2018-07-26: That Hapless Sentry...
- Log: 2018-07-26: That Hapless Sentry...
- Cast: Seraph Lanval, Layna Manydays, Seraph Ragnell
- Where: Plains of the Goddess
- Date: July 26th, 2018
- Summary: Taking place just before Fox Company shoves off to check out the mysterious uncharted islands hosting Uzda Il-jam, the drunken Seraph Lanval takes two friends - one of his kind that still tolerates him, and a mortal enabler - back down into Sinner's Cellar for the third time. Why is he so insistent that they look into this Guard-forsaken place of rot and sin? The answers bring new questions in their wake.
==============================================<* Plains of the Goddess *>=============================================== The Plains of the Goddess consist of an enormous prairie that occupies the heart of the Meribus continent. It is the breadbasket of the world of Lunar; Althena's blessing lives strong in the soil, and the crops grown here are healthy, hearty, and free of disease. As a result of this bounty, the vast majority of the Plains are uncultivated; farmers have little reason to expand into the untamed wildlands when their larders and storehouses are filled to bursting. Only a few roads cross the Plains of the Goddess, linking the major cities to each other, with the ruins of Vane at the hub of a wagon wheel. Althena's Guard patrols the highways regularly, making travel (relatively) safe. Anyone heading deeper into the fields does so at their own risk, however. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi_p5wdBrXw
DG: A party led by Seraph Lanval is now entering Sinner's Cellar. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
===========================================<* CHALLENGE - Oh Dear! A Door! *>===========================================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The journey towards this rumored cellar takes your party down a road
somewhere between Old Vane and Meribia that does not see much use these
days. Wetlands appear poised to reclaim this part of Lunar for itself from
lack of maintenance. Everything you see along the way looks abandoned and
rotted - former fields set aside for farming overgrown and neglected, fences
broken and moldy. It's just all so dreary and sad to witness, like someone
just gave up entirely.
The party is able to find the burnt-down remains of the Copper Rapier Inn
without incident. The cellar door isn't just intact - it's endured the open
elements, the rust-covered chains keeping it under lock and key. Your party
soon finds that it's not the chains that are keeping this cellar closed.
It's that the hatch itself has been jammed shut. Of all the things here to
still be intact enough to function as intended...! (You know what comes
next.)
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval wanted to go back to that cellar in the swamp again, and boy did he nag and beg! By now, thanks to the two times prior on the approach, the Fox Company crew would know intricately where in this poorly maintained road currently being eaten by a resurgent wetland the cellar is - and that there might be those weird figures in cloaks going around doing weird figure in cloak things.
They are mysteriously absent. This should be a good thing. The air above is promising to dump some more rain, but as it is, it's a clear shot to the cellar. As 'clear' a shot is, when one has to slog through mud and muck to even get there, and sometimes get to sightsee things like 'a dead body' and 'someone's smashed carriage' and all that.
"It hashn't come to the shurface..." Lanval comments out aloud as he stumbles along towards the cellar entrance. 'It' is probably Malevolence. The concentration is a touch higher here than it is outside of the area, but only a touch. Lanval lays one of his hands against the hatch, and...
"Huh?" His eyes open momentarily in surprise. "Heeeey... shomeone locked it." Not that he's particularly good at pulling things open or anything. Rusty chains rattle and shake. They will quickly find that the chains aren't what's keeping the door closed.
It's just plain jammed.
"Mmmmmph... how're we gonna get through thoshe chainsh..." They already can!! It's the stupid door. Sigh, Lanval. He just flops against the hatch. "Maybe they're shtayin' inshide..."
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Oh Dear! A Door!.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
It should be a good thing that those hooded figures aren't around, but Layna isn't so sure about it. Regardless, she's here. She wasn't entirely sure why he was so obsessed with this place, but again - Lanval didn't ask for much if it didn't have anything to do with alcohol, so if he was that set on going back, she might as well tag along and help out.
She remembers where it is already and so does he, so making her way out to it isn't difficult at all.
"'It'?" Layna asks, glancing toward him as they approach the cellar. Lanval tries to open, and...it doesn't budge? Layna gives it an experimental tug, but...nope, it ain't moving. She frowns.
"I've got an idea. Stand back." Layna says, rolling her neck. She sounds confidently. She probably has some super impressive, well thought out plan for making her way through!
...No, wait, she's just kicking it. Never mind.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Oh Dear! A Door!.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
A lot of Seraphim don't like Lanval much. Ragnell is not most Seraphim. This isn't really a good thing.
Because of it, though, when she'd heard about the Sinner's Cellar in Meribus and, well, all the shenanigans involved thereof, the first thing she did was think of Lanval and all his precious booze. When she ran into him next, he even brought it up of his own accord, by which she is completely unsurprised. But she did agree to come along, so hey, who's counting?
The bog and murk that the trio have to tromp through to get to the cellar is less than great, but the same could be said of a lot of ruins and dungeons and overgrown ancient places. Soon: a chained door.
"Yup, that sure is a locked door," Ragnell observes when Lanval fails to open it. The chains, she observes, don't seem to be holding it down any... which means they'll have to bust the door itself open. Layna declares she has an idea, and Ragnell glances over at her--and then starts laughing when she just starts kicking it. "I like your ideas, woman!" she drawls, grinning, before joining in on that kickfest. KICK KICK KICK KICK.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Oh Dear! A Door!.
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
===========================================<* CHALLENGE - Oh Dear! A Door! *>===========================================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The journey towards this rumored cellar takes your party down a road
somewhere between Old Vane and Meribia that does not see much use these
days. Wetlands appear poised to reclaim this part of Lunar for itself from
lack of maintenance. Everything you see along the way looks abandoned and
rotted - former fields set aside for farming overgrown and neglected, fences
broken and moldy. It's just all so dreary and sad to witness, like someone
just gave up entirely.
The party is able to find the burnt-down remains of the Copper Rapier Inn
without incident. The cellar door isn't just intact - it's endured the open
elements, the rust-covered chains keeping it under lock and key. Your party
soon finds that it's not the chains that are keeping this cellar closed.
It's that the hatch itself has been jammed shut. Of all the things here to
still be intact enough to function as intended...! (You know what comes
next.)
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
============================================<* Sinner's Cellar - Round 1 *>============================================= =============================================< Results - Oh Dear! A Door! >============================================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Ragnell 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Lanval 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Conditions: Bad Luck(2) Effects: ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval 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> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Wham. Wham. Wham. Wham. They both take turns kicking it while Lanval lounges and does what he does best, which is to say he lounges. He strokes his beard contemplatively while the two of them keep kicking. Lazy bum that he is, he just sits there while they continue to kick it. Wham. Wham. Wham.
Yeah, that thing's wedged shut. There's probably no opening it, as Lanval rises up. He staggers along.
"I wash jusht thinkin'," Lanval was just thinking to say, "when Talishe 'n Shephy were with me, we did find a--"
He suddenly drops, as he walks into the shade of a tall piece of debris. That shade was hiding a hole in the floor. Why do they even need to bother with the proper cellar door any more?! There is a series of weightless 'plops' before it comes to a halt.
