPEARED?
    COMMAND?

    "We mustn't let it escape!" Avril calls out, drawing out the Sea Medium to give them that last essential push after the fast-legged rodent creature.

    "Lucadia!"

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Catch That Thief!.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


As Avril declares it was intuition, Rebecca mentions idly to Dean. "A woman's intuition isn't to be underestimated - Dean!" And as Rebecca knows quite well... Avril is one formidable woman. So formidable that she feels a little inadequate.

And then theft!

"Wait what!?"

A Chiro Mongrel steals Fei's...

... Lunch Money!?

"How much do you spend on your lunch!?"

All the same Rebecca chases after it, sprinting before doing some sick acrobatics that...

... might make no difference whatsoever since it's a fast little bugger.

"Get back here! DON'T WASTE FEI'S MONEY!"

DG: Rebecca Streisand has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Catch That Thief!.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Catch That Thief! *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 3          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 For once, you get a short reprieve! The stretch of canyon ahead of you
 appears free of obstacles. You're able to walk along easily enough.

 Until a brown Chiro Mongrel-lookin' critter pops out of a hole and jumps at
 you - and snags a bag full of your inventory, and dashes off! It's
 incredibly fast and you'll have to hoof it like you mean it if you're going
 to catch the Rock Mongrel before it vanishes with a bunch of your silver and
 other valuable vittles!
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
=======================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 5 *>=======================
=======================< Results - Catch That Thief! >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dean Stark                          55 --(20)--> 75                Fail
Freeze Ray                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    60 --(20)--> 80                Fail
Sea Medium                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       65 --(20)--> 85                Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebecca Streisand                   55 --(20)--> 75                Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Dean Stark                  65 --(5)--> 70                 Fail
Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Cripple
Effects: Quicken(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Dean Stark 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> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"It's for more than one lunch!" Fei says. "And sometimes I treat Xantia!!"

Unfortunately uh. Yeah, nobody gets anywhere close and the Chiro is long gone pretty quickly after all of that. Fei's lunch money is soon gone forever. This is what happens when you try to use Althena for your own gains, everybody, you lose your lunch money. And Xantia's lunch money.

Fei is actually looking pretty exhausted after all that too, quite honestly. He might not make it at this rate. But he does decide to push on all the same, chatting to Avril as he does so.

"Just intuition...that's incredible." He admits.

DG: Dean Stark has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>=============================
===========<* CHALLENGE - Chiro Mongrel's Equally Annoying Cousin *>============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You turn a corner and you're confronted by... a group of several waist-high
 critters with fwishy reddish tails, dusty tan fur, and adorable little
 pawsies and blinky eyes. They're Rock Mongrels, cousins of the Chiro
 Mongrel! Aww, aren't they cute?!

 They're also opening their gigantic mouths freakishly wide and trying to
 bite your legs off. Ahhhh! Once you take a swing at them, they'll
 immediately turn around and run like hell at a truly absurd rate of speed.
 Don't get your hopes up about catching them, though if you do, I bet they
 give a ton of XP and silver... probably more than you deserve right now.

 You might be a liiiiittle under-leveled for this dungeon, not gonna lie.
=Dungeon Conditions: Vault, Fright============================================
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "No kidding!" Dean says to Rebecca, even as he beams at Avril. But then the Chiro Mongrel STEALS FEI'S MONEY. The group runs after it, but it is a *fast* little bugger, and soon it's out of sight, leaving everyone hunched over trying to catch their breath... "We--can't--just give up--now," Dean pants, looking over at the others. "It's gotta--be around here--somewhere!"
    
    "Chrrrrp?"
    
    Dean looks up. The Chiro from before is staring down at them with adorable brown eyes, and Fei's money pouch in its mouth, from a ledge up above.
    
    "See?! There it is!" he declares, thrusting a finger up at it. "After it!"
    
    "Chrrrp?" "Chrrp?" "Chrrrrp?" "Chrrrr..." "Chrrrrp!!"
    
    That would be the ledge suddenly filling up with several more, very similar-looking critters. They're all bigger than the Chiro Mongrel, being Rock Mongrels. Cousins! Family!! Awww, it looks like Chiro-chan brough the money home so everyone can have lunch!
    