"...Huh. Why didn't I think of that, we coulda jusht tore up the floor," he muses just loud enough to be heard. They probably should follow him, but it is quite a drop.
DG: Layna Manydays has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Sinner's Cellar *>=============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Waterfall On Tap *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Your group comes across the sound of rushing water, and then the sight of
rushing water from above. A waterfall runs through a massive sinkhole that
cuts through the shoddy construction of the basement. Then comes another
revelation: this is a waterfall made of beer, and that there are a number of
footholds leading down of dubious quality - protruding stone, rotted wooden
planks, etcetera. One must exercise caution: the further down one descends,
the greater the sense of resignation inflicted upon the spelunker.
A partialy disintegrated wooden sign dangles off the hinges of a rusted
chain near this waterfall, proudly proclaiming in its near-illegibility:
'-WERY ESTABLISHED 3621 G-'
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna is sure it would've worked if they continued kicking it long enough, but while they're busy with that Lanval wanders off, and apparently finds another way in.
Layna stops kicking and glances back as he speaks up.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Waterfall On Tap.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Looks like Lanval took himself a nasty tumble, if the precarious environment of the beer waterfall is any indication. He's also always been the sort to just... tumble and let himself flow down to the lowest point of a given space, like he were a droplet of water. A big, fat, bearded droplet of water. He has, thankfully, settled in a scoop-shaped piece of wood that would not hold him were he more corporeal.
He is sitting serenely in contemplation as he takes a drag off of that fancy kiseru of his that seems to want to pretend it is instead a child's plaything, what with all the large bubbles coming out of it. Bubbles large enough to envelop and carry the others, or to catch them from a nasty fall at any point. (Whether the bubbles in question will take them anywhere good, well, who knows.)
He doesn't respond to Layna's inquiry, but that's as good a sign as any for him.
During any point of Layna's descent, the very moment the Quartermaster's Stash ends up in his arm's reach, yup, that bottle's a goner. At least its contents are. Going down much further, it's as plain as day - that is definitely mounting Malevolence. That is also a swaying wooden sign from a rusted chain stating that a 'WERY' was established in 3621 'G.' It probably used to have much more to say until the years and environs wore it down so.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Bubble Pipe toward his party's challenge, Waterfall On Tap.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Kicking the door fails to open it. Ragnell's tempted to just shoot the damn thing open, except Lanval falls down a hole.
She glances at Layna, then saunters with her over to said hole. "Lanv, you really gotta remember these things sooner," she calls down there. Then, once Layna jumps in, Ragnell does too. What other way in is there? And so she falls, down, down, down, all the way to the
SPLASH
...beer river? This is just in time for Layna to finish trying to warn her, too. Just a few seconds too late. Ragnell, for her part, slips upon landing, falling ass-first into the beer. This would great, except there's debris floating by *in* said beer, and Ragnell only pretends not to have standards.
"Son of an ice giant," she grumbles, picking herself up. "I'm glad these clothes dry fast, 'cuz that would suck." She reaches for her travel pack, which fortunately is water-proof, and fetches herself a chocolate rusk, which she pops into her mouth. There's Malevolence in here, which means she doesn't care to be slowed down, especially in a potentially slippery situation like this.
She looks up and over at the establishment sign as she eats. Her red eyes flicker; the rusk goes *crunch*. Then she accepts Layna's offer of *good* booze and takes a good swig before handing it back with a nod of gratitude.
"Anyway, let's get goin'," she says, right before hopping up and onto one of Lanval's bubbles. Because it's all about riding in style. Yes, while drenched in bad beer. Shut up.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Chocolate Rusk toward her party's challenge, Waterfall On Tap.
============================<* Sinner's Cellar *>=============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Waterfall On Tap *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Your group comes across the sound of rushing water, and then the sight of
rushing water from above. A waterfall runs through a massive sinkhole that
cuts through the shoddy construction of the basement. Then comes another
revelation: this is a waterfall made of beer, and that there are a number of
footholds leading down of dubious quality - protruding stone, rotted wooden
planks, etcetera. One must exercise caution: the further down one descends,
the greater the sense of resignation inflicted upon the spelunker.
A partialy disintegrated wooden sign dangles off the hinges of a rusted
chain near this waterfall, proudly proclaiming in its near-illegibility:
'-WERY ESTABLISHED 3621 G-'
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
=======================<* Sinner's Cellar - Round 2 *>======================== ========================< Results - Waterfall On Tap >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Bubble Pipe 3 Agility Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Quartermaster's Stash 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Ragnell 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Chocolate Rusk 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Lanval 5 --(20)--> 25 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Exhaust(1) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval 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> Layna Manydays has posed.
It isn't a particularly pleasant trip. One's bound to get splashed with more than a little of that eternally dripping alcohol. And you certainly wouldn't want to fall in. It wouldn't kill you, but you'd probably smell of the stuff for weeks.
Fortunately, the party is well-equipped to handle the situation. The combination of good booze and Ragnell's chocolate rusk keeps the taste out of one's mouth as well as preventing the prevalent Malevolence from getting a hold of them, keeping them moving forward without getting resigned to their fate.
Lanval's bubbles help eliminate some of the difficulty, as well, giving them a safety net...or just letting them be lazy, if necessary.
Soon they eventually make it down into the cellar proper...though not before Layna takes a moment to frown at that sign.
3621, huh...?
DG: Seraph Ragnell has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Dealing You In *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The Copper Rapier has been host to all sorts of underground gambling before
it was razed by the Guard. Many a fool down on their luck hoped that winning
some games of chance would turn their fortune around, only to drive them
further into debt and despair. One table here holds all the pieces needed to
play one such game of chance - all the cards, stones, dice, etcetera, with
scraps of change for a pot that's hardly worth your time to collect. (From
the looks of it, the author of a loan agreement left here - dated 3798 GY -
might have already tried.)
As you approach, the coins and game pieces coalesce into a humanoid form. It
reeks of desperation, from resignation and misery that compels them to play
more, to risk more, to deal more, forcibly trying to induct you into its
death spiral of mounting debts by violently dealing hands. You're going to
have to kneecap this gambling phantom to stay in the black.
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Exhaust========================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Sooner or later, Lanval's bubbles take the trio to the end of the Road Whiskey. Past there, a table awaits--specifically a gambling table with all the chips and cards and dice that one could need for a rousing game of chance. Ragnell hops off her bubble to solid-ish land, and as promised, she's already dried out. It helps to be a Seraph with a not-fully-corporeal,-not-really form. "I have t' wonder where the source o' that river is," she remarks, looking back upon it. "Wouldn't that be somethin': a spring o' pure beerwater, pristine an' untouched?" 'Til it feeds into this place, she means.
Wait, on the subject of gambling games, did the narration say rousing? Because we meant depressing. And dangerous. As the Lightning Seraph approaches the table to pick up and look at that loan agreement, shades form around the coins and game pieces of players, locked in an endless spiral of loss as they gamble more and more away, desperate for that one big win to gain it all back. That spiral drags those nearby in as well--or at least tries to; when those Malevolence tenterhooks worm out towards Ragnell, she drops the lease like a hot potato to backstep and open fire with both pistols. The gamblers respond by hurling cards back at her that explode upon contact.
"Jus' like the good ol' days, huh?!" she calls as she sidesteps a burst of flame. To whom, exactly, may be unclear.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dealing You In.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval's always been a wuss about going to Glenwood. He cited the level of Malevolence as the reason for hiding in his bottle, but here he is right now, manifested in the open where the concentration is just as bad or worse, like a big boy! ...A bigger boy. Sometimes he's kind of a big baby. This does not look to be one of those times, as Ragnell takes point against the gambling shades that now manifest.
"Mmmph, I wouldn't shay that'sh... wrong." Lanval comments, sounding a bit too contemplative for a pitched life-and-debt situation as he draws out his gourd and opens up his eyes half-lidded.
"All the reshignation 'bout how it'sh not gonna get better... jusht ta be misherable that what'sh there being already ash-ish... yep." He hangs back, casting more distant Seraphic Artes as he splashes down pure, clean water in dangerous concentrations to sweep away the materialized shades.
Somewhere in the fracas, the loan agreement flits free in the air, away from the threat of disintegration by water or incineration by lightning. One of the signed names, in fancy mortal handwriting because mortals have this weird thing about making all their handwriting unique and sometimes hard to read, shows they're one of the few to have a clan name. This one is 'Sheller.'
Whoever they were, they're long dead, going by the year. Unless they're an elf or something.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Dealing You In.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Aye, sounds like my kinda place." Layna remarks with a grin in Ragnell's direction.
Layna, unfortunately, is fully corporeal. For her, it's a little more difficult...though a quick incantation causes wind to stir around her, drying her clothes off quickly.
Looks like she can cheat through magic, at least!
Speaking of cheating, they soon find themselves in a place that's probably seen much of it, throughout the years. It looks to be an underground gambling den. Layna smirks.
"Never been much one for gamblin'." She remarks to herself. And it seems like gambling isn't much one for her, as the pieces take a humanoid form. She cracks her knuckles and recites a quick incantation, assaulting it with a powerful gust in hopes of scattering its pieces away before lunging in with a sweeping punch.
She listens as Lanval speaks, though she's only half paying attention to him. He sounded...quite a bit more serious than he usually is.
...She noticed that last time, too.
She doesn't know who Ragnel's talking to, though.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dealing You In.
=============================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Dealing You In *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The Copper Rapier has been host to all sorts of underground gambling before
it was razed by the Guard. Many a fool down on their luck hoped that winning
some games of chance would turn their fortune around, only to drive them
further into debt and despair. One table here holds all the pieces needed to
play one such game of chance - all the cards, stones, dice, etcetera, with
scraps of change for a pot that's hardly worth your time to collect. (From
the looks of it, the author of a loan agreement left here - dated 3798 GY -
might have already tried.)
As you approach, the coins and game pieces coalesce into a humanoid form. It
reeks of desperation, from resignation and misery that compels them to play
more, to risk more, to deal more, forcibly trying to induct you into its
death spiral of mounting debts by violently dealing hands. You're going to
have to kneecap this gambling phantom to stay in the black.
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Exhaust========================================
========================<* Sinner's Cellar - Round 3 *>========================= ==========================< Results - Dealing You In >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 25 --(5)--> 30 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 25 --(20)--> 45 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Lanval 25 --(15)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Exhaust(1) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell barks a cynical kind of laugh. "But nothin' gets better if you don't try to *make* it better, huh?" she says to Lanval as he complements her attacks with his water artes. She cocks a half-grin back at Layna and her agreement. "The brawl's jus' the cherry on top!"
Lightning, water, and wind--between the three of them, they tear through the shades with ease. Unfortunately for Ragnell, she never quite managed to shake off their aggro, so she ends up with several burns from the exploding cards for her trouble... but hey, she survived. It's all good.
She glances up at the contract and its single legible name; then it flits away. Ragnell shakes her head. "So where to next, Lanv?"
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
=====================================<* CHALLENGE - Beer Is Key To Civilization *>======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
This chamber seems to be where brewing equipment is meant to be stored -
kettles, vats, casks and the like. It's poorly ventilated, and that's not
even the worst of it - the worst of it is that someone has been trying to
brew something here, and it is all unsupervised. This not only is
nonsensical and dangerous, but the whole set of contraptions appear to be
linked to a door that otherwise has no means of opening. Worse yet, the air
is already thick with fumes, choking and sickening. At least what lies on
the other end might not be so picky about the end product.
On the ground, a faded work schedule dated from 3779 GY details who's
harvesting the fields, leading prayer, handling various brewing steps,
delivering items, preparing the daily offering, and so forth. Names present
are inconsistent and informally labelled, with designations like 'grandma,'
'dad,' and 'lazy good-for-nothing son.'
=Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval, at least, sneaks a bite of that delicious Chocolate Rusk in the wake of those gambing Hellions as Ragnell poses the question. "We gotta go further down... down ash far ash we can go." He seems to say, purposefully, with a contemplative look on his face.
"...'Caushe that'sh where the good shtuff's gonna be," he appends, suspiciously, with a dumb cat-like smile as he elects to draw them downward. Ragnell might catch a look off to the side of a flooded storage room for beer. That beer over there is definitely ruined and bad and it still reeks of resignation... and so they're resigned, in the normal, non-purple sense, to follow downward.
Layna's going to notice sooner than the others, because she has to breathe. The air is extremely thick with fumes, and this basement is not well-ventilated at all. It doubles as a fire hazard on the class of 'why hasn't this place exploded yet?!' Indeed, there is a lit-up copper kettle in the next chamber already boiling some liquid extract from whatever ingredients were used. Someone is trying to make more beer here.
Lanval, who has picked up breathing as a habit because mortals tend to rub off of Seraphim in the worst ways sometimes (ask anyone who's heard Lanval snore), would be second to take notice of the fumes. "...Shomeone'sh tryin' ta brew down there." He's got the gourd readied as he enters, and finds...
Nobody's there. That makes no sense. What also makes no sense is that there are funnels present that lead towards a door, and Lanval already seems extremely perplexed by this set-up.
"...They didn't add any hopsh," is that the first thing on his mind?! "Why're they even... uhh. Heeeeey, Layna, are ya all right? It'sh pretty shtrong..." Strong, choking, thick. This wort might already be ruined, and it's not anywhere near ready to be fermented yet--
"Mmmmph. Can't let thish shtand, maybe I can... oh, hey... can any of ya find the hopsh?" Is it really the answer to continue to help brewing things while Layna might be choking half to death?! Maybe they might be more apt to just mess with all the tanks and funnels to figure out what goes into the funnel going into the door. Maybe just pour something really rude in there. Either or.