    And it looks like they're very hungry for lunch.
    
    "Uh..." Dean utters, right before the Chiro Mongrel ducks out of sight, and the Rock Mongrels all dive down to attack the quartet, wide, WIDE mouths opening to CHOMP everyone they can reach. One of them gets a good bite of Dean's leg even before he bellows, calls up Twin Fenrir, and CLONKS it over the head with the paired combat rods. Even then, he has to practically crowbar it off as he falls back into a battle stance. "We're not food!!" he protests at them, but clearly they beg to differ. Beg to dinner, even.

DG: Dean Stark has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Chiro Mongrel's Equally Annoying Cousin.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Unfortunately -- particularly up here, on Lunar -- even an all-out dash assisted by the blessings of the Sea Guardian isn't enough. The Chiro scampers away as they race after it, scuttling up to higher ground.

    Avril slows her all-out flight, coming to a stop, hand tracing along the canyon wall. "We... I apologize, Fei, it appears we have lost it--"

    Before her gaze lifts.

    There it is.

    There... all of them are, apparently.

    Avril rolls back a step, Absolute Zero out and readied as the ENTIRE EXTENDED FAMILY OF CHIROS AND ROCK MONGRELS come on down to say hello. "Dean! Look out!" she calls, pulling the ARM's trigger.

    Light flares. She lays in.

    This may get ugly, fast.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Beam Whip Mode toward her party's challenge, Chiro Mongrel's Equally Annoying Cousin.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


"Unfortunately I think it's a lost cause." Rebecca says after the Chiro gets out of sight.

A little breathless, even as Dean keeps looking. And she eyes Fei, "Just like trying to satisfy Xantia's appetite given what I've heard..."

And then comes the chorus of chirrrps, and Rebecca. "Wow... Uehihihi - they're all pretty cute... but... pretty big too..."

And then her eyes grow wide as she realizes that what they're eyeing them for. "Oh fudge."

One takes a bite out of Dean's leg and Rebecca blurts out in slight panic. "Dean! IS! NOT! FUDGE!"

This is punctuated by the energy of the Sky Medium rising up around her from the air leyline she just stepped into. It whirls around her hexagonal before erupting as a pressurized blast of air that explodes in their midst.

DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Sky Medium toward her party's challenge, Chiro Mongrel's Equally Annoying Cousin.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei slows down as it becomes apparent that they didn't lose that Chiro after all it's just that the Chiro was so grateful for Fei's lunch money it decided to bring its entire extended family to thank everybody. Fei stares up at this small army before placing his hand on his forehead and exhaling just underneath it.

Fei hops back from a chomping beast before he reaches into his pocket and draws out his RPS Badge. He flicks it into the air and launches a bright blue chi blast into it, sending it reflecting off and into several different directions, no doubt torching several monsters in an instant.

"You've got a point there," He admits. "But I think these, at least, can go home hungry for today!"

DEAN IS NOT FUDGE.

Fei tries not to ruin his breathing by bursting out laughing in the middle of a fight. "I don't know," Fei manages, face struggling. "He is pretty sweet."

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Chiro Mongrel's Equally Annoying Cousin.
=============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>=============================
===========<* CHALLENGE - Chiro Mongrel's Equally Annoying Cousin *>============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You turn a corner and you're confronted by... a group of several waist-high
 critters with fwishy reddish tails, dusty tan fur, and adorable little
 pawsies and blinky eyes. They're Rock Mongrels, cousins of the Chiro
 Mongrel! Aww, aren't they cute?!

 They're also opening their gigantic mouths freakishly wide and trying to
 bite your legs off. Ahhhh! Once you take a swing at them, they'll
 immediately turn around and run like hell at a truly absurd rate of speed.
 Don't get your hopes up about catching them, though if you do, I bet they
 give a ton of XP and silver... probably more than you deserve right now.