A work schedule from many, many years ago - from some time in Rising Red, 3779 GY - discusses who's handling what duties that day. Looks like 'grandma' was supposed to lead prayer, 'dad' was supposed to prepare the daily offering, and it's up to the 'lazy good-for-nothing son' to handle the delivery. What a bunch of slackers, they're not here doing that now. They're so lazy from being dead by old age, seriously, is that ever an excuse?
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Beer Is Key To Civilization.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
'That's where the good stuff is', he says. At this point, Layna's wondering what he means by 'the good stuff'. What she saw last time she was here...well, that's a little different.
Well, whatever the case, Lanval's heading down, so Layna has no choice but to follow him. ...But as she does so, she notices very quickly that this place...
...Isn't safe.
Layna clasps a hand of her mouth and recites a quick incantation. The wind begins to move about her, cycling away the foul fumes and bringing what's of the clean air as she can to her.
"...I'm fine, but we should take care o' this quickly, aye?" Layna replies. It's not like she can keep it up for long, and already some of the fumes are starting to creep back in. It makes breathing difficult, not to mention how sickening it is, so for now she decides to quickly set to looking for a way out of here. ...She'll leaving the hops up to Lanval. She really doesn't want to leave it up to these two to drag her out of here.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Beer Is Key To Civilization.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell smiles back at Lanval when he speaks of going down as far as they can go--for the good stuff. "O' course," she says, smiles knowing. Because, really, who wants tainted, Malevolent beer, anyway? People with no standards, that's who. Even *Lanval's* better than that. That's how low your standards would have to be.
And so down they go. The fume-stink is bad, but, well, Ragnell is lucky enough to not have to breathe. She strolls down with the rest of them hunky-dory, as Layna makes do by magically moving the air around her itself, though her frown becomes more pronounced until Lanval points out the obvious. "Doesn't smell like they're doin' any good at it," she observes. Not that she knows how to make beer, but that's what Lanval's here for, innit?
Also for making beer. "Can't say as I know when you'd need t' put the hops in," she admits, "but hey, I'll play ya a tune. Maybe that'll clear your heads." And so she pulls out a harmonica and begins to play a perky ditty that might inspire Lanval to get un-lazy and work those hops, wherever they might be. ...Well, Ragnell does at least attempt to look for them too while he works the tubles and such. She runs across a work schedule during said attempt and tilts her head at it; then, after reading, she moves on.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Tarnished Harmonica toward her party's challenge, Beer Is Key To Civilization.
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
=====================================<* CHALLENGE - Beer Is Key To Civilization *>======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
This chamber seems to be where brewing equipment is meant to be stored -
kettles, vats, casks and the like. It's poorly ventilated, and that's not
even the worst of it - the worst of it is that someone has been trying to
brew something here, and it is all unsupervised. This not only is
nonsensical and dangerous, but the whole set of contraptions appear to be
linked to a door that otherwise has no means of opening. Worse yet, the air
is already thick with fumes, choking and sickening. At least what lies on
the other end might not be so picky about the end product.
On the ground, a faded work schedule dated from 3779 GY details who's
harvesting the fields, leading prayer, handling various brewing steps,
delivering items, preparing the daily offering, and so forth. Names present
are inconsistent and informally labelled, with designations like 'grandma,'
'dad,' and 'lazy good-for-nothing son.'
=Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
=====================================<* CHALLENGE - Beer Is Key To Civilization *>======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
This chamber seems to be where brewing equipment is meant to be stored -
kettles, vats, casks and the like. It's poorly ventilated, and that's not
even the worst of it - the worst of it is that someone has been trying to
brew something here, and it is all unsupervised. This not only is
nonsensical and dangerous, but the whole set of contraptions appear to be
linked to a door that otherwise has no means of opening. Worse yet, the air
is already thick with fumes, choking and sickening. At least what lies on
the other end might not be so picky about the end product.
On the ground, a faded work schedule dated from 3779 GY details who's
harvesting the fields, leading prayer, handling various brewing steps,
delivering items, preparing the daily offering, and so forth. Names present
are inconsistent and informally labelled, with designations like 'grandma,'
'dad,' and 'lazy good-for-nothing son.'
=Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
============================================<* Sinner's Cellar - Round 4 *>============================================= =======================================< Results - Beer Is Key To Civilization >======================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 30 --(10)--> 40 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 25 --(5)--> 30 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Ragnell 45 --(5)--> 50 Pass Tarnished Harmonica 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Lanval 40 --(15)--> 55 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Overwhelm Effects: ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The hops are easy enough to find. They're not even Malevolence-infested. It could well be that there are a few opportunistic brewers, hiding from the eyes of the Guard, trying their damndest to make more beer out here.
Lanval has the goofiest smile. He is surrounded by an uncomfortable amount of Malevolence - more than ever really should come together up here in Meribus, and yet, for all the world he seems to find a measure of peace from all of this.
"Ya jusht don't make beer 'quickly,' Layna... ha ha ha!" That's the first time he's laughed. "Mmmm... jusht caught it shtartin' ta boil," he says as he gets the hops in there, "it'sh gonna need... shay... two hours..."
Layna doesn't have two hours of magic power, and way way way less than two hours of breathable oxygen. Two minutes is a stretch, even. Ragnell may or may not have two hours of patience. Two seconds might be generous, in so far as a mortal's overall well-being is concerned.
Somewhere, at some point, someone is just going to have to take the damn kettle's contents out from under him, ready or not, and just dump it haphazardly into the nearest funnel connected to the door.
Lanval may not even notice this has happened, as he muses aloud, "after we let it cool in here... we gotta find where the yeasht went, 'n give it... nine daysh? Hm, hm, hm. Yep. Nine daysh--" THEY DON'T HAVE NINE DAYS and also the door is open.
DG: Layna Manydays has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Sinner's Cellar *>=============================
==================<* CHALLENGE - A Do-It-Yourself Project *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Why on Lunar is this cellar so massive? That's one question. Here's another:
why did anyone want there to be more of it? A tunnel has already been dug
out for further expansion, before a deep lightless abyss ahead. It looks
like maybe this was intended to connect one part of this cellar to another,
as you can see an intact construction on the other side.
Based on a rotted parchment that was once a contract, dated 4051 GY, it
looks like an attempt was made. Planks of lumber and a number of tools are
conveniently right next to you. Time to roll up your sleeves and build a
bridge... and get yourself a unique opportunity to create a shortcut.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Treasure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
As soon as the door is open, Layna darts out. Sure, she's curious about the booze, and as a pirate she can hold her breath for a long time, but nine days is more than a bit of a stretch.
She takes the time to inhale, but she's still feeling a little drained. And as she takes a look around...
"...Huh, looks like they were plannin' to expand this..." Layna mutters, walking up to some rotted parchment resting on top of some crates of tools. 4051...that makes it the most recent thing they've found here. "...Well, if they were workin' on it, then they musta been tryin' ta reach somethin', aye? Whaddaya say we complete their work for 'em?"
In reality, Layna's just hoping to find a shortcut. She draws out her drill and gets to work, trying go through as far and quickly as possible.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Arm-Mounted Drill toward her party's challenge, A Do-It-Yourself Project.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Whoever started that furnace doesn't show back up to yell at them or try to kill them, wherever they went. One hopes they didn't get taken in by the gambling phantoms - or was a gambling phantom. It's one of those things they just may never know. Lanval eventually gets the hint - in way less than two hours, thank Goddess - and follows along out towards the intended expansion of the cellar. Actually... expansion, or repair? The place is a a structural mess even if one takes out the amount of ambient Malevolence in the equation.
Lanval strokes his beard as he takes a look at what's on the other end. "Mmmm."
Most of the place is made up of rotting wood, but one opening on the other side seems to be made of smooth stone instead - smooth stone as in 'someone took the time and care to carve and make it' compared to 'basement bargain basement' in which they are all currently in the middle of. Lanval flops against the stack of wood planks as Layna takes point on the actual work, which can't be helped because she's the most corporeal one by a margin of 'physically tangible' compared to two elemental spirits.
He at least helps hand out nails - and not just haphazardly offering whatever he can put his mitts on. He seems to put some thought as to what sorts of nails he's grabbing as work continues.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Do-It-Yourself Project.
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
=======================================<* CHALLENGE - A Do-It-Yourself Project *>=======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Why on Lunar is this cellar so massive? That's one question. Here's another:
why did anyone want there to be more of it? A tunnel has already been dug
out for further expansion, before a deep lightless abyss ahead. It looks
like maybe this was intended to connect one part of this cellar to another,
as you can see an intact construction on the other side.
Based on a rotted parchment that was once a contract, dated 4051 GY, it
looks like an attempt was made. Planks of lumber and a number of tools are
conveniently right next to you. Time to roll up your sleeves and build a
bridge... and get yourself a unique opportunity to create a shortcut.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Treasure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell *can* be patient when the situation calls for it and/or when she wants something that she understands will take a while. Normally beer would count, but beer in a place that smells goddessawful? Yeah, nah. The beer itself probably wouldn't turn out good anyway. So when Lanval's estimate turns from hours to /days/, Ragnell packs up the harmonica and dumps the liquids and yup, there's the open door. They're out.
On the other side is construction materials for an extension of the cellar. Huh. Ragnell looks around, eventually peeking over Layna's shoulder at the contract. "Yeah, the other side o' th' cellar," she quips, eyeing said thing. Expansion or repair is right; these boards, and this place, looks like it could collapse with a few solid kicks. Which is ironic, considering the damn door wouldn't cave to a few solid kicks. "Well, it'll save us a trip, in any case, so why not," she concludes, supporting Layna's drillwork and Lanval's nail-picking by picking out the most solid-looking boards and carrying them over accordingly.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Do-It-Yourself Project.
============================<* Sinner's Cellar *>=============================
==================<* CHALLENGE - A Do-It-Yourself Project *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Why on Lunar is this cellar so massive? That's one question. Here's another:
why did anyone want there to be more of it? A tunnel has already been dug
out for further expansion, before a deep lightless abyss ahead. It looks
like maybe this was intended to connect one part of this cellar to another,
as you can see an intact construction on the other side.
Based on a rotted parchment that was once a contract, dated 4051 GY, it
looks like an attempt was made. Planks of lumber and a number of tools are
conveniently right next to you. Time to roll up your sleeves and build a
bridge... and get yourself a unique opportunity to create a shortcut.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Treasure=========================================
=======================<* Sinner's Cellar - Round 5 *>======================== ====================< Results - A Do-It-Yourself Project >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 40 --(25)--> 65 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 30 --(20)--> 50 Pass Arm-Mounted Drill 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Ragnell 50 --(25)--> 75 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Lanval 55 --(10)--> 65 Fail Conditions: Overwhelm|Treasure(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval 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> Layna Manydays has posed.
Turns out, a project like this is a bit much for one person, or even three. They do eventually manage to get through to other side, reaching the other side of the cellar, but...
...In the end, it might've almost been easier just to walk there. But hey, at least the wishes of the not-so-long-dead people responsible for this have been realized, right?
...Maybe not.
Layna chuckles to herself. She can't help but find it amusing, but she's just feeling a little light-headed from the oxygen deprivation.
"...Well, guess the only thing to do is keep goin' aye?" She comments with a nonchalant shrug.
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
===========================================<* CHALLENGE - 25m Underground *>============================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Huh, that's odd. This next chamber is open and spacious, and even goes
upwards across a number of catwalks and rickety ladders. You're not sure how
the ascent is architectually possible, but this is about to be the least of
anyone's concerns. At the highest level, well-illuminated by something
burning in a barrel is a fearsome brute - a Hellion, of some stripe. They
are in the company of other barrels placed this high, and is presently
flinging them down at you. They don't respond to your words, and acts
timidly when approached. They'll run away if anyone gets too close.
The rolling barrels - all empty and labelled as from the early 3800s (no
later than 3830), if for some reason one cares to note this - obstruct your
advance, but it's the only way forward. How high will you go?
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Tire===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The lot of them cross over to the chamber of stone. There's a notably different air to this part of the cellar. Part of it is because they're not adjacent to someone trying to brew more beer underground, but the other part of it is... the make of the place. It doesn't have that ramshackle appearance of most the rest of the cellar. Stone carvings line the walls of a beautiful woman - the Goddess, naturally - in a chamber that stretches up high. At least twenty-five meters high. It should be pitch dark, this far down and away from any light source, but there's a soft, comforting glow to it that allows one to step back and appreciate the features of it.
Lanval smiles placidly. It's much less raunchy here. The general level of Malevolence takes a small downturn...
Until one spots a new, flaming light coming from out of a barrel. There's the silhouette of a brutish something or another. The Malevolence flecks off of them as they glower down below.
"Heeeeeeey..." Lanval's words trail off, as his eyes slowly open. "What ya doin' all the way down here...? Thish place--"
They hoot, holler, and throw a barrel down. A barrel that travels down walkways that lead further up, rolling down old ladders that probably weren't meant to last hundreds of years.
Lanval's eyes, opening up, take on a more brilliant aquamarine hue. He doesn't face the other two for long as he walks - not staggers, actually walks! - towards a ladder and, his morbidly obese appearance of his manifestation be damned, the way he can climb ladders is impressively acrobatic as he lets a barrel pass overhead. Even if it seems a bit swingy and uncoordinated.
The barrel shatters on contact with one of the walls, splattering more of that bad beer. The ambient of misery and resignation rises... Lanval doesn't even drunkenly call or signal to the others, he's just helping himself up there, ladder by ladder. Usually they watch Lanval just slide on down like water actually would, as though pooling himself wherever water my rest.