 You might be a liiiiittle under-leveled for this dungeon, not gonna lie.
=Dungeon Conditions: Vault, Fright============================================
========================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 6 *>========================
=============< Results - Chiro Mongrel's Equally Annoying Cousin >==============
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dean Stark                          75 --(10)--> 85                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    80 --(5)--> 85                 Pass
Beam Whip Mode                      3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       85 --(5)--> 90                 Pass
RPS Badge                           3   Combat  Effects: Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebecca Streisand                   75 --(5)--> 80                 Pass
Sky Medium                          3   Combat  Effects: Rally
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Dean Stark                  70 --(25)--> 95                Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Cripple|Fright(2)|Vault(1)
Effects:
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Dean Stark has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 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> Dean Stark has posed.

    Dean, caught off-guard as he is, gets a whole lot of Mongrels chomping onto him. Maybe it wasn't the whole group that wanted to take them out to lunch? Maybe it was just him? Maybe he looks particularly delicious for some reason? Maybe it's the fate of men to be eaten alive, whether by singing flowers or fuzzy beasts... Nah, that's just silly. Especially when Avril carves a path through the Mongrels quite literally, leaving the smell of cooked meat in her wake, while Rebecca calls up a powerful windstorm to knock the ones that evaded her initial attack up into the skies, putting them in the perfect position to get zapped by Fei's many, many, many chi lasers. Soon there's lunch for everybody; at the least, Fei can sell this meat off for at least twice what he lost and then some. What Mongrels remain beat a hasty, yelping retreat. These ones, it seems, are not cannibals.
    
    "*NOT FUDGE*, FEI," Dean meanwhile wails at Fei. Gosh!!

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>=============================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies *>=================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Ahead, through a narrow spur of the canyon, you can see a glint of light
 winking off of something. It must be treasure ahead! But as you press
 forward, the horrible sound of splintering rock ripples through the canyon
 face.

 And then, because the canyon just doesn't hate you enough already, the rock
 face you're standing under gives way and begins to collapse towards you.
 Dirt, dust and boulders plummet towards you and begin to pile up.

 Somehow you're going to have to both dig your way out of the rockfall and
 prevent yourself from being crushed by several tons of the canyon itself
 trying to kill you like the geological jerk that it is.
=Dungeon Conditions: Collapse=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    The good news is, Fei can probably reclaim his lunch money now.
    The bad news is... well, for the purview of the extended Chiro et al family alone, at this point.

    Avril does a slow half-circle pivot, her gaze taking in the destruction they've wrought. Then, without further ado, she takes a few steps along the path here and gazes off into the distance, along the canyon wall.

    In the distance, something seems to glitter under the sunlight.

    "I see the gate, I believe," she informs the rest. It should just be a short hike if they can keep up the pace--

    They get a few yards down the path before the ground pitches and rolls underfoot. Avril takes a step back to steady herself.

    And the canyon
    wall
    begins
    to crumble.

    Dirt and dust rain down like a torrential downpour. Rocks begin to fall in a painful patter.

    Only seconds remain.

    Avril seizes a certain item from beneath her wrap and pushes the button.

    With a roar, a golem's hand tears from the ground below and thrusts upwards towards the falling rock as if reaching to grasp for the heavens themselves.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Remote Golem Override toward her party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Think about it Fei. If it wasn't for you, all those Chiros would still be alive. You're a killer, that's all you'll ever be. Don't you get it? Those Mongrels leave behind their families, their loved ones, their children. They'll wonder where they'll hey wait what are you doing?

Fei gathers up some Mongrel Meat and says, "Man, it's been a while since I did some home cooking. I'll dice this one up on the way back so we can have some monster meat stew. It's amazing," and is one of the better healing items in the game.

"The rest we can sell," Fei adds.

Ugh, Fei, you're the worst. Nevertheless, there is one last challenge to remain. THE MOON ITSELF trying to kill them by caving in on them. Fei grabs at something within his pocket, eyes wide in a panic as he unleashes a blue white energy blast for the tumbling rubble and, eventually, out into space. Woops.

"Where--where does that golem hand keep coming from?" Fei asks, panting for breath.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Mother's Cross toward his party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Really? You cook? That sounds delicious!" Dean says, happily joining Fei in gathering up the meat of the monsters that VICIOUSLY ATTACKED HIM FOR NO REASON. Hey, one bad turn deserves another. A bunch of them ran away, and it's not like they weren't trying to eat him too!! "You gotta let me have some of your monster meat stew later, Fei!"
    