This water is not resting.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, 25m Underground.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
There's reasons why humans have entire crews to do construction. It doesn't help that Layna's supported by, well, Ragnell and Lanval, though the two of them at least take the matter seriously for some reason. In the end, it might've been faster to just walk across, but... well, it's done, and now they can cross.
"All anyone can do," she remarks to Layna. "Speakin' o' which, Layna, what made you decide to come out here for--" She gestures around them. "All this?"
The group enters the next room. Ragnell pauses. This room is nice and spacious and even airy. Given that they're certainly still underground, there's something wrong about that. Those catwalks and ladders look like they head up towards the surface--this area in general looks like it was still under construction, which explains the last room--but Ragnell is rather more concerned with the Hellion flinging flaming barrels down at them.
"DIVE!" she barks, then follows her own advice and dives to one side of the room, falling into a forward roll. When she comes up, she grabs some more of her chocolate rusks, pausing to toss a couple over to Layna and Lanval before popping hers into her mouth, and eyeballing that Hellion. "Don't s'pose we could convince you t' let us pass?" she calls up at them.
They respond with a screech and hurling another barrel.
"That's a no, then," Ragnell concludes before leaping up on top of the woodwork and using it to launch herself up and forward fluidly. From there, it's just platforming. Meanwhile, Lanval's eyes glow crystal blue as he walks--walks--over to a ladder and climbs with speed. Ragnell watches him in the corners of her eyes, eyebrow raised. She expected something like this sooner or later--the question is whether Layna will pry about it.
Well, that's not her business. Not unless she actually tries to go nosing. The Hellion meanwhile spills more bad beer, and with it, more Malevolence despair... which is only all the more reason for Ragnell to stay on top and *not fall off*.
Because she really doesn't want to miss what happens next.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Chocolate Rusk toward her party's challenge, 25m Underground.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
...Layna didn't expect this place to be this...open. She looks up, whistling in surprise at the sight of it all. It might not've been a shortcut, but that didn't mean it wasn't interesting.
She glances back to Ragnell, thinks about it...then shrugs.
"...Can't say I had a reason, as much. I wasn't doin' anythin' an' ol' Lanval over there asked for my help, so I figured why not, aye?" She explains. What she doesn't mention is that this was her second time here. Maybe she's about to, but a barrel beginning to roll toward them cuts her off. She leaps over it, catching a chocolate rusk in mid-flight and returning the favor by tossing a (still thankfully sealed) bottle back to Ragnell.
She doesn't pry about Lanval's situation. Not about why he's taking this much more seriously than anything she's ever seen him take anything, not about why he's moving with actual motivation.
...At least, not yet. Now's not the time, when they've got barrels flying at them.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, 25m Underground.
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
===========================================<* CHALLENGE - 25m Underground *>============================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Huh, that's odd. This next chamber is open and spacious, and even goes
upwards across a number of catwalks and rickety ladders. You're not sure how
the ascent is architectually possible, but this is about to be the least of
anyone's concerns. At the highest level, well-illuminated by something
burning in a barrel is a fearsome brute - a Hellion, of some stripe. They
are in the company of other barrels placed this high, and is presently
flinging them down at you. They don't respond to your words, and acts
timidly when approached. They'll run away if anyone gets too close.
The rolling barrels - all empty and labelled as from the early 3800s (no
later than 3830), if for some reason one cares to note this - obstruct your
advance, but it's the only way forward. How high will you go?
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Tire===========================================
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
===========================================<* CHALLENGE - 25m Underground *>============================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Huh, that's odd. This next chamber is open and spacious, and even goes
upwards across a number of catwalks and rickety ladders. You're not sure how
the ascent is architectually possible, but this is about to be the least of
anyone's concerns. At the highest level, well-illuminated by something
burning in a barrel is a fearsome brute - a Hellion, of some stripe. They
are in the company of other barrels placed this high, and is presently
flinging them down at you. They don't respond to your words, and acts
timidly when approached. They'll run away if anyone gets too close.
The rolling barrels - all empty and labelled as from the early 3800s (no
later than 3830), if for some reason one cares to note this - obstruct your
advance, but it's the only way forward. How high will you go?
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Tire===========================================
============================================<* Sinner's Cellar - Round 6 *>============================================= =============================================< Results - 25m Underground >============================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 65 --(5)--> 70 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 50 --(5)--> 55 Pass Quartermaster's Stash 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Ragnell 75 --(5)--> 80 Pass Chocolate Rusk 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Lanval 65 --(20)--> 85 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Overwhelm|Tire(2)|Weaken(1) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval 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: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
=========================================<* CHALLENGE - Drowning By Sorrows *>==========================================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Your team descends to the deepest length of the basement able to be reached.
As this location is not far from marshlands, the idea of there being a
basement at all is one of folly. A light in the distance ahead attracts
one's eye. One can hear water dropping everywhere, as though a complete
collapse of this part of the basement could happen any day now. This part of
the basement is already ankle deep in... beer? Yes, beer. This chamber is
flooded in beer. Wait... flooded, past tense? No, it's flooding, present
tense!
The droplets increase in intensity as everyone further traverses the
basement, until they become gushing streams. Higher and higher the beer
level climbs. Not only is it hard to move, as the beer grows higher one may
be able to detect an upswell of Malevolence. Your team may literally be
drowning in liquid sorrows, with fine notes of resignation and full-bodied
misery. The guiding light ahead might be your only way out of this... or
maybe you can just turn back... unless one desires the tide overtake them.
It's hard not to feel resigned to this fate.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
They all make their way to the top, deftly avoiding flung barrels with equal parts grace, pluck, and purpose. As the chamber stains itself with more and more of this bad beer, the three heroes are that much more compelled to stay above the resignation and the misery. These seem to be the chief influencing factors of this bulky Hellion. As all three come together to face it, they don't get to see its face. They recoil, hiss, and flee away. Off-handedly, Lanval flicks out his gourd and extinguishes the flaming barrel's flames, leaving only smoky puffs of Malevolence to rise from its wake. It's not certain where they go. Up? Away? They just do.
Then, a haunting melody plays. It sounds joyful, at first, but there's a dark tinge of mockery behind it. Lanval, back faced to the others, once more takes a big drag off of the contents of his gourd.
We all gave him a handful... o/'
Lanval is stone silent as he goes through into the next chamber - equally ornate in appearance. However, surrounding them on all sides is a thick, thick concentration of the purple stuff. Too thick to go any further down. (They just went up, though?) As the rest join him, they can see something through the haze stagger towards them. A man, with one arm, holding a blade?
No, a statue of a man with one arm, holding a blade - a rapier. A shattered statue, whose pieces float freely in a man-shaped form.
That hapless sentry, **unintelligible** o/`
"Who are you?" Asks Lanval. His voice echoes - almost booms, even, as barely-held laughter trails at the end. "Speak at once, for you have my attention..."
While all our coffers ran full... o/` The fell song continues as the statue's head turns, as if coy. They don't seem apt to speak, or do much of anything, other than scrape the tip of its rapier - a decorative piece made of copper - noisily across the stone underneath, defacing the delicate, immaculate artwork in the process. (That's some good copper...)
"Then... I bid you be on your way in good health...!" So says Lanval as he goes through the beginnings of his Mystic Arte. All the bubbles. All the echoing laughter - his own.
That hapless sentry, **unintelligible** o/` The statue swings its one arm out, and all of it pops... and from the popped bubbles, corrupted beer. That's some party trick, turning the purest, cleanest water imaginable into awful, purple-infected beer. Lanval stands tall as the descending beer exponentially increases in volume. Flooding. It's already coming up knee level, as the statue fades back into the hazy mists of Malevolence.
Lanval never faces the other two. The Bubble Pipe comes out again, and he has himself a long drag as all of the negative emotions try to swirl up and claim them all, to drag them down into it. Maybe get some new dragons in the beer moat out of the deal, you know, that sort of thing.
Lanval doesn't say anything to them. The implication is clear, as the bubbles form, ready to pick them up and help carry them along... forward? Up? There are numerous lights pouring in, probable exits. This may be a trick of the Malevolence, to show them as to theoretically be in reach - if just out of it. To resign them that they cannot make it out. To just... give up, accept it won't get better.
Lanval closes his eyes as he rides his bubble, to stay above it all.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Bubble Pipe toward his party's challenge, Drowning By Sorrows.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell nods at Layna's explanation, then chuckles. "Why not, indeed? Jus' curious." Then they're all making their way towards the top, Ragnell gets a slug of liquor from Layna, Lanval continues to be Super Serious, and Malevolence of two particular flavors continues to stick to the floors like day-old spilled booze. The Hellion itself is no fighter, opting to flee once the three grow close enough. That would seem to be it... but then a strange melody, happily haunting or hauntingly happy, starts to play.
"Lanval?" Ragnell says, her own expression knitting in seriousness. But he quaffs from his gourd and stalks forward into the next chamber. Nothing for it but the follow. And therein--
"Ah," she utters, peering down at the thick carpet of Malevolence below. "That ain't great." And then up at... hmm. A statue of a one-armed man wielding a rapier. Though to call it a 'statue' is a stretch; it's more like a statue-shaped collection of rubble. It's also the source of the Malevolence.
"..." Ragnell glances at Lanval as he booms at it, demanding answers. She glances back at the statue as it resumes its mocking song. She glances back at Lanval and OH boy that's a Mystic Arte
The statue shatters, sending tainted beer flooding through the room. "Pretty soon no one's gonna be in good health, includin' us!" she protests, shoving more rusks around the trio. They better make good use of them, because those are the last she's got with her. Popping hers into her mouth, she takes advantage of Lanval's bubble, then peers down at the hazy Malevolence below.
Then she gives it a sassy two-fingered farewell salute. She's not heading down there either. Maybe the world *is* a pit, maybe it *won't* get better, but that doesn't mean she won't stop trying.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Chocolate Rusk toward her party's challenge, Drowning By Sorrows.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
It's a difficult journey upwards, having to hop and leap over barrels to avoid being barreled over, but Layna makes it up to the top...though not before that bulky Hellion flees.
Layna just smirks and shrugs...though that smirk fades a little bit as a haunting melody begins to play.
"...What the hell...?" Layna remarks with a frown, clenching her fists and glancing about. She looks toward Lanval, who doesn't look back. He just moves on through the doorway. With a frown Layna follows him, where they encounter a man - no, a crumbling statue in the shape of a man.
The statue does not seem interested in accepting what Lanval has to say. Tainted beer begins to pour in from all sides, but Layna's not about to stick around. She, too, hops into one of the bubbles, before rummaging around and producing some more bottles - the last she'd packed with her, at least for now. One is offered to Lanval himself, even, though she's not sure he's any mood to take it.
...If he isn't, that's how she'd know this was definitely serious.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Drowning By Sorrows.
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
=========================================<* CHALLENGE - Drowning By Sorrows *>==========================================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Your team descends to the deepest length of the basement able to be reached.
As this location is not far from marshlands, the idea of there being a
basement at all is one of folly. A light in the distance ahead attracts
one's eye. One can hear water dropping everywhere, as though a complete
collapse of this part of the basement could happen any day now. This part of
the basement is already ankle deep in... beer? Yes, beer. This chamber is
flooded in beer. Wait... flooded, past tense? No, it's flooding, present
tense!
The droplets increase in intensity as everyone further traverses the
basement, until they become gushing streams. Higher and higher the beer
level climbs. Not only is it hard to move, as the beer grows higher one may
be able to detect an upswell of Malevolence. Your team may literally be
drowning in liquid sorrows, with fine notes of resignation and full-bodied
misery. The guiding light ahead might be your only way out of this... or
maybe you can just turn back... unless one desires the tide overtake them.
It's hard not to feel resigned to this fate.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
=========================================<* CHALLENGE - Drowning By Sorrows *>==========================================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Your team descends to the deepest length of the basement able to be reached.
As this location is not far from marshlands, the idea of there being a
basement at all is one of folly. A light in the distance ahead attracts
one's eye. One can hear water dropping everywhere, as though a complete
collapse of this part of the basement could happen any day now. This part of
the basement is already ankle deep in... beer? Yes, beer. This chamber is
flooded in beer. Wait... flooded, past tense? No, it's flooding, present
tense!
The droplets increase in intensity as everyone further traverses the
basement, until they become gushing streams. Higher and higher the beer
level climbs. Not only is it hard to move, as the beer grows higher one may
be able to detect an upswell of Malevolence. Your team may literally be
drowning in liquid sorrows, with fine notes of resignation and full-bodied
misery. The guiding light ahead might be your only way out of this... or
maybe you can just turn back... unless one desires the tide overtake them.
It's hard not to feel resigned to this fate.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
============================================<* Sinner's Cellar - Round 7 *>============================================= ===========================================< Results - Drowning By Sorrows >============================================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 70 --(5)--> 75 Pass Bubble Pipe 3 Agility Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 55 --(5)--> 60 Pass Quartermaster's Stash 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Ragnell 80 --(5)--> 85 Pass Chocolate Rusk 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Lanval 85 --(35)--> 120 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval has successfully explored Sinner's Cellar!
=================================================<* Sinner's Cellar *>==================================================
=========================================<* CHALLENGE - The Private Reserve *>==========================================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Your group makes it into a tucked-away room of the cellar with intact
ancient and complex crests keeping the area at the perfect temperature to
maintain alcoholic beverages over the long term, extending even to the
barrels themselves on the wooden racks (the racks themselves were not so
lucky, and seem ready to disintegrate). A small number of them remain here,
yet to be retrieved or even opened.
Upon investigating its contents, one will find it's full of beer!
Transcending the limitations and expectations of one's preferences in terms
of flavor, texture, or alcohol content, this amber-hued alcoholic beverage
is amazing! Crisp, delicious, filling, clean of all impurities, and already
chilled to the ideal temperature. It's so fantastic that it's a sin! (All
beer is, by decree of the Goddess... but this stuff moreso.) Speakeasies
would pay a king's ransom for this stuff!