    Well, at least he's hardy. He might be chewed up, but he'll survive these wounds. As long as they didn't have rabies or anything. That'd be bad. He pauses, though, when Avril reminds them about the gate. "You do? Where is it?" he asks, turning around and shading his eyes with one hand, walking along where she is--and then the canyon wall comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down, just like Fei keeps letting us down, letting us down, letting us down. Well, letting someone down, anyway. Lay off, narrator!!
    
    Dean's eyes widen when he sees the rocks begin to fall like hail down upon them. "Look out!!" he shouts, turning to cover someone--but Avril, or Rebecca? They're both as far away from him as the other! In the second he hesitates, Avril *doesn't*, and pulls out--
    
    "THE BUTTON!" he whoops, imminent danger immediately forgotten. Then, right after Fei uses a cross to unleash a beam to SMASH through those those boulders, a Golem hand RIPS from the earth and reaches to stop what remains of them *cold*. "YEAAAHH! WOOHOO!! AHAHAHA, IT'S ALWAYS AWESOME EVERY TIME!!" he cheers, jumping up and down like a kid who just got told the candy store is giving out sweets for free. Fei asks a sensible question. "Who cares?! It's awesome!!" Dean enthuses.
    
    But he can't just let that arm do all the work!! Dean retrieves White Fenrir from under his coat and, with a boyishly enthusiastic gleam in his eye, he swings it back like a baseball bat. If, you know, baseball existed on Lunar. Or Filgaia. Any stones that happen to get past that Golem hand will have him and his shovel-slinging skills to contend with!!

DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool The Trusty Shovel toward his party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Rebecca facepalms at Fei and Dean's exchange. Why did she say that?

She can't disagree with Fei though...

"Don't know that I've tried Chiro meat before... mmm may ask you to share the recipe. I've not had much luck converting from Filgaian to Lunar ingredients." She can cook at least but she's not so good at getting creative with her recipes.

And then as they go - the mountainside begins to crumble. Rocks come down and Rebecca can barely think of how to react when-

Avril does the thing - causing the giant golem fist to erupt.

Fei asks an important question, "That's what I want to know!"

Whereas Dean jumps around like a little kid and- "DEAN REALLY!? WE ARE TRYING NOT TO D- YOU KNOW WHAT - SOLAIS EMSU!" She invokes.

And then the sky is awash with Concentric circles of rainbows and prismatic lasers fanning the sky around the remainder of the rubble showering them.

DG: Rebecca Streisand has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies.
=============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>=============================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies *>=================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Ahead, through a narrow spur of the canyon, you can see a glint of light
 winking off of something. It must be treasure ahead! But as you press
 forward, the horrible sound of splintering rock ripples through the canyon
 face.

 And then, because the canyon just doesn't hate you enough already, the rock
 face you're standing under gives way and begins to collapse towards you.
 Dirt, dust and boulders plummet towards you and begin to pile up.

 Somehow you're going to have to both dig your way out of the rockfall and
 prevent yourself from being crushed by several tons of the canyon itself
 trying to kill you like the geological jerk that it is.
=Dungeon Conditions: Collapse=================================================
========================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 7 *>========================
===================< Results - Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies >===================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dean Stark                          85 --(100)--> 185              Pass
The Trusty Shovel                   2   Brute   Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    85 --(100)--> 185              Fail
Remote Golem Override               4   Brute   Effects: None
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       90 --(100)--> 190              Fail
Mother's Cross                      4   Brute   Effects: None
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebecca Streisand                   80 --(100)--> 180              Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Dean Stark                  95 --(10)--> 105               Fail
Conditions: Collapse|Cripple|Fright(1)
Effects:
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Dean Stark is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Avril Vent Fleur is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Fei Fong Wong is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Rebecca Streisand is too exhausted to continue!
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Dean Stark has successfully explored Forbidden Canyon!
=============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>=============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Spring and Blooms *>=======================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You've made it through the canyon, and emerge to find... two steaming pools
 of water, separated by a stone wall and each serviced by a half-crumbled
 dressing room.