Aside from dates - most from the 3700s GY, maybe even some from the 3600s -
the only legible text written on them spells out 'LANVAL.' Huh. If you know
anybody by that name, maybe you should ask them about it... (@mail the
player of Seraph Lanval if you want to follow up on this!)
=Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Together, they rise above it. That is all that can be said, as the Malevolence continues to pool and flood underneath them. It's everywhere in Lunar. It can't be escaped. It may well always be there - but one thing's for sure.
It should not be concentrating this much inside the Boundary. It's not at the level of Mount Manfred, but that's beyond the point. This much in Meribus is something that should not be. They are still in Meribus, right? Of course they are. This place is somewhere in-between Meribia and Vane. Why is this all here?
The escape seems narrow. They all flee into one of the pockets of light, but where they end up does not appear to architectually match how they got there. Maybe the fumes from that underground attempt to brew beer got to them...? Never mind that.
They are greeted to the sight of immaculate aquamarine crests, keeping the area cool and at the exact humidity levels required to preserve the contents of the room. What contents?
Beer.
This isn't the infested lot. This is... the good stuff. The dates of the barrels they find here... the earliest one among those still here are in the late 3600s, with most the rest from the 3700s. Many years upon years of brewing beer, and the very best, all kept here.
They all have another name on it.
LANVAL
Lanval sits on the ground, still taking drags from the Bubble Pipe as he quietly sits with his eyes closed. He never does accept the Quartermaster's Stash... that passes that threshold of how serious it is, doesn't it? He exhales, as though at the end of a long-held breath. Even if they have no physiological need to do so, he seems to take the human act of breathing as a form of relaxation, but his face is unreadable otherwise.
This is the fabled beer that, in the very last years of the Copper Rapier Inn's horrid existence, once again got to see the light of day before the Guard shut the place down. There was still yet way more where it came from after all...!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
It *is* disturbing. If the Malevolence in this place got out of control... Hmm. If Ragnell thought Sorey would listen to her, she might tell him about it; as it stands... why bother? He'll only give her a smile and a nod and then blow her off. ...Maybe she'll let Alisha in on it. Or maybe Cecilia might want to try flexing that purification muscle of hers some more. There's options.
Soon, the trio flees into a pocket of light, and pop out into... huh. An intact room with crests all over, maintaining temperature, humidity, barrel integrity... Ragnell looks all around before letting her eyes settle on the barrels themselves. LANVAL. Layna may note that she's not at all surprised to see this name here. Also noteworthy is the way she remarks, "So some of 'em survived, huh."
She strolls on over to the Water Seraph as he calms himself down with his breathing hobby. Leaning on the wall next to him, she nods towards the barrels and asks, "So what d'you want to do with these? Take 'em? Or leave 'em?"
Interesting that she would ask at all. It's Ragnell; normally she'd just take, and who cares about what anyone else thinks. It's what she did with the apple wine at the Temple of Rejection, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna isn't the type to give up. The Malevolence prickling at the back of her mind might be yelling at her to just resign herself to her fate and sink down into the depths, but that is one thing she refuses to do. She presses forward...and soon the foul atmosphere of that place is behind them as they flee into the light.
Inside, however, is something she did not expect. This is not the tomb she encountered last time, this is...practically paradise.
"...Wow. It looks like they ain't even been touched." She remarks in surprise, walking up to the barrels. Ragnell doesn't seem surprised at all, though. Interesting.
...And that's when Layna sees the name on them.
Lanval.
She turns to face him, watching him carefully as he sits down with his eyes shut.
"...Lanval. What is this place to you?" She asks quietly. It was something she'd wanted to ask for a while, but now that they were here...
...Well, she couldn't think of a more appropriate time to ask.
Ragnell asks what he wants to do with them, and Layna doesn't interject.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval's eyes remain closed, which they typically do at rest. Questions abound as a few small bubbles flit out of his nostrils. That's always going to look so weird and undignified, but there he is, sitting there like he might fool someone into thinking he may or may not have been a person of some greater dignity or class than the watery wastrel before them.
"What I've always shaid," there he goes, back to slurring words again, compared to the clear, loud, prominent speech that is instead obscured by fits of laughter, "ish that drinksh are always besht with good friendsh..."
There's a dumb cat-like smile creeping back up on his lips. "Take ash much ash ya like..." Which, given the issue about how non-corporeal most of them are, means they can probably only make out with one or two at best.
Layna faces him. He doesn't open up his eyes, as she asks the all-important question about what this is to him. He should look her in the eyes about this, shouldn't he? That's his name on there. He's drinking virtually all the time. It can't be a coincidence.
"..."
Looks like he's not talking.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell waits a few moments, just in case Lanval has anything else to say. When he leaves it at share and share alike, she pats him on the shoulder. "Well, since you insist," she says. Then she gives a nod to Layna and strolls on over to the many, many barrels. "Mm, mmm...! Rollin' these outta here is gonna be a chore... Don't s'pose you could call your crew in here to give us a hand, Cap'n?"
And if she could get a barrel to Filgaia... Mmm, *mmm*. There's something she'd be able to use it for there for sure. Just as long as they got back to the right *part* of Filgaia, anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Well, Layna can appreciate that philosophy, at least. That's something she's always thought, too. But the fact that he doesn't answer her...Layna sighs, and shrugs.
"...This again, huh? Alright, if you're not gonna talk, that's fine. You can tell me later, aye?" She says, walking over to the barrels. They are pretty big, and in fact pretty full. She can manage two, but even more than that and she'd run the risk of dropping one, and she has no intention of wasting what appears to be good booze like that.
She looks toward Ragnell and chuckles.
"Nope. 'Fraid they didn't make it over with me, and I dunno what Talise and the others are doin'." Layna replies with a half-shrug, due to her burden.
"...It's a shame. I know Dahlia'd be interested to see this. That woman's a connoisseur when it comes to alcohol." She says with a fond but regretful chuckle.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval exhales again as he takes another long drag off the Bubble Pipe, contemplatively, while Layna and Ragnell work out the logistics and challenges of removing however much beer they're going to. The way back out proves long, but uneventful, so it turns out however much they can get on the one trip out is all they can grab... but it at least ensures others may yet have the pleasure of discovering and obtaining some of the beer for themselves.
All the while, Lanval is silent.
I see what's going on now. He inwardly thinks. Layna's got the right of it. I can tell her later...
...
I never wanted to drag them into this, but there's no longer any helping it... I do have to tell them. He's said-- er, thought that a lot. He has to tell them. When? How? In what context? He exhales once more.
This has gone beyond being a Seraphim problem.
Soon enough, word comes in from the Fox Company's mysterious employer about the rumored existence of some uncharted islands - they'd be leaving this basement behind for a time. Lanval doesn't protest this, in the end...
But when will he tell them?