 It's a long-ruined Spring of Althena! A few of these ancient respites still
 exist, but are legendarily difficult to actually reach these days - and
 you've found one The springs, which are sex-segregated, sit near a few
 ruined buildings but still look cozy enough for your party to relax in to
 replenish your minds and bodies and take off a world's worth of stress,
 should you wish it.

 Of course, it's not the only thing here: Foliage has begun to grow up around
 the spring, and each one is within arm's reach of heavy shrubbery laden with
 sweet-smelling pale-pink flowers. They're similar to varietals sometimes
 sold as medicinal herbs and might be worth a few silver if you took some
 back with you.

 You've found the Spring of Althena! Feel free to scene socially here if you
 wish.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    The splayed hand of the golem, reaching skywards, manages to deflect the largest of the falling rock. The rest of the decidedly dangerous stones that rain down between the arm's fingers and where the now inert golem can no longer reach are destroyed by a combination array of chi and Guardian-born magic; the sky around them detonates in a rain of stone.

    But this in itself leads to another issue:
    They're at least twelve-feet buried in stone.

    THIS is where Dean's trusty shovel shines.

    It takes some time, but--

    SOME TIME LATER

    "To be quite honest," Avril says, now that the world has stopped shaking and death is no longer a distinct possibility, "I do not know. It came into my possession while I was assisting Lydia." Which is to say, she cut off a man's arm and stole it.
    Details!

    Considering that it has summoned other sections of a golem before, though, and considering that it has summoned sections of a golem both on Lunar and Filgaia...

    ...It is a mystery, in the end.

    Unfortunately, Avril cannot see the gate from here anymore, once they've excavated their way upwards to what is now a new part of the canyon floor.

    But, new places lead to new possibilities. Part of the canyon's wall has come down, exposing a brilliantly shining gateway carved into the rock. Was this buried, once?

    A short exploration reveals that shelted from the dusty confines of the canyon, a verdant garden has taken root, brilliant blossoms redolent among the shattered buildings.

    And the springs. Oh yes, there are springs here, fully equipped for a relaxing bath. It's no waystone, but under the circumstances, no one is likely to be disappointed.

    "Perhaps we should take advantage of this?" she asks, looking between the lot of them. "What do you think?"

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    Meanwhile Dean honestly doesn't even care where The Button came from. It summons Golem parts, and that's honestly more than good enough for him!
    
    Stone rains down, burying the four of them. Dean digs them out. This takes longer than it could, considering he pauses every so often to cheekrub the Golem hand. But eventually...
    
    "Whew! We did it!" he cheers, wiping the sweat from his brow as he puts his shovel away. The gate Avril was talking about is nowhere to be seen, but they've unearthed a different door, and beyond it is a beautiful garden and an even more enticing hot spring.
    
    Dean breathes in the air. He can feel it relaxing his muscles from here. "Absolutely," he says with complete and utter certainty to Avril. "I was *just* thinking I could really go for a bath after all we went through to get here. We didn't find any Keystone, but I think this is plenty good, too." He looks over at Fei and Rebecca. "What d'you guys think?"
    
    ...He says this, but he's already taking his scarf and jacket off. He at least won't strip all the way out here in front of Avril and Rebecca, but yeah, it's clear he's heading over to one side of the springs in another moment whether these two join in or not.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei remains oblivious to Elly offering to Lydia the right to murder her so the name doesn't mean much to him except as that weird engineer gal but he is still covered in dirt so there's that. "Huh." Fei says after a long moment. "Must've been some assistance." Well yeah it was someone's arm got chopped off Fei.

"And I gotta admit," Fei adds to Dean. "That shovel really came in handy this time. I think we would've been in serious trouble without it." He is ultimately leaving the matter of the golem hand behind because, well, it's giving them a hand and Avril is well armed so he's not inclined to press it all told.

Avril makes a suggestion and Fei looks down at his dusty as heck body, and then looks up. "Probably a good idea." Fei admits. "Hopefully we won't need another one of those keystones but maybe it'll turn out alright. Maybe this...is what we really needed: A break."

Fei sees Dean taking off his scarf and jacket so he just shrugs off his own shirt as well. He definitely does not overindulge on carbs